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Home › Pediatrics CE Courses › Pediatrics 216: Pediatric ADD/ADHD
At a Glance
| Course: | Pediatrics 216: Current Perspectives on Pediatric ADD/ADHD · 2 CE hours · $40 |
| Faculty: | Michael Hall, DC, FIACN |
| Format: | Online, on-demand — start immediately |
| Pricing: | $40 ($20/hr) · automatic bundle discounts |
| Approval: | PACE Provider #34015544 · TCC co-sponsored |
PACE Provider #34015544 · Co-sponsored by Texas Chiropractic College · Completions reported to CE BrokerAbout one in nine U.S. children has carried an ADHD diagnosis, and medication remains the most common treatment. Pediatrics 216 starts with two questions most CE courses skip — what is the problem, and where is it? — and answers both from the neurobiology: the prefrontal association cortex and its right-hemisphere role in behavioral inhibition, the frontostriatal attention networks, dopamine and noradrenaline modulation, the environmental and epigenetic contributors, and the two-to-three-year developmental lag the imaging literature describes.
Michael Hall, DC, FIACN, then turns to what a chiropractic office can actually do with that picture. The course works through the "dopamine dump" of high-stimulation screens versus the steady "drips" of exercise, sleep and connection; the meta-analytic evidence that physical exercise improves attention, executive function and motor skills in children with ADHD, including the dose that showed the strongest effect; the posture, balance and grip findings; and convergence insufficiency as a common ADHD mimic. It closes with a movement and vision toolkit — hop scotch, trampoline, ball bounce and catch, jump rope, wall climb, pencil push-ups and the Brock string — you can prescribe the same week.
Where This Course Fits — Four Clusters, One Certification Track
The CCEDseminars Pediatrics series runs 201–214 in four clinical clusters plus a set of stand-alone courses. The four clusters (Pediatrics 201–212) make up the 24-hour CCP certification track; Pediatrics 216 sits outside that track and is taken on its own.
Foundations & Neurological Pearls (201–202)
Pediatrics 201: Introduction to Chiropractic Pediatrics · Pediatrics 202: 3 Key Neurological Pearls for Family Practice
Adjusting & Hands-On Technique (203–211)
Pediatrics 203: Adjusting & Office Procedures I · Pediatrics 204: Adjusting & Office Procedures II · Pediatrics 206: Pediatric Infant Palpation · Pediatrics 211: Pediatric Manual Therapy for Toddlers
Pregnancy & Family Practice (207–210)
Pediatrics 207: Pregnancy & Chiropractic (Part I) · Pediatrics 209: Stress and the Family Wellness Practice · Pediatrics 210: Pediatric Infant Nutrition
The Young Athlete (205, 212)
Pediatrics 205: Chiropractic & The Young Athlete · Pediatrics 212: Sports and the Younger Athlete
Also in Pediatrics — outside the CCP bundle (213, 214, 215, 216) — you are here
Pediatrics 213: Toxic Synovitis · Pediatrics 214: Pearls for the Practicing Chiropractor · Pediatrics 215: Pediatric Text Neck · Pediatrics 216: Pediatric ADD/ADHD — this course
The full catalog, with pricing and the CCP bundle, lives on the Pediatrics category page.
What You'll Learn
On completing Pediatrics 216 you will be able to:
- Summarize current U.S. prevalence, severity, co-occurring-disorder and treatment data for pediatric ADHD, and the trend toward medication as the most common treatment.
- Describe the neurobiology of ADHD — prefrontal association cortex circuits and their right-hemisphere role in behavioral inhibition, frontostriatal attention networks, dopamine and noradrenaline modulation, cortical-maturation lag and brain-volume findings — together with the prenatal, perinatal, dietary and family-environment contributors.
- Explain the "dopamine dump" of high-stimulation, instant-gratification activity and contrast it with the steady dopamine "drips" of exercise, sunlight, sleep, music and connection.
- Interpret the evidence that physical exercise improves attention, executive function and motor skills in children with ADHD — including the closed-skill dose (70 minutes, twice a week, 12–14 weeks) — alongside the posture, proprioception, balance and hand-grip findings.
- Recognize convergence insufficiency as a common mimic and comorbidity of ADD/ADHD, and prescribe office- and home-based movement and vision activities: hop scotch, trampoline, ball bounce and catch, jumping rope, wall climb, weighted walking, pencil push-ups and the Brock string.
Course Outline
- What is the problem? — U.S. prevalence (about 1 in 9 children ever diagnosed; 11.4%, 7.1 million; 10.5% current), severity, co-occurring disorders, and the treatment mix (53.6% medication, 44.4% behavioral, 30.1% none) from Danielson et al., 2024; medication as the most common treatment (62% in 2016); the 1997–2016 prevalence trend.
