If your child has been labeled " ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder " or "ADHD," you may already feel the pressure to pump him full of Ritalin before the school year starts again. But while it’s estimated that 6 million children will take Ritalin or other brands of stimulant medications, that doesn’t mean that a prescription is right for your child.

Like all medications, there are risks and side effects associated with taking stimulants: insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability and perhaps most common – a sense of emotional "numbness." And while some parents swear that the benefits have been enough to get their children back on track in school, there is a growing movement toward non-drug therapies to help kids with ADHD. One therapy that has proved particularly effective is called "cognitive skills training."

What are cognitive skills?

"Cognitive skills are the essential, but often overlooked fundamental tools of effective learning," explains Dr. Ken Gibson, founder of the PACE (Processing and Cognitive Enhancement) program, a brain training program that specializes in cognitive skills training. "Learning isn’t about how much you know, but how effectively you process or handle the information you receive. Cognitive skills are the mental mechanisms that process incoming information."

How are weak cognitive skills identified?

Cognitive skills are not easy to see or recognize through casual observation. There are, however, common traits that children with weak cognitive skills often display, including:

• Difficulty paying attention

• Poor test scores, grades or reading comprehension

•Poor memory

•Difficulty organizing activity

• Poor study and work habits

•Taking a long time to complete tasks

• Disinterest (or dislike) in school

Parents can learn more about brain training at www.mybrainworx.com to help them further identify their child’s weak cognitive skills.

How does cognitive skills therapy help?

A child’s cognitive skill set is made up of several cognitive skills including auditory processing, visual processing, short and long-term memory, comprehension, logic and reasoning, and attention skills. Each of these can also be divided into identifiable sub-skills. For example, attention is made up of sub-skills such as sustain attention (staying on task), selective attention (ignoring distractions) and divided attention (handling more than one task at a time). Each of these skills and sub-skills play a specific and necessary role, and must work in concert before an individual can learn effectively.

"Good programs use intense focused training to strengthen weak skills," says Gibson. "It’s just like practicing the piano to improve your skill level. There are specific programs and exercises that specialize in identifying and strengthening weak cognitive skills. With the right program, most children who have been labeled as having ADHD, ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder or other learning disabilities can improve from three to five grade levels and about half the students no longer require medication."

For more information about ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder please visit www.mybrainworx.com