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How useful is Methylphenidate for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed and treated psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Young people with ADHD find it hard to sit still and concentrate and often do things without thinking them through; this can make it harder for them to do well at school and get on …

Award-winning book ‘Neurotribes’ examines the history and myths of autism

A few weeks ago, Steve Silberman’s Neurotribes became the first science book to win the prestigious Samuel Johnson prize. In his book, Silberman discusses the change in people’s attitudes towards autism over the years and urges us to refrain from making categorical assumptions about what distinguishes ‘normal’ from ‘abnormal’ behaviour. It is also refreshing to see …

BBC commissions new series on unemployment and people with neurological conditions

Job opportunities and the employment prospects of young people with neurodevelopmental disorders are poorer than for their peers. This is the conclusion one is led to after reviewing research findings from both the UK and USA. For example Roux and colleagues (see study details below) found only just over half of young adults with an autistic …

Tourette’s Syndrome and the likelihood of experiencing other psychiatric disorders

Young people with Tourette’s Syndrome (TS) their parents and clinicians are all aware of how often TS is accompanied by other disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Until recently evidence to support this idea has come mainly from small studies and anecdotal evidence. A recently published study (February 2015: …

Greater clarity about the evidence for non-pharmacological interventions for ADHD

For several years some CANDAL members have been working with the European ADHD Guidelines Group on a series of meta-analysis exploring the evidence base for non-pharmacological interventions for ADHD. The first review Songua-barke et al (2013) published in the American Journal of Psychiatry showed a very clear pattern of results across three psychological interventions ( …

‘Happiness’ lessons to be introduced in schools

UK government advisors and policy makers called for a new priority emphasis on young people’s mental wellbeing, in their report on Mental Health and Wellbeing in Children presented at the World Innovation Summit for Health last week (17th February, 2015). 1 in 10 British children and adolescents are suffering from mental health problems, such as anxiety …

Tourette’s syndrome featured on BBC1

The BBC 1 drama series Casualty is running a story on Saturday (21st February 21.15 BBC1) featuring a young woman with Tourette Syndrome. I haven’t personally seen the script but the charity Tourettes Action (www.Tourettes-action.org.uk ) were consulted. Since Tourette Syndrome affects approximately 300,000 children and adults in the UK it is good to see …

CANDAL annual conference highlights

Thanks to all who attended the CANDAL annual conference! For me, it was a really good example of what CANDAL is all about, with plenty of time devoted simply to talking and listening to each other. The highlight, for me, was the talk by Dr Barbara Houghton and Dr Jo Jones about their clinic for …

Welcome to CANDALight, the new blog for CANDAL

CANDAL aims to promote collaboration between researchers and our clinical partners into better ways of helping people with neurodevelopmental disorders. These disorders are conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Tourette’s Syndrome, and autism (including  Asperger’s Syndrome), all of which may continue into adulthood, and quite often overlap in the same person. Unlike other …