During the 1980s and 1990s, the label of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder raised the eyebrows of many well-meaning parents, teachers and child advocates. Despite the naysayers, mental health professionals acknowledged the validity of this disorder by listing it in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health, 4th ed.
Identification
The term "ADD" describes inattentiveness, forgetfulness, concentration difficulties and carelessness. In addition to these problems, another type of ADD--called ADHD--has motor hyperactivity. Affected people cannot sit still, talk excessively, act impulsively and disrupt others.
Significance
Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder states in their 2010 online resource guide that 5 to 8 percent of school-age children display the symptoms of ADD/ADHD and carry them into adulthood. As children with ADD/ADHD move through their growing stages, new manifestations of attention deficit emerge. Learning, friendships and family relations often suffer. More importantly, the child's self-esteem becomes damaged as the people around him react negatively to his behaviors.
Effects
According to the DSM IV, the student with ADD/ADHD, demonstrates inattentiveness, carelessness, forgetfulness and failure to complete assignments. She may stand out as the disorganized one, the one who forgets her homework or the one who fails her tests. The National Institute on Mental Health reports that a child with ADD/ADHD becomes bored with tasks, daydreams and fails to listen or follow directions.
Misconceptions
Teachers, students and others who surround the child with ADD/ADHD misinterpret his actions as deliberate displays of poor behavior. ADDitude, an organization dedicated to help people live well with ADD/ADHD, points out that you can't punish biology. The child acts within the abilities with which he was born. Rather than judging him, others could offer understanding and provide him with alternatives and strategies would help him interact more effectively with the others around him.
Solutions
A variety of medications can help improve a person's ability to focus and control her hyperactivity. Other strategies to help kids with ADD/ADHD include hiring a tutor, guiding the child through organization of his environment, using visual and oral cues to keep her on task and assigning another student to help her pack her book bag and gather her coat, hat and gloves. Behavior modification addresses her impulsivity by rewarding her for small gains like not calling out. It helps to remember that the child with ADD/ADHD has no control over the majority of her actions. Therefore, medication not only helps her situation, it spares her self-esteem.
For more information
To learn about the causes and treatment of ADD and ADHD contact a local chapter of CHADD or go to their online website at http://www.chadd.org . Another good informational source, the National Institute of Mental Health, has this website: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/ . For information about the recent findings on the brain makeup of people with ADD/ADHD go to http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/39/1/26.full . Also check out ADDitude online at http://additudemag.com . They have a down to earth approach to dealing with ADD/ADHD kids and adults.
References
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, publisher; 2000
- Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: National Resource Center on ADHD; 2010
- National Institute of Mental Health: Children's Mental Health Facts, 2010
- ADDitude: Living well with Attention Deficit; 2010
