The Role of Physics in ADD/ADHD

I have an undergraduate degree in Business Management from Pepperdine University. Prior to this school, I studied Mechanical Engineering, and also worked as engineer in manufacturing. Several months shy of completion my undergraduate degree in Engineering, I had to leave my school. In a word, I am a diploma-less engineer, with experience.

During the last 15-20 years I was studying the feet and the inner ear. Both subject matters are infinitely complex and profoundly influential in our lives, much more so than appears at first glance. The inner ear houses the organ of balance, and is acting as the central hub for all sensory input. It acts as the pre-processing organ of sensory information for the brain.

After my long research I can now explain the origins of ADD/ADHD by connecting changes in our physical environment with our feet and the inner ear, and provide solutions for those problems. I know all this sounds odd, but if you follow my explanation you will see all these pieces do fit together and actually make sense.

My perspective is very unusual. It was formed when my experience in mechanics and engineering were dipped into various medical disciplines. As you will see, sometimes solutions come from very unexpected places.

ADD/ADHD has been puzzling medical and scientific world for decades. No one seems to know their origins, what causes them, or how exactly to treat them. Many different things were tried with little success. To this day, ADD/ADHD remains as elusive today as it was fifty years ago.

If I was a medical doctor I probably would've followed the crowd of other doctors and make no progress in the matter. But, as luck would have it, I'm not a doctor. This allows me to ask questions other doctors would never even think about, for they would be so off the wall. I think that because I'm not a doctor helped me to see things from very unusual perspectives.

Prominent scholars in Business teach that if we can't find solutions through the usual channels, we shall find them through unusual channels. For that we need to be naive enough not to know that what we are trying to do is impossible. And we must also be brave enough to accept the world around us from new and unknown perspectives.

Without further ado, let me start by listing some facts we know to be true:

• Brain works faster during crises.
• Challenging balance activities cause the brains to work faster, in the similar way as though the person took chemical stimulants.
• Unless we use certain capabilities from early age, later in life they might become hard to acquire, e.g. language, muscles & joints, and balance. If we don't use them, we lose them.
• Just 40 years ago people preferred leather shoes as their primary daily footwear for all ages. Sneakers were used mostly for sporting activities.
• Today, babies start wearing sneakers even before they learn to walk. Children grow up wearing sneakers as their primary footwear from childhood to college.
• Sneakers, through special design and materials, have excellent traction and stability on the ground; and these qualities are superior to those of the leather-bottom shoes.
• Kids now can only run during their physical education class, under controlled settings. This is essentially the only place where kids can now run at full speed.
• Current safety measures, such as anti-slip tape, restrictions to run inside the school and on the schoolyard, plus more stable footwear (sneakers), reduce the frequency of slip-and-fall incidents.

The function of integration of sensory information is directly influenced by the stimulation (vestibular stimulation) of the organ of balance. The organ of balance in the inner ear receives this stimulation through challenging balance conditions. When you downgrade the challenge in balance conditions, you reduce vestibular stimulation. The reduction of vestibular stimulation lowers its effect on the integration of sensory information, processed by the inner ear.

Let me illustrate. When you are rollerblading or skateboarding, the challenge level for balance skills is high. This increased balance challenge creates vestibular stimulation. Vestibular stimulation, in turn, makes the eyes see better, ears hear better, the sense of touch gets better. While skateboarding, guys and girls see and react to the smallest changes on the road surface. They hear their surroundings better, and they have more control over their body because of increased performance of their sense of proprioception (sense of body motion.) They are wide awake, fully alert, feel in control, and feel one with their environment.

Put these skateboarders in the classroom, and after 30 minutes they will be falling asleep. They will feel foreign to the classroom environment, and everything that is going on in the class will make no sense to them. Their hearing will become dull, and their eyes will not be as sharp. They will start getting into conversations with someone during the class, or they will be fidgeting on their chairs. Somebody might start scratching his scalp and become amused at the falling dandruff. Others will start drawing pictures on their hands and arms. They will pay no attention to the teacher, or anyone else for that matter. In other words, they will exhibit typical signs of ADD/ADHD symptoms. But just 30 minutes ago, on their skateboards they were on top of the world.

