Welcome to the Attention Deficit Disorder Expert Podcast Series by Attitude magazine.

This is Wayne Callan for Attitude magazine.

Glad you can be with us for another expert's webinar.

I doubt if there are any parents raising a child with ADHD

who haven't struggled with screen challenges or looked high and low for solutions.

You ask your team to step away from the cell phone to join the family for dinner

and you get a blank stare or bare

acknowledgement that you've asked him something. Parents sometimes get angry and

are often frustrated. Today's topic, Screen Time and the ADHD brain

will address a sore spot in many households

with children diagnosed with ADHD.

There are all kinds of studies decrying the overuse of screens and their effect on your teen's brain and the rest of his life.

Some researchers say that the constant stimulation and instant rewards of games raise the bar for kids to pay attention

in normal less stimulating situations where you have to work harder to get rewards.

Another and perhaps bigger problem is that all that screen time

means time not spent doing other things more valuable for their development

including interacting with the family and friends.

Still another study suggests that kids with the most severe ADHD symptoms are most drawn to video games.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends an hour per day of total media

screen time for elementary school children and two hours for kids in secondary school. Problem is American children currently average

more than six hours of screen time per day. We are very lucky to have West

Crenshaw with us today to sort this all out and give us strategies to manage our teen's screen time

...