- Where is the problem? — dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate, striatum and cerebellum; the direction of brain development; neurodevelopment through movement (pons, midbrain, cortex, prefrontal cortex to age 25).
- The environmental basis of ADHD — prenatal and perinatal exposures, maternal smoking and alcohol, postnatal diet, family social environment and ODD; development of the attentional pathways from structural/genetic to functional/epigenetic influences, and the age of first evaluation.
- Dysregulated cortical plasticity and disturbed networks — structural versus functional connectivity deficits (Liston et al., 2011); anterior and posterior attention systems, dopamine D1 modulation and noradrenaline signal-to-noise (adapted from Himelstein et al., 2001).
- Psychostimulants and later basal-ganglia and cerebellar disease — the Utah Population Database cohort (Curtin et al., Neuropsychopharmacology 2018).
- The prefrontal association cortex — right-hemisphere behavioral inhibition, ventromedial PFC and emotional dysregulation, excessive D1 stimulation and inflexible responding, reduced right-PFC size and activity and disorganized white-matter tracts (J Pediatr 2009; Bush et al., 2005); the PFC's wider reach into executive function, impulse control, autonomic, immune and pain processing.
- Considerations — the roughly three-year lag in cortical maturation (Shaw et al., 2007); smaller brain volumes in ADHD (JAMA 2002: brain 3%, frontal lobes 5%, basal ganglia 7%, cerebellum 11–15% smaller); a two-to-three-year social-emotional delay.
- Dopamine dump versus dopamine drips — the stimulus–anticipation–reward–memory loop; flooding, receptor desensitization and the crash; drips (exercise, sunlight, music, connection, sleep, meditation) versus dumps (sugar, video games, social media, gambling).
- Fitness, exercise and ADHD — the 2024 U.S. Report Card (D-; 20–28% of 6–17-year-olds meet 60 minutes a day; 47th of 50 in aerobic fitness); meta-analytic evidence that exercise improves attention, executive function and motor skills, the closed-skill dose of 70 minutes twice a week for 12–14 weeks, and the dopamine/norepinephrine mechanism; posture, proprioception and cerebellar balance deficits (Christ et al., 2025; Yazici-Mutlu et al., 2026); hand grip, handwriting and learning.
- Convergence insufficiency and the movement toolkit — CI as an ADD/ADHD mimic and comorbidity; vision-therapy exercises (pencil push-ups, Brock string, computer exercises); office and home activities — hop scotch, trampoline, ball bounce, ball catch, jumping rope, wall climb, weighted walking, hanging and card games.
Your Instructor
Michael Hall, DC, FIACN is a Fellow of the International Academy of Chiropractic Neurology with over 30 years of clinical and academic experience. A 1990 honors graduate of Parker College of Chiropractic and a Diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Neurology since 1993, he founded BrainDC.org and is a leading voice in functional neurology, concussion management and global chiropractic education. In the Pediatrics series he also teaches Pediatrics 212, Pediatrics 213 and Pediatrics 215, alongside courses in the CCEDseminars Neurology and Orthopedics series.
Credit, Reporting & State Rules
Pediatrics 216 is a 2-hour on-demand course. Your completion is recorded electronically when you pass the post-course assessment, and your certificate is issued immediately. Completions are reported to CE Broker for the states CCEDseminars serves.
Boards set their own caps on online hours, and some limit hours by category. Before you plan a block of online hours, confirm your board's current rules on the State/Region CEU Approvals page. Texas licensees can verify provider status through the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
Approved states for this course are listed at the bottom of this page.
What It Costs — and How to Pay Less
Pediatrics 216 is $40 for 2 CE hours — $20 per hour. Multi-course discounts apply automatically in the cart — 10% on 6–9 hours and 20% on 10 or more — with no promo code to enter.
This course sits outside the 24-hour CCP bundle (Pediatrics 201–212) and does not count toward it. It pairs naturally with Dr. Hall's other stand-alone Pediatrics courses — 215 Pediatric Text Neck and 213 Toxic Synovitis — and with 214 Pearls for the Practicing Chiropractor.
References
- Danielson ML, Claussen AH, Bitsko RH, Katz SM, Newsome K, Blumberg SJ, et al. ADHD Prevalence Among U.S. Children and Adolescents in 2022: Diagnosis, Severity, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Treatment. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2024;53(3):343–360.
- Curtin K, Fleckenstein AE, Keeshin BR, et al. Increased risk of diseases of the basal ganglia and cerebellum in patients with a history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018;43(13):2548–2555.
- The Emerging Neurobiology of ADHD: The Key Role of the Prefrontal Association Cortex. J Pediatr. 2009 May 1;154(5):I–S43.
