Fora parent whose child has been labeled "ADD" or "ADHD," it seems like there arefew options other than ignoring the symptoms or pumping him/her full of Ritalinor other stimulant medications.

Andwhile most parents' biggest concern is the possible side effects, perhaps anequally important consideration should be that stimulant medications only treatthe symptoms - not the underlying cause - of the problem. This means that,although the child may be been easier to "handle" at school, chances are thathis/her grades are still sub-par.

Sowhat's a parent to do?

Understanding the weakest link: Attention

Aswith almost all learning struggles, the most common root cause is one or moreweak cognitive skills - the fundamental tools of effective learning.

"Cognitiveskills are the underlying tools that enable us to successfully focus, think,prioritize, plan, understand, visualize, remember and create usefulassociations, and solve problems," explains Tanya Mitchell, co-author of"Unlock the Einstein Inside: Applying New Brain Science to Wake Up the Smart inyour Child." " A child's cognitive skill set is madeup of several cognitive skills including auditory processing, visualprocessing, short and long-term memory, comprehension, logic and reasoning, andattention skills. In children with ADD or ADHD, the weakest cognitive skillis attention, although other areas tend to suffer as well."

The three types of attention

Accordingto Mitchell, there are three types of attention: sustained, selective anddivided. In general, they are described as:

• Sustained: Allows the child to stayon task for a long period of time

• Selective: Prevents the childfrom t being easily distracted

• Divided: Allows the child to domore than one thing at a time

In those with ADD, the frontal cortex (surface) of the brainhas more difficulty using glucose and less blood flow than in people withoutADD. The frontal cortex inhibits impulses, initiates behavior, and controlsworking memory. When underactive, the ability to screen out irrelevant stimuliis reduced, and the individual pays attention to EVERYTHING. This results inpoor regulation of the motivation system and makes staying on task difficultwithout immediate rewards.

"Video games provide rapid,constant feedback and stimulation and tend to be very engaging for people withADD," explains Dr. Russell Griffiths, a Licensed Educational Psychologist."Neuroscience shows that by targeting and stimulating the underactive region ofthe brain responsible for the characteristics of inattention, attention can bestrengthened. Therefore, the correct approach (to ADD/ADHD) is the opposite ofthe usual accommodations used (at schools) - like removing distractions,reducing workload, or isolating students into quiet areas."

Exercises to improve the three types of attention

AlthoughMitchell recommends a thorough, intense program of cognitive skills trainingfor children who are on stimulant medications like Ritalin, she does offersuggestions for exercises that parents can do at home to improve the threetypes of attention in their children. They include:

• Sustained Attention

Parents use a stopwatch while their child does a small taskor homework assignment and take notice when the student loses focus. If thechild starts playing or looking around at 1:30 minutes, the parent stops thetime. The child is then given a goal to try and focus for a longer period oftime, e.g.1:45 minutes. The game should include prizes or special privilegesfor the child to look forward to upon making the goal. The parents continueadding new time to the goals until the student can repeatedly focus for 5minutes at a time.

• Selective Attention

Parents can do the same activity for sustained attention butthe parent now adds small distractions and the child tries to stay on task. Asthe child in able to handle small distractions, the distractions shouldincrease. Make sure to do the task in a game-like setting and once the childcompletes a goal, they receive a small reward or privilege.

• Divided attention

The most important attention skill. Parents can purchase agame like Simon, Bop-it or Perfection where the game has a timing and attentioncomponent to it. The child starts the game and the parent asks for otherinformation while the child is playing (e.g. the parent names an animal and thechild has to make the sound, the parent gives two numbers and the child givesthe sum, the parent asks the child to describe their room). This may seemoverwhelming, but by setting small goals (e.g. two correct answers), and thenincreasing the goal, a child can strengthen there ability to multi-task.

Mitchell says parentsshould try to do these activitiesthree to four times a week.

"Again,I'd suggest that parents try these exercises at home to complement a cognitiveskills training program," says Mitchell. "After working with a professional(brain trainer) in a one-one-one setting, most children who have beenlabeled as having ADHD, ADD or other learning disabilities like dyslexia canimprove from three to five grade levels and about half the students will nolonger require medication."