VOA慢速英语2014 如何处理精力不集中和过度反应

 

Dealing¹ with Distractions² and Overreactions 如何处理精力不集中和过度反应

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

Five million American children and teenagers have Attention Deficit³ / Hyperactivity Disorder⁴, commonly known as ADHD.

ADHD makes it difficult - if not impossible - to stay with a duty until it is complete.  

Katherine Ellison knows the problem well. She is a mother who was always yelling at her son to be quiet, to sit still, to stay on task. She did not know that he had ADHD. She also did not know that she had it too.

Ms. Ellison wrote a book about the issue with her son, Buzz. VOA’s Faiza Elmasry talked to her about, "Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention."

Buzz Ellison is a child who had many problems in elementary school. He could not sit still. He was constantly jumping up and down in class. He did not pay attention to his teachers and could not focus on the task at hand.

As a result, his mother says, he was always in trouble. He also got bullied⁵. And his teachers gave him a lot of negative feedback.

"His attitude towards school really changed. I think he got bullied both by his peers and his teachers who insisted that he could do things that he really wasn’t capable of doing at that age and remembering things and they gave him a lot of negative feedback."

His mother, Katherine Ellison, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. She did not understand why he behaved the way he did. And she admits that her behavior was only making the situation worse.

"I was making things worse often by being anxious or being impatient or not understanding him. And I realized at some point that I really hadn’t hugged him in a while. And I wasn’t smiling when he came into the room because we were just having such a hard time."

When Buzz was nine doctors identified his problem. They said he had ADHD. And, like many parents of children with ADHD, Ellison learned she had the disorder as well. She was in her late 40s. 

She says that like many people with ADD or ADHD life can be a rollercoaster ride – a life with many ups and downs, high points and low points.

When life has many ups and downs we call it a roller coaster, just like the amusement park ride.

?“I, like many people with ADD, had a roller coaster of a life. For instance, I got sued for 11-million dollars for a reporting error that I made in one of my first years as a newspaper reporter. And two years later, I won a Pulitzer Prize. So these are the kinds of things that often happen when you got this disorder; you’re capable of really amazing things and very humiliating, terrible things."

So, the mother and son teamed to write a book about their experience. Ms. Ellison says she was happy that ADHD became a project for them instead of a fight between them.

"My son and I started out by writing a contract together, which was terrific because it changed the perspective from being a shameful⁶ problem that we had to a joint⁷ business project. And I also knew that he would cooperate with me. He wanted a percentage of the profits from the book. I was willing to do that because all of a sudden we’re partners rather than antagonists⁸."

They explored the world of ADHD for a year. They researched treatments and doctors.

More Cases of ADHD Identified in Children

ADHD is identified more and more. But much about the disorder remains⁹ unknown, including its cause or causes. American and Swedish researchers have released a study that links older fathers and ADHD. It found babies fathered by men over 44 years old are 13 times more likely to develop the disorder. JAMA Psychiatry¹⁰, a journal of the American Medical Association, published the study.

Peter Levine is a doctor of children’s medicine in California. The pediatrician specializes in treating children with ADHD. He says there are many misunderstandings about the disorder. 

"One of the biggest misconceptions is parents think that this is their fault."

And, he says others find fault with these parents, too.

"Other parents will blame them for it because they see the way these kids acting¹¹ and they'll (will) say, ‘What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you control your child?' So parents will blame themselves. Another misconception is that the child is really not trying, because oftentimes these kids are trying harder than other kids to control their behaviors. That leads to a lot of difficulties and frustrations¹²."

Mr. Levine says the first step in dealing with ADHD is getting the facts straight.

"In America, the diagnosis¹³ rate in children generally is quoted in the range of about 3 to 7 percent of children. It’s more common in boys, by about three to one. This is a highly inheritable disorder. They can’t get over ADHD. I mean it's not something that you can make go away. As many as two-third of the children who have problems with ADHD will have difficulties as adults. You can’t cure it. You have to find ways of coping with it."

Changing Parenting Styles for ADHD Kids

He says that one of the most effective ways to deal with ADHD is to change the way you parent.

And that’s what Katherine Ellison did.

She says she is now paying more attention to her son, spending more time with him, being less judgmental and giving him more positive feedback.

And Buzz is reacting well to these changes. He has fewer outbursts at home and at school. He is more centered on school work. And he has a new interest – playing tennis.

Words in this Story

task – n a piece of work that has been given to someone : a job for someone to do

task at hand – idiom. a piece of work that someone is currently working on

negative – adj. expressing dislike or disapproval¹⁴

feedback – n. helpful information or criticism that is given to someone to say what can be done to improve a performance, product, etc.

bully¹⁵ – v. to use superior strength or influence to intimidate¹⁶ (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.

roller coaster - n. a situation or experience that involves sudden and extreme changes

prescription¹⁷ - n. a medicine or drug that a doctor officially tells someone to use

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 distractions   

n.使人分心的事[人]( distraction的名词复数 )；娱乐，消遣；心烦意乱；精神错乱

参考例句：

• I find it hard to work at home because there are too many distractions. 我发觉在家里工作很难，因为使人分心的事太多。
• There are too many distractions here to work properly. 这里叫人分心的事太多，使人无法好好工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 antagonists   

对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药

参考例句：

• The cavalier defeated all the antagonists. 那位骑士打败了所有的敌手。
• The result was the entire reconstruction of the navies of both the antagonists. 双方的海军就从这场斗争里获得了根本的改造。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。

13 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

14 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

15 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

16 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

17 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。