- Bush G, Valera EM, Seidman LJ. Functional neuroimaging of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a review and suggested future directions. Biol Psychiatry. 2005;57:1273–1284.
- Shaw P, Rapoport J, Evans A, et al. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is characterized by delay in cortical maturation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007; e-pub Nov 16, 2007.
- Castellanos FX, Lee PP, Rapoport JL, et al. Developmental trajectories of brain volume abnormalities in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. JAMA. 2002;288:1740–1748.
- Berwid OG, Halperin JM. Emerging Support for a Role of Exercise in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Intervention Planning. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2012;14:543–551.
- del Campo N, Chamberlain S, Sahakian B, et al. The Roles of Dopamine and Noradrenaline in the Pathophysiology and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2011;69:e145–e157.
- Gunnell KE, Poitras VJ, LeBlanc A, Schibli K, Barbeau K, Hedayati N, et al. Physical activity and brain structure, brain function, and cognition in children and youth: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Ment Health Phys Act. 2019;16:105–127.
- Liang X, Li R, Wong SHS, et al. The impact of exercise interventions concerning executive functions of children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2021;18:68.
- Effects of physical exercise on attention deficit and other major symptoms in children with ADHD: A meta-analysis. Psychiatry Res. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114509
- Christ T, Boström KJ, Wagner H, Bohn C. Differences in postural strategies between children with and without ADHD in tasks of static and dynamic balance. Front Hum Neurosci. 2025 Aug 1;19:1630049.
- Yazici-Mutlu Ç, Seçinti C, Ahmeto?lu A. ADHD-related attentional variability and its impact on postural stability in young adults. Front Hum Neurosci. 2026;20:1765636.
- Physical Activity Alliance. 2024 United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. activehealthykids.org
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pediatrics 216 a course about diagnosing ADHD?
No. It is a current-perspectives course on the neurobiology of pediatric ADHD — also known as ADD, attention deficit disorder, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder — and on what the evidence says a chiropractic office can do about it. The course asks where the problem sits in the brain, what drives it, and which movement and vision interventions the literature supports, rather than teaching diagnostic criteria.
What does Pediatrics 216 cover, and who teaches it?
Michael Hall, DC, FIACN, a Fellow of the International Academy of Chiropractic Neurology, teaches the 2-hour course. It covers U.S. prevalence and treatment data; the prefrontal, frontostriatal and cerebellar neurobiology of ADHD and its environmental contributors; the psychostimulant literature; the "dopamine dump" concept; the exercise evidence and its dose; posture, balance and hand-grip findings; convergence insufficiency as an ADHD mimic; and a toolkit of office and home activities — hop scotch, trampoline, ball bounce and catch, jumping rope, wall climb, pencil push-ups and the Brock string.
Can exercise really help my child's ADHD, or is medication the only option?
The course reviews meta-analytic evidence that physical exercise improves attention, executive function and motor skills in children with ADHD, with the strongest effect from closed-skill activity of about 70 minutes, twice a week, for 12–14 weeks — and it looks at why, through dopamine and norepinephrine. It also covers the balance, posture and grip deficits that movement programs address, and the eye-teaming problem (convergence insufficiency) that is often mistaken for ADHD. Decisions about starting, continuing or stopping any medication belong with your child's prescriber; a chiropractor can evaluate posture, balance, coordination and near-vision function and build an activity plan alongside that care.
How is the course delivered, and how do I earn the CE credit?
Pediatrics 216 is online and on-demand: you start immediately after checkout and work at your own pace. When you pass the post-course assessment your completion is recorded electronically and your certificate is issued right away. CCEDseminars is PACE Provider #34015544 and the course is co-sponsored by Texas Chiropractic College; completions are reported to CE Broker for the states served. Approved states are listed at the bottom of this page, and confirming your own board's requirements remains your responsibility.
Does Pediatrics 216 count toward the CCP bundle, and what pairs well with it?
No. The 24-hour CCP certification track is Pediatrics 201–212; Pediatrics 216 sits outside it, like 213, 214 and 215, and is taken on its own. It pairs most naturally with Pediatrics 215 Pediatric Text Neck — Dr. Hall's companion functional-neurology course on screens, posture and the brain-eyes-hands framework — and with Pediatrics 213 Toxic Synovitis; the multi-course discount applies automatically in the cart when the hours add up.
State approval and licensing reminder. CCEDseminars is PACE Provider #34015544. Approved states for this course are listed at the bottom of this page, and board rules on online hours change — confirming your own board's current requirements before you enroll is your responsibility.
Pediatrics 216: Current Perspectives on Pediatric ADD/ADHD
2 CE hours · $40 · online, on demand · Michael Hall, DC, FIACN
CCEDseminars · PACE Provider #34015544 · Reviewed by Monte Horne, DC · Last updated October 20, 2026 (CT)