According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, "Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood." Inattentive-type ADHD used to just be called ADD, and kids who have it aren't as active or disruptive as other types, making the disorder less noticeable. There are still some tell-tale signs, though, and they go beyond the short attention span that's typical of normal kids; if your child shows numerous symptoms for six months or more and under a variety of situations, he may be diagnosed with ADHD.
Lack of Attention
The problems with inattention that your child has may stem from the fact that she doesn't seem to listen to you, even when you speak directly to her. This goes hand in hand with other common symptoms of inattentive-type ADHