Parenting Newsletter Aspen Education Group

In this issue:
Texting While Driving as Dangerous as Drinking Behind the Wheel: Teach Your Teens the Risks

Adoption Groups Provide Needed Support to Troubled Teens

Inattentive-Type ADHD Often Misdiagnosed, Misunderstood

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Texting While Driving as Dangerous as Drinking Behind the Wheel: Teach Your Teens the Risks

Even if they haven't been driving for very long, teens are notorious for thinking they own the road. They also think that driving is something they can easily do while doing other things, such as talking on the phone, eating a burger or, even more dangerously, texting.

Driving while texting

Texting while driving is more dangerous than driving while intoxicated, yet about a quarter of teens have texted while driving, according to a survey by The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. The few seconds they take their eyes off the road to send a flirtatious text, let a friend know they're on their way or check in with their parents can be deadly. In 2008, 16 percent of drivers in fatal crashes under the age of 20 involved distracted driving, including texting, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Cell phones are not going away any time soon. In fact, 75 percent of teens own a phone and 66 percent send and receive text messages, according to the Pew study. Since it's likely that your teens will have access to a cell phone while driving, it's important to inform them of the risks created by texting behind the wheel and set some ground rules.

Explain the Risks

Texting while driving is never safe. Period. However, teens think they can text safely by only texting while stopped at a light or holding their phone at eye level so their heads aren't down. You need to make it clear to your teens that taking their eyes off the road (or their hands off the steering wheel) while driving can be extremely dangerous.

Adoption Groups Provide Needed Support to Troubled Teens

Support groups made up of peers are helpful to any teen who is working through issues of substance abuse, depression, anger or attachment. And for adopted teens, who are at higher risk for all of those behaviors, getting support from others with similar experiences may be just what they need to get their lives back on track.

"Sometimes the very key to straightening out a young person is an understanding of how they started out and fit into the world," said Jeffrey A. Lavallee, LMFT, a senior clinician at Island View residential treatment center for adolescents in Utah, which offers a support group for adopted children. "It can be very grounding."

Benefits of Adoption Support Groups

Support groups specifically for adopted children are beneficial to teens whose issues directly relate to being adopted. For example, an adopted teen who has a drug or alcohol addiction that is due to peer pressure may not benefit from an adoption support group. But if the substance abuse problem is a way to self-medicate feelings of emptiness or abandonment related to their adoption, then having the support of other adopted teens can be eye opening and vital to a successful recovery.

"An adoption support group allows kids to identify with other people who have a similar story and issues," said Lavallee, who also supervises the adoption support group at Island View. "Their life starts to make more sense, and they make a connection between their adoption and why they act the way they do."

In an adoption support group, teens can examine their behavioral problems, life philosophy and issues from the perspective of being adopted. In any other type of support group, their behaviors may not be examined in the context of adoption, which could omit an important component needed for a full recovery.

Adoption support groups are most effective if teens have already worked through some of their behavioral issues. For teens who are also dealing with issues of anger, it may be more productive for them to first go through anger management so they will be calmer and better able to focus on addressing issues specific to their adoption.

Learn more about the adoption support group at Island View >>

Inattentive-Type ADHD Often Misdiagnosed, Misunderstood

According to the National Resource Center on ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is defined as "a condition affecting children and adults that is characterized by problems with attention, impulsivity, and overactivity."

Because the word "overactivity" is included in the definition, inattentive-type ADHD often gets overlooked.

What Is Inattentive-Type ADHD?

Inattentive-type ADHD is characterized by difficulty focusing for extended periods of time; distractability; lack of organization; and, hypo- rather than hyper-activity. It is more likely to occur in girls, and is far less likely to be diagnosed.

Kids with inattentive-type ADHD don't get in troubled for disrupting the class, but they may not fare any better in school than their hyperactive counter-parts.
Their lack of focus is turned inward.
They daydream, rather than talking to the kids sitting next to them.

Proper diagnosis of inattentive-type ADHD is important to a child's academic and social success. Learning disabilities are more likely to accompany inattentive-type ADHD, symptoms are less likely to reduce with age, and because inattentive-types are so often turned inward, they have a harder time initiating friendships.

Continue reading about diagnosing and treating inattentive-type ADHD >>

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