This applies to those low bicycles for stunts, and for those who play soccer in the field, and to those who play basketball, and tennis. On the field and on the court many kids and adults feel complete and in control. Remove that vestibular stimulation and you remove all those extra-sensory experiences, their level of alertness, and their ability to pay attention to their environment.

While improving safety, we neglect to assess the unintended consequences. Today, from the time babies start walking, they rarely slip and fall. They may fall for a number of other reasons, but usually not from slipping. They are more likely to trip over the front of the shoe stuck on the floor, than to fall because the shoe slipped.) Thanks to sneakers' excellent traction, babies and children don't develop higher level of alertness against their feet losing ground due to slipping. Compared to leather-bottom shoes, sneaker grip the ground securely.

Collective safety measures promote the decline in level of alertness, which is required from the brain in order to deal with more challenging balance conditions. The safety measures reduce the flow of challenging balance conditions, and with it, reduce the brain's base speed.

You might remember how schools used to polish and buff their floors. You start running, pick up some speed and then slide for 10-15 feet. That was fun. And that fun created its own dance move, Twist. Do you remember how quick-witted children and adults were in the '50s? At that time, many wore real leather shoes. That seemingly tiny element, changed the culture and introduced new problems for us to solve.

We take our problems to the doctor. The doctor is trained to recognize symptoms and prescribe chemistry to treat the problem. Remember, the early doctors were those who mixed different potions; they were chemists. Modern doctors are also chemists, for they treat most problems through chemistry.

With each passing year, we improve our desire for maximum comfort, maximum sitting, and maximum protection against slip and fall incidents. With each passing year we teach our brains to get by on slower processing speed. With the idle speed slower, it becomes difficult to keep focused and pay attention.

Balance is the first sensory organ that develops in the fetus. After only 17 weeks from conception, the organ of balance is fully developed and is functioning.

From childhood to college, we wear sneakers, and we are lowering our brains' necessity to deal with challenging balance conditions. Why? Compared to leather-bottom shoes, sneakers provide excellent traction and foot stability on the ground. (Try to dance twist in your sneakers...) Before the widespread use of sneakers, no other daily footwear provided our feet with the same high level of traction and stability as sneakers do now.

As you can see, it is possible, to view what is currently a medical problem, as a physics problem. Physics problems are better resolved via physics, not via chemistry. The school uniform will include leather-bottom shoes. That could be the formal wingtip, or the cowboy style boots or shoes.

There will be more scraped knees, but isn't that the essential part of growing up? Kids need to learn to appreciate, based on their own experiences, good balance, reliable footing, and not take them for granted. They need to walk measuring each step, for any step could cause the foot to slip. This has been the way people lived from the beginning of time. Nobody, ever, was as sure in his/her step as we are today, wearing sneakers. Take away from the child the need to be cautious, and you take away half of what he or she can become, if only given a chance.

Now you know my take on how the brain gets slower, and why we get more and more cases with ADD/ADHD. Now you can understand why so many researchers claim that they don't know exactly how ADD/ADHD works. How can they know when they are trying to treat a physics problem with chemistry?

I invite you to do your own research: observe the behavior and grades of kids who wear leather bottom shoes, then compare your data to the data from kids who wear sneakers. Post what you find in the comments.

Not all ADD/ADHD cases are the same. Some might truly require chemical intervention. But before you put your kid on pills, give him or her one month in leather shoes. Will you?

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Some Helpful Guidelines to Select the Top International School

Selecting the right school for your kid is an extremely crucial decision. Often the school is the stepping stone which will take your child further.

A proper school environment has become even more significant taking into account the modern day household scenario. Since most parents are working and they hardly have enough time to devote for kids, they have to rely on the school for best education and guidance. This is the reason why more and more educational institutions are coming up, with the noble aim to offer high quality education and at the same time shape up the kid's personality. They follow education curriculum keeping the global educational scenario in mind. This is why the unique concept of international schools has gained extreme popularity.

