Top journalists come to Lehigh for ADHD conference

Writers from The Washington Post (fifth largest circulation daily newspaper in the nation), Better Homes and Gardens (fifth largest magazine and the number one women's magazine in the U.S.), Prevention (the number one consumer health magazine in the U.S.), and Parents Magazine (the number one parenting magazine in the U.S.) participated in the two-day conference on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder held on campus and at community sites throughout the Lehigh Valley in late April.
The conference focused on non-pharmaceutical approaches to treating ADHD, based on pioneering research conducted by George DuPaul, professor and coordinator of school psychology, and his colleagues in the COE.
We were very pleased to have the honor of hosting a CASE media fellowship at Lehigh and excited that such distinguished writers from the nation's top media outlets joined us for the two-day conference, says Sally A. White, professor and dean of the College of Education.
Rave reviews
The reviews from participants were equally enthusiastic.
I thought the seminar was terrific. The presenters were great, the sessions at the school and with the parents were fabulous, and I have a great deal of material for several stories, says Debra Gordon, who is writing an article for an upcoming issue of Parents magazine.
Christian Millman, health editor of Better Homes and Gardens, says the intensive sessions were extremely productive.
I've been to a lot of these type of programs and this one has provided me with the most information in the shortest amount of time, Millman says.
Program highlights included: a Q&A workshop; visits to pre-schools and elementary schools to talk with teachers and observe children; one-on-one discussions with teachers and parents of children diagnosed with ADHD; a roundtable session with COE colleagues and project staff, and John VanBrakle, M.D., chair, pediatrics department of Lehigh Valley Hospital Center and Mary Pipan, M.D., developmental pediatrician, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The writers were exposed to what is quite frankly some of the most innovative and impressive research in the area of ADHD, White says. Professor George DuPaul with his colleagues Dr. Asha Jitendra and Dr. Lee Kern, and their graduate assistants and colleagues in the community have spent much of their careers finding scientific methods and best practices that will help children cope with a very debilitating illness. Their non-pharmaceutical intervention studies are providing that important research and data.
Lehigh's proposal Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention in Treating ADHD was selected for the 2002-2003 Council for Advancement and Support of Education Media Fellowships Program. A total of 23 fellowships were selected by CASE's judging panel of senior journalists.
--Joanne C. Anderson
janderson@lehigh.edu