An organization calling itself the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban artificial colorings from food. The press release page has links to the petition itself, and also mentions Dr. Ben Feingold with a link to his Feingold Association of the United States, and two British studies exploring the effects of artificial food colorings on children’s behavior.

The first study was published in 2004, in Archives of Disease in Childhood – “The effects of a double blind, placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative challenge on hyperactivity in a general population sample of preschool children,” by B Bateman, J O Warner, E Hutchinson, T Dean, P Rowlandson, C Gant, J Grundy, C Fitzgerald, J Stevenson.

The second study was published in 2007 in The Lancet – “Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial,” by Dona McCann, Angelina Barrett, Alison Cooper, Debbie Crumpler, Lindy Dalen, Kate Grimshaw, Elizabeth Kitchin, Kris Lok, Lucy Porteous, Emily Prince, Edmund Sonuga-Barke, John O Warner, Jim Stevenson.

The CSPI is also “urging parents who believe their children are harmed by food dyes to file reports online at http://www.cspinet.org/fooddyes/.”

The association organizes an annual national conference, which this year will take place on July 10-13, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Members of ADDA also receive FOCUS, the quarterly publication of the organization and have access to weekly teleclasses on ADHD.

ADDA has again led the way for the creation of a U.S. Senate resolution designating September 19, 2007 as “National AD/HD Awareness Day.”

The following guests participated in the conversation about ADDA and coaching individuals with ADDA:

David Giwerc, immediate past president of ADDA, also Master Certified Coach (MCC) and Founder/President of the ADD Coach Academy, “a nationally recognized, comprehensive training program designed to teach the skills essential for powerful coaching of individuals with AD/HD.”

Linda S. Anderson, current president of ADDA, also MA, MCC, SCAC, a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), a Golden Circle member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and co-founder of the Philadelphia NAPO chapter, and founder of Getting Clear coaching practice, specializing in coaching adults with ADHD.

Evelyn Polk Green, MS.Ed, President Elect, a Past President of the CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) National Board of Directors, an adult with AD/HD and the mother of two sons, both of whom are also diagnosed with AD/HD.

Beverly Rohman, ADDA board member, ADHD coach and consultant for learning differences and school searches. She is the founder of The Learning Connections, a coaching practice “working with students, families and adults with Attention Deficit Disorder and other learning and life challenges.”

The organization seems to be geared mostly toward adults with ADHD, however, in the FAQ I was glad to find a reference to an organization I did not know existed – Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA), “an independent, nonprofit, §501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization of attorneys, advocates and parents” whose “primary mission is to secure high quality educational services for children with disabilities.”