With availability of so many top rated institutions, how do you decide about the top international school? Here are some guidelines, which can prove to be helpful:-

Know about the school location and ambiance:-

Since international schools mostly attract students from varied locations who are born and brought up with totally different cultures, the ideal institution should be one which will offer the perfect platform for kids to interact and feel free with each other. It should be located conveniently and also offer the peaceful ambiance where kids can grow up under able and strict guidance of trained faculties. In fact, many top rated international schools have come up in beautiful locations, amidst lush greenery. These schools have open spaces, separate boarding facilities for boys and girls along with state-of-the-art facilities. Boarding facilities are of quite high standard. Rooms are maintained clean. The food served to students is nutritious and tasty too. Besides, schools have medical services and doctors for all sorts of emergencies.

Know about the course curriculum and teaching faculties:-

Different schools may have their own course curriculum. However, all have the basic aim of offering standard education which will be accepted internationally. Ideally, the school should offer courses starting from Montessori till 12th standard. The school should have educated and efficient faculties who will be able to guide students properly. They should be ready to offer special support to those who are lagging in specific subjects. Time to time analysis of students' performance can also help a lot.

Know about different extra-curricular activities offered by the school:-

As education is important so also is taking part in outdoor games and other extra-curricular activities. International schools are very particular in this regard. They encourage students to take up activities of his/her choice. In fact, there is a range of activities on offer like music, art & craft, dance, creative writing, drama, Information Technology, yoga, gymnasium, science club, environment & nature, etc. These schools offer very attractive campus life which students miss even after stepping out of the school.

So, if you are looking for the top international school, make sure that you have done a thorough search, preferably online to gather initial information before initiating the admission process.

For more details:
http://www.chennaipublicschool.com/

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Portable Appliance Testing Training for Checking Safety of Electrical Equipments

Portable appliance is a procedure for assessing the safety of electric appliances. The in-service testing of the electric equipments is necessary for assuring the safety of employees. The portable testing training courses are designed to create testers competent in inspecting and testing electrical equipments.

Importance of Portable Appliance training

It is estimated that a quarter of all electrical accidents are linked to portable electrical equipments. Most of these unfortunate incidents can be averted by inspecting the appliances at regular intervals. According to the Electricity at Work Regulation law, only a person who has received formal training in portable testing can inspect the electrical installations in public and private buildings.

Features of Portable Appliance training courses

A highly rated Portable Testing training program complies with the latest Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) code of practice. The training course includes identification of different types of electrical equipments and the different routes through which electrical appliances are damaged. Learning the different test procedures and the right use of the testing instruments are the most important components of the Portable Appliance training courses. In addition, the participants in the course are trained in visual inspection and record keeping. No prior educational qualification or knowledge of testing electrical equipments is required for joining the Portable Appliance training courses.The highly rated PAT training courses give equal emphasis on the theories and practices of PAT testing.

Different areas of Portable Testing

After completing a Portable Appliance training course, you can join a company that specializes in Portable Testing. These companies are engaged by businesses to inspect and test the electrical equipments. However, to save the cost of hiring an external company for assessing the safety of the electrical appliances, nowadays a large number of businesses are creating their own in-house workforce trained in Portable Appliance.

The main duty of the in-house staff trained in Portable Testing is to ensure that all the electrical equipments in an organization are safe and secure. A person who has participated in a Portable Appliance training course can undertake regular visual inspections of electrical equipments in an office or factory. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), almost 90 percent faults in electrical appliances can be identified through this process. However, for enhancing the overall safety of electrical equipments, visual inspections should be followed by Portable Testing. While testing the appliance, the tester should check the insulation of the appliance and cables, polarity of the wiring and the earthing system.

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Special Needs Students and College Admission: Do You Need Extra Time On The SAT?

"My son has special needs. What should we do about him taking the SAT? What accommodations can or should he have?"

The answer depends in part on the type of special needs your son has. Learning disabilities range in levels and severity, so accommodations are based on the needs of the individual student.

Your first step is to work with your Case Manager or Special Education/Exceptional Education Department at your high school. College Board, who oversees administration of the SAT and all accommodations, is going to ask for a formal request with documentation from your school.

