The first 6 chapters of
ADHD: A Path to Success
By
Lawrence Weathers, Ph.D.
Psychologist
6921
(509) 448-6462, FAX (347) 710-2053
weathers@caer.com , www.caer.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments......................................................10
Warning-Disclaimer.....................................................12
Introduction...............................................................13
Chapter 1: ADHD _ Adaptive, not Defective..................17
Chris a Six-Year-Old Boy with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder · ADHD Demographics · Myths Of ADHD
Chapter 2: ADHD: Historical Change in Labeling the Disorder.....................................................................25
Luke, a 14-Year-Old ADHD Boy · ADHD, Current State of the Art Debunked · History of ADHD Labeling and Treatment
Chapter 3: A Personal Experience of ADHD................31
Understanding ADHD Thought Process · We Think Like ADHD Children All of the Time · Your Personal Experience of ADHD · Personal History of ADHD
Chapter 4: The Conditioned Attentional Avoidance Loop Model.........................................................................41
Developmental Vulnerability to Family Conflict and ADHD · Conditioned Attentional Avoidance Loop Model · Children's Limited View of Time · Avoidance Conditioning: The Horse Grows Bigger
Chapter 5: ADHD: A Defense Mechanism....................49
Bob, a 14-Year-Old ADHD Boy · ADHD as a Defense Mechanism · ADHD is Felt as an Insult by Adults · Jane, a 14-Year-Old ADHD Girl
Chapter 6: Emotional vs. Rational Controls of Behavior.....................................................................57
A Learning Model for ADHD: Conditioned Attentional Avoidance Loop Model · The Conditioned Attentional Avoidance Loop Model Makes Neurological Theories Superfluous · First Get Run Over Emotionally, Then Learn to Run, Attentionally · Fragile Thoughts, Powerful Emotions · Emotions and Rational Decisions · What You Say May not Be What They Hear · Susan, an 8-Year-Old ADHD Girl
Chapter 7: Attentional Patterns and Behaviors..........65
Critical Timing of Coercion and Avoidance in the Conditioned Attentional Avoidance Loop Model: Slow Speed of Avoidance Learning vs. Fast Speed for Punishment · Willful vs. Conditioned Attention · Willful Attention · Conditioned Attention · Changing Attentional Patterns is not Like Sports Practice · The Shifting Conditioned-Willful Attentional Balance · ADHD Auto-Pilot · Conjuring Rational Answers to "Why" · The Limitations of Willful Control of Behavior
Chapter 8: ADHD and Anger.......................................77
Cultural Contradiction Both Promotes and Controls Anger · What We Consider "Fun" · Anger as a Part of ADHD · The Conditioned Attentional Avoidance Loop Model and the Development of Anger · Why More Boys Get ADHD · Male Aggression: Social Role of Conflict for Boys · Slower Development of Boys
Chapter 9: Metamorphosis of Anger in ADHD.............85
Metamorphosis of Anger from Behavior to ADHD · From Behavior to Personal Trait · Anger Alchemy · The Fiction of Individual Responsibility · The Diagnosis of the ADHD Homunculus
Chapter 10: Boredom Revisited...................................95
Anger Becomes Depression : The Meaning of Bored · Failure Expectancies in School: No Positive Reinforcement Schedule · "I'm Bored" Means "I Give Up" · Two Meanings of Boredom · How Boredom Works … For ADHD Kids · The Trap in Defining Boredom in the Adult Sense of the Word for ADHD
Chapter 11: ADHD in Adults......................................103
Scott ADHD/R
Chapter 12: Current Explanations of ADHD: Fallacies in Logic.....................................................................105
The Nintendo Syndrome: Situational Specificity of ADHD · A Fancy Test Does Not a Pathology Make · Physiological Cues: PET Studies · Problems with the Logic of PET Studies · The Misuses of Statistics: Correctional Inference · What About Learned Physiological Differences in Neurochemistry? · The Science · Clinical Experience · ADHD Testing: Descriptive vs. Diagnostic · The Bottom-line on the Clinical Relevance of ADHD Testing · Anxious to Diagnose ADHD … "We've Got to do Something About This" · Opposition to the Ritalin Mandate
Chapter 13: CAER: A New Treatment Technology.....121
CAER as Do-It-Yourself Therapy · Unlearning Emotional Patterns vs. Learning New Skills and Knowledge · Emotional Inhibition of Skills
Chapter 14: The Viewpoint From All Corners.............127
Seeing With a Different Eye · Looking at the Child, Rather Than the Label · The Child's Experience · What Teachers Say · What Teachers Don't See · What Children Say · ADHD Children are Not Pathological Liars · Carefully Watch the Obvious · Jeff and Kent, Two ADHD Boys
Chapter 15: Stimulants vs. Conditioned Attentional Avoidance...............................................................139
Josh, an 11-Year-Old ADHD Boy · The Attentional Function of Stimulant Drugs · The Short Term Utility of Ritalin · Mental Isometrics
Chapter 16: Thinking Models and ADHD..................147
A New Approach to Thinking Models We Use and Their Hidden Assumptions · The Mechanical vs. Learning Model of Human Thinking, Feeling, Behavior, and Psychology · The Mechanical Model · The Learning Model · The Learning Model vs. the Educational Model · The Misapplication of Learning and Mechanical Models
