ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in Children and Adults
Do you suspect that you or your child may have ADHD? Do you find it hard to stay focused? Are you impulsive, doing things you later regret? Are you frustrated at always forgetting what you need to get done?
There are drug-free ways to help support those with ADHD or awaiting an ADHD diagnosis
The Key Clinic’s unique 360-degree approach to assessment will help pinpoint biochemical imbalances that may be contributing to symptoms.
By understanding your ‘bio-individuality’, we help support children and adults with ADHD, encouraging more successful, happier, calmer lives.
Learn how to optimise functioning and provide the best support for someone with ADHD.
What is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a ‘neurodevelopmental disorder’. It refers to a pattern of behaviour that can affect various life situations such as school, peer relationships, self-esteem, and family life.
The two core categories into which symptoms of ADHD fall are inattentiveness and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Inattentiveness means difficulty concentrating and focusing whereas hyperactivity or impulsivity refers to doing things without considering the consequences. Some people fall into one category or the other; however, some may fall into both categories.
Historically, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) was the diagnosis given when there were no symptoms of hyperactivity, however ADHD is now the term/diagnosis used whether there are symptoms of hyperactivity or not.
ADHD is primarily determined by genetic factors, (70-80% of the probability), but environmental factors can also contribute. These include premature birth, low birth weight, and maternal substance abuse. ADHD affects the part of the brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), causing bodily stimulation not to be processed as stimulation and the brain feeling under-stimulated. This helps explain why those with ADHD are more likely to be physically hyperactive; to take risks; to become violent; to develop addictions to substances and to act impulsively. These actions are an attempt to help the brain feel adequately stimulated.
It is important to understand that ADHD is beyond someone’s conscious control. Someone with ADHD is not just ‘acting up’ or ‘being naughty.’ There are biological differences that make it difficult to control, without the right support.
Signs and Symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD is usually evident from an early age and persists into adolescence and adulthood, but for some, it is not identified until later in life. Most are diagnosed when children are under 12 years old; however, late diagnosis in adults is soaring. ADHD often becomes apparent when a child starts school and teachers notice that a child finds it hard to sit still, struggles to pay attention, or blurts out answers in class. It can also include poor organisation skills, anxiety, mood swings and angry/violent outbursts.
Signs of ADHD in adults may be more subtle than childhood symptoms. Obvious physical hyperactivity tends to decrease in adults while inattentiveness tends to remain or have a greater impact as the demands of adult life increase. Other coping mechanisms may also have developed, such as learning to make notes of what needs to be done; self-medicating with alcohol or recreational drugs, impulsivity potentially ruining relationships and risk-taking behaviours, such as gambling or extreme sports.
People with ADHD may also have additional problems/comorbidities, such as sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, autism, or other physical problems.
It is also important however to be aware that ADHD isn't a weakness as those with ADHD can also have many gifts. These can include the ability to see the bigger picture, creative thinking and a bias to action.
Symptoms of ADHD in Children
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Getting your child to sleep at night
Getting ready for school on time
Listening to and carrying out instructions
Being organised
Forgetfulness
Sitting still or constantly fidgeting
Concentrating on one task and constantly changing tasks
Excessive physical movement or talking
Interrupting conversations or not waiting their turn
Little/no sense of danger
Anger or violent outbursts
Symptoms of ADHD in Adults
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Organisation and time management
Following instructions
Focusing and completing tasks
Coping with stress
Feeling restless or impatient
Impulsiveness and risk-taking
Addictions
Issues with relationships or social interaction
Continuously losing or misplacing things
Mood swings and quick temper
ADHD support & natural therapies
Traditional treatments include, either as a combination or individually: psychological therapies, social skills training, occupational therapy, family therapy, and most commonly, stimulant medication.
At The Key Clinic, we work alongside these other therapeutic approaches to help support those with ADHD. Our approach is to take the time to assess for any underlying biochemical imbalances which may be contributing to symptoms. We then target these, to help rebalance the whole system. We offer a personalised approach to treatment, looking across biomedical, neurodevelopment and auditory functioning.
We carry out physical tests (this may require a neurodevelopmental assessment, lab testing, or even a hearing test) to better understand the underlying contributing imbalances. We then address this from the ground up, giving the body what it needs to restore a healthy balance.
Do I need to have an official diagnosis of ADHD to receive support from The Key Clinic?
No, because The Key Clinic aims to investigate underlying contributing factors in order to make life easier. You do not need a diagnosis to participate in one of our therapies.
BioMedical Nutrient Therapy - BioTransform
Abnormal levels of key nutrients directly impact brain chemistry, behaviour and mental health. Some individuals may be unable to retain certain nutrients, while others may have difficulty excreting them. These biochemical predispositions can often run in families.
The Walsh Institute in the USA has collected and analyzed biochemical data for 6,000 individuals diagnosed with ADHDand identified specific biochemical imbalances which he believes are directly contributing to their symptoms of hyperactivity and inattentiveness.
Following Walsh Nutrient Therapy protocols, the Key Clinic works to correct any underlying biochemical imbalances using targeted nutrients to help restore a healthy balance.
Based on your bio-individuality, BioTransform is a 6-month, bespoke programme to optimise healthy brain and body functioning.
Our approach is based on:
1) Functional Medicine, to optimise overall health
2) Walsh Nutrient Therapy, to address any biochemical imbalances.
This programme is drug-free, and involves dietary/lifestyle changes and targeted supplements.