Begin this process early because at peak times it can take 6-10 weeks to process a request.

The first thing the College Board looks at is: Does this child receive some type of modification to their regular testing at school? Students who do not have any accommodations or modifications at school should not expect to receive any on the SAT. But just because your child has testing adjustments at school does not mean he will qualify for modified testing on the SAT.

College Board's next question is: What accommodations can or should he have? Again, this really depends. The most common modifications I saw as a school counselor was extended time.

Some people think: Oh, wow. That's going to be great and he could really use some extra time. Maybe I should try to get my child qualified for extra time. Keep in mind, extra time can be a curse rather than a blessing. The SAT is a 4-hour long exam. Some students who are receiving 50% extra time have taken a 4-hour exam and made it a 6-hour exam plus additional time for breaks. A lot of my students with attention and focus issues have a really hard time sitting there for 4 hours; 6 hours is impossible. The extra time hurts their ability to perform on the test.

I've seen a variety of modifications and can't suggest what your son should have without understanding his learning issues. I had a student with severe arthritis who couldn't bubble in her own answers because it was such a physical strain. I've had other students who have had individual testing. While they may be allowed extended time they're also in an individual setting where it becomes a little more of a self-paced extended time exam. Other students need large print tests. Your son's accommodations will be based on his needs.

Keep in mind the SAT is intended to be a challenging test and accommodations should help put him on a level playing field with other test takers. They are not intended to improve his score or give him an advantage.

My best advice is to start the process early. Talk with your Special Education Coordinator or your Exceptional Education Department at school to find out what type of modifications might be most appropriate and most helpful. Get approved by College Board before his junior year in case there are any problems that require additional documentation or explanation.

If you have questions, you can contact College Board's Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office directly. I have always found them to be very knowledgeable and helpful.

Finally, I have found many special needs students score better on the ACT, so encourage your son to take both tests. And your college search should focus on schools where your son will thrive academically. There are many colleges and universities with programs designed to help students with special needs.

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Etiquette for the Massage Therapist

Massage therapy is somewhat intimate as far as natural healing modalities go. Unfortunately, there is no way around this fact. The environment may be professional, but because this is such a hands-on occupation, some uncomfortable or embarrassing situations may arise.

It is the job of the Massage Therapist to create a relaxing, safe environment and a gratifying experience for the client. It is up to the client to express their wants or needs in a professional manner so that the practitioner can provide their service in a comfortable manner.

Maintaining Boundaries

Clients have a multitude of reasons for getting a massage. Many are looking to relieve stress and relax. Others receive regular massages to keep their body healthy, improve their range of motion and enhance blood circulation. Regardless of their reasoning, a massage therapist must respect the client's boundaries. They must also make their own boundaries clear to the client.

While therapeutic massages are a naturally sensual experience, they are not meant to be sexual in any way. Whether the client is female or male, the therapist is required to address any sexually aggressive or suggestive comments in a professional way. The client must understand that such requests are inappropriate. At the same time, a practitioner cannot assume that certain body parts can be touched. They must be certain the client is comfortable throughout the massage.

It is absolutely inappropriate to touch the genital area during the massage session. Clients should not expect the therapist to touch them in a sexual manner and the therapist should not be touching the client in a sexual manner. Not only would this present ethical and legal issues, but it also destroys the trust between the client and therapist.

Seasoned massage therapists understand how to avert any uncomfortable sexual advances made by a client. A delicate warning is typically all that is needed to get the point across. However, the therapist should never be afraid to make the point known with a more aggressive warning or shutting down the session altogether. A client who is being inappropriately touched should also make their concerns known. Sometimes the contact is accidental. In this case, the therapist should apologize and acknowledge the client's discomfort.

Is Clothing Really Optional?

A client should feel comfortable during their massage. The amount of clothing worn is typically dependent upon the type of massage the client is getting. It is not uncommon for those receiving a full body massage to be completely undressed. However, this is not a requirement. Clients can certainly wear briefs or panties during the session. It is all about making the client feel at ease. Whether they choose to wear clothes or not, a massage therapist will cover the client so that only the areas being worked on are revealed.

