welcome image

The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice. (Peggy O'Mara)

"To be a man, a boy must see a man."  (J.R. Moehringer)

Removing a child from a traumatic environment does not remove the trauma from the child's memory.

Don't wait for him to turn 10 before you reveal that you are not in fact the hired help whose job it is to clean up after him.

There has been an explosion in the prescribing of medication for very young children, particularly preschool and kindergarten boys (Juli Zito , Univ. of Maryland)

We should not medicate the boys so they fit the school; we should change the school to fit the boy. (Leonard Sax, M.D. Ph.D)

"The thing that impresses me most about North America is the way parents obey their children"    (King Edward VII , 1841-1910)

Many clinicians find it easier to tell parents their child has a brain-based disorder than suggest parenting changes. Jennifer Harris (psychiatrist)

The quickest way to change your child’s behaviour is to first change your own.

Children do not develop on their own - they only develop within relationships.

Learn more.

ADHD and the Brain

“The human brain is the best organized, most complex , highest functioning object in the universe.” (Kenneth Wesson)

An adult brain weighs about 3 pounds and has over 1 trillion cells (100 billion of them are neurons) and the cell connections within the brain number  about 1 quadrillion. The brain stores bits of information and can accomplish processes of unfathomable complexity. Unlike a computer (which simply regurgitates information) the brain can initiate new thoughts and experience emotions. The brain is a highly organized structure made up of 3 distinct sections.

a) Brain Stem – this is the most primitive part deep within the skull. It is similar in appearance to a reptile’s brain and controls unconscious body functions (eg. breathing, heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure). It works tirelessly and continuously performing its functions throughout your lifetime.

b) Cerebellum – The primary function of this small grey structure that surrounds the brain stem coordinates purposeful movement.

c) Cerebral Cortex – This outer portion of the brain deals with behaviour, concepts, emotions and personality. It is the part of the brain that distinguishes humans from lower animals. It is divided down the middle into 2 hemispheres and each hemisphere is divided into 4 lobes. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that assigns priorities and sends signals to other portions of the brain. Among its many jobs is to:

  • organize information
  • interpret information
  • evaluate information
  • weed out unimportant information
  • assign  priorities

Most researchers and doctors suspect that it is frontal lobe malfunction that is responsible for ADHD.

Back to Top

Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

Learn more

+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

Learn more

+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

Learn more

+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

Learn more

See more of our workshops


Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

Archive


Parents' Comments

“We were so naive. We thought our son’s poor behaviour was just a phase he was passing through. Thankfully you led us ‘out of the wilderness'”

(N.S. – London)