The process starts with assessment: An in-depth questionnaire, consultation and recommended lab tests.
We then make specific recommendations and support you/your child through a six-month programme with monthly reviews to restore a healthy equilibrium.
ADHD and Auditory Integration Training - BrightBeatz
According to the famous French ENT Doctor, Guy Berard, it may be hard for a child to remain focused in the classroom and to concentrate on what is being said because of how they hear.
Dr Berard pointed out that if a child has hypersensitive hearing, they may be easily distracted by background noises in the classroom, which may be easier for others to tune out. He also identified potential ‘distortions’ across the hearing profile or dyslateral hearing, which can also make it difficult to tune in and listen to what is being said.
Dr Berard developed AIT or auditory integration training to address these concerns.
BrightBeatz is The Key Clinic’s proprietary form of Auditory Integration Training (AIT). It involves listening to customized, modulated music in the comfort of your own home over a 10-day period, to help encourage calm.
Improvements may be seen during and immediately after the course. Some parents report improved emotional regulation, reduced hypersensitive hearing, and better language skills and processing.
Child "I have been noticing changes in my hearing, how sounds aren't as sharp anymore like they used to be. I think doing the Auditory therapy has been helpful, two of the differences are: I am not getting as much headaches as well and when I am in noisy environments like at School, I don't feel as stressed and don't have to cover my ears very much either now."
Her mother "Since completing the auditory therapy, the difference in my 13 year old daughter has been incredible. Shortly after finishing with the 10 day course, she sat her Common Entrance exams and came out with an A* (she was predicted to fail). He was able to focus and not be distracted in exams and is overall less affected by sound and is happier."
Advice to other parents: "Brace yourself for their behaviour declining half way through but this is only temporary and will be followed by an extraordinary improvement. You won't regret it."
– Parent, August 2024
NeuroDevelopmental Training For ADHD - NeuroMature
Another reason that a child (or adult) may find it difficult to sit still and concentrate, could be due to retained primitive reflexes.
Having retained primitive reflexes means that in the first year of life, the nervous system didn’t finish developing fully, which could result from various factors, such as traumatic birth or missing certain motor milestones, such as crawling.
While not always present in someone with ADHD, if the following primitive reflexes are retained, they may be making it even harder to concentrate:
A retained ATNR reflex is linked to poorer reading, spelling and maths scores. This is because the ATNR interferes with smooth horizontal eye and hand-eye tracking, making the eyes ‘jump’ at the midline, so you lose your place. It’s hard to concentrate when this keeps happening!
2. A retained STNR reflex causes discomfort in the upright seated position, causing someone with this reflex to fidget or squirm in their chair constantly or just to get up. It also makes writing laborious and copying things from a board at the front of the classroom onto paper especially hard. The STNR causes difficulties with vertical eye and hand-eye tracking.
3. A retained Spinal Galant reflex can make sitting still impossible, causing someone to wriggle and fidget continually, or, if asked to sit still, to make noise! Interestingly, this reflex is also a potential cause of ongoing bedwetting in some children.
The six-month NeuroMature programme is designed to integrating primitive reflexes that may be interfering with your child’s development. We guide you through a daily exercise routine to help improve functioning.
Parents have reported that our NeuroMature programmes can improve eye-tracking, focus, reading, writing, balance, coordination, and self-confidence, while also helping to reduce anxiety.
Studies show a clear link between retained primitive reflexes and ADD diagnosis.
2004 Taylor, Houghton and Chapman; University of Western Australia. Primitive reflexes and ADD: developmental origins of classroom dysfunction. International Journal of Special Education.
ADHD Testimonial
– Cameron’s Mum, 2023:
“We were at breaking point in March 2020. Years and years of extreme stress, supporting a child in huge emotional difficulty both in school and at home. Anger, violence, verbal abuse, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, school exclusions were all part of our daily lives. As a mum, I took the brunt of the behaviour but my husband and other children were not safe from the stress of living in a pressure cooker. My son’s behaviour would explode without warning, anywhere.
The only thing suggested to manage his symptoms was medication and we were at the point of reluctantly considering it. Then, thanks to DJ Chris Evans we heard about the Key Clinic. By the time we were ready to start the different approaches, depression had kicked in for our son and he was expressing thoughts of suicide.
Now the situation has completely changed. We now have a young man of 16 who is a happy and increasingly confident young man who attends mainstream classes and rarely needs extra emotional support from the specialist provision in school. He is engaged in life, has friends, is emotionally resilient, caring and well-mannered. He is expected to pass all his GCSEs with a number of A*s.
Going out on family visits, going to restaurants, going on a family holiday are no longer a no- go. He is even going skiing with school this April. Due to the risks his behaviour would pose to his own safety, I would never have imagined this would ever be possible.
People are shocked when we explain his past difficulties as they just can’t imagine him being anywhere near as challenging as he was.
My son is evidence that a future can be altered through these professionally supported treatments.
Thank you to the Key Clinic. You have truly changed our lives!”
Supporting those with ADHD to thrive
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There are drug-free ways to help support those with ADHD or awaiting an ADHD diagnosis.
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The Key Clinic’s unique 360-degree approach helps identify imbalances that may be contributing to symptoms.
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By targeting underlying biochemical imbalances, we help optimise health and for more successful, happier, calmer lives.
Please call us on 020 7486 4462 or email welcome@thekeyclinic.co.uk to find out how we can support you or your child.