Chapter 17: The Learning Model and the Behavior Amplifier Effect......................................................157
Emotional Draw of the Mechanical Model · Confusion Between Mechanical and Learning Models · Treatment Implications of the Mechanical Model Obscures the Learning · The Solution Becomes the Problem · Sean, a 14-Year-Old ADHD Adolescent
Chapter 18: The Effects of the Broader Cultural Context.................................................................165
Emotional Contagion: A Mechanism of Socialization · The Contagion Effect of Depression · Crowd Contagion · How Emotional Contagion Works · Which Illusion? · Parents are Slacking Off · The Cultural Context of the Socialization Process · The TV Has ADHD Too! · Teachers in an Impossible Emotional Bind · Loss of Core Self-Inhibitory Skills · Teachers Have Narrow Options to Control Disruptive Behavior · Inspiration in the Classroom: Teachers in an Impossible Bind · Generalized Inhibition in the Classroom · Generalized Inhibition Harms Children Too
Chapter 19: The Evolution of the ADHD Child..........181
Creating ADHD · The Personality Conflict Trigger · Karl, an ADHD Boy · Family Stress · Learned Hypersensitivity to Subtle Cues · Teachers Cannot Help Being Part of the Behavior Amplifier · The Behavior Amplifier in Action
Chapter 20: The Power of Labels..............................189
Labels Create a Self-fulfilling Prophecy · The ADHD Label Shapes Behavior · Labeling Transfers the Problem to New Situations · Transferring the ADHD Label Between Adults · The Child's Generalization of a Strategy That Works · The Label Obscures Small Improvements so More Effective Behaviors are not Shaped
Chapter 21: The "H" in ADHD.................................197
ADHD as a Service to Other Children · The Self Reinforcing Quality of Hyperactivity · The ADHD Child's Unresponsiveness to Other's Feelings · ADHD Consciousness: A Collage · Junkyard Dog Hyper-Vigilance (Anger)
Chapter 22: ADHD, Behavior Disabilities, and Learning Disabilities: Branches of the Same Tree................203
How ADHD, Behavior Disabilities, and Learning Disabilities Attentionally Avoid Differently · Internal Attentional Strategy · ADHD Takes an Attentional Vacation to Fantasyland · External Behavioral Strategies · Behavior Disabilities Use Chaos to Distract From Being Thought Dumb · Learning Disabilities Use Dumb To Avoid Conflict · How ADHD, Learning Disabilities, and Behavior Disabilities Fit Together in Real Life ·
Academic Survival · The Academic Consequences of ADHD and Behavior Disabilities · The Academic Consequences of Learning Disabilities · Adults with ADHD · Tim, 29 Years Old and Learning Disabled
Chapter 23: Looking Where the Light is: Kid and Medicine.................................................................217
The Story of the Lost Keys · Advantages of the Conditioned Attentional Avoidance Loop Model
Chapter 24: Computer Aided Emotional Restructuring: How it Works.................................................................221
History · Evolution From EMD/R to Computer Aided Emotional Restructuring · How CAER Works · What CAER Looks Like · The Experience of CAER Treatment · Therapeutic Process of CAER
Chapter 25: Therapeutic Effects of CAER................233
What Makes Emotional Extinction so Effective · CAER is a Non-Aggressive Method for Dealing with the Anger · Cognitive Behavior Therapy and CAER · CAER Uses Extinction vs. Cognitive Persuasion · Matt _ An 11-Year-Old ADHD's Experience with CAER
Chapter 26: The Family System and CAER..............243
The Stages of Treatment · Parents Baggage … Carrying it to the Next Generation · Wayne and His Family's Experience with CAER · Parent's Role in the ADHD System · Implications of Parent Treatment · Extinguishing Emotionally Provocative Cues · Extinguishing Parent's Personal Triggers · A Better Functioning Family System
Chapter 27: The Utility of Boredom Tolerance.........255
Dealing with Boredom
Chapter 28: Shaping New Behavior........................259
A Case For Sudden Change · How Change Can Be Sabotaged · Why? … The Distinction Between Cause and Maintenance
Chapter 29: Contingency Management: The U-Shaped Curve......................................................................265
The Reinforcement Desert · Why the Reinforcement Curve is U-Shaped ·
Daniel _ A 9-Year-Old Behavior Problem · Building the Reinforcement Bridge · Why Ritalin Alone Doesn't Work Long-Term · Windows of Opportunity · Missing the Window of Opportunity
Chapter 30: Discipline...........................................277
Abdication of Parenthood · Grounding Children · The Liability Issues of Corporal Punishment · ICBM of Discipline
Chapter 31: Paving the Way for Rational Problem Solving Approaches..................................................285
CAER and Rational Thought · How Learning Access Tutoring Works · Resolving Blocks to Learning · Who is Learning Access For?
Chapter 32: A Final Note........................................................................289
Within the Solution was the Solution
Epilogue..................................................................291
Appendix..................................................................297
Bibliography............................................................303
Index.......................................................................309
About the Author..........................................315