by Claudia Boyd-Barrett posted in Mom Stories

If your 2 to 5-year-old child is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), your doctor should start by prescribing behavior therapy, not medications.
That?s the message from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention following a report that shows less than half of young children with ADHD have received any form of psychological services, such as behavior therapy ? yet three quarters of these children are taking medications for the disorder.
The numbers indicate that many doctors are not adhering to the American Academy of Pediatrics? recommendation [pdf] that healthcare providers refer parents of young children with ADHD to behavior therapy training before prescribing medicine.  

Parents trained in behavior therapy learn strategies to help manage their child?s behavior through positive communication, reinforcement of good conduct, and predictable routines. These strategies have been shown to be as effective as ADHD medicine, but without the risk of side effects, says the CDC?s Principal Deputy Director, Anne Schuchat.
The long-term effects of ADHD medicines on young children are not known.
More than 6 million children in the United States have ADHD, and a third are diagnosed before the age of 6. Children diagnosed with the disorder at an early age often have more severe symptoms than children diagnosed later on. Starting behavior therapy at a young age has been shown to have lasting benefits.
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