The Relationship Between the Client and Massage Therapist

The very nature of a massage is intimate. The client will give permission for such an intimate experience should the therapist remain professional. However, the therapist also relies on the trust of the client. A relationship between two parties is formed, even if it is just a professional one. It is important that both parties respect each other's boundaries so that the session can be carried out in an appropriate and comfortable manner.

Remaining Professional

Providing others with the healing power of massage therapy is an ancient and respectable profession. As more benefits of massage therapy come to light, people are becoming more accepting of the practice as a way to maintain optimal health. Well-trained, experienced and ethical massage therapists will always provide their clients with a comfortable and professional experience they both can enjoy.

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Why Is It Important To Teach Functional Skills To The Special Needs Student?

Functional Skills are essentially the skills we use each and every day as we go about living our lives. Consider that the more Functional Skills/Life Skills learned by individuals with special needs the greater the level of their independence.

Functional Skills include:

* Getting dressed

* Cooking

* Cleaning

* Laundry

* Shopping

* Money skills

* Getting around the community

* Specific work skills

* Social skills

For most of us, learning Functional Skills came easily, but for individuals/students who have special needs (sometimes the term cognitively disabled may be used) learning these skills can be a challenge.

Special Needs students need to have the these important life skills broken down into small steps. Repeated practice of each of these steps allows them to gain a degree of independence. For example; they must first learn a general skill such as addition, and then practice applying the addition skill in different content areas, such as with the concept of money. They then need to specifically practice the addition of money as a separate and new skill.

These individuals are also more likely to have difficulty in generalizing these Functional Skills from the classroom setting to the actual environment where they will need to use these skills.

The more we can teach Functional Skills in an actual setting, such as the laundromat, kitchen or grocery store, and with the actual material/equipment, the better and easier it will be for the student to learn and apply their skill. It is also best to use material that is already part of their everyday lives such as, their own sweater, actual money, the local city map and bus schedules, menus from nearby restaurants and the local grocery store ads. By using materials that the student is already familiar with, they will be able to grasp the relevance of the skill easier.

In short, the more Functional Skills that are mastered by the special needs student the more independent they are likely to be. Keep in mind that when teaching these life skills, it is important to remember to break the skill down into small achievable steps, teach the skill in an actual environment (or in a realistic environment if possible) and preferably with the use of the actual material/equipment. The student with special needs will have an easier time learning Functional Skills as well as transferring and applying these skills into their everyday lives. Everyone wants and deserves the opportunity to be the best that they can be!

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Online Dating Made Simple - 3 Tips to Simply Using Online Dating Sites to Meet Women

Online dating can be a really simple way for a guy who has run out of ideas to meet women to actually connect and interact with single women. You don't even have to be someone who has run out of ideas, you might just prefer using a platform other than the normal bar scene to meet a woman. However, as simple as it may be, a lot of men find that it ends up being harder than they had hoped it would be. Some will even feel that way before they even get started and hopefully, that does not happen to you. If it does, there are things that you can do that will simplify the process of using online dating sites to meet women.

Here are 3 tips that I think you will find makes it a lot easier to meet women on the internet:

1) Don't just opt for one site and one site only.

When you first start out, you may want to try using just one site to get a feel for what you are doing and how to make yourself stand out. However, you might find that the first site that you choose doesn't seem to have the selection that you are looking for, or that the number of women who are available in your area is just too little. If that is the case, then you may want to try a couple of other sites if you can. Kind of like going to one bar and seeing that it is dead and then deciding to make the rounds to a few other bars to see if they are more lively.

2) Do try your best to start conversations with women online.

Using a web based platform to meet women is no magic bullet where you are automatically going to just attract female attention. You are going to have to try and make things happen and that means that you need to be able to start conversations with women and see how it flows from there. Don't worry if you don't get it right on the first few women you try to connect with. There will be more.

3) Don't forget that what you really need to do is to make a woman want to get to know you in person.

It's great that you can use your computer to connect with someone and you can have some fun flirting with a woman online, but if you really want to see some magic in your dating life, then you are going to have to advance off of the computer and meet up face to face. Don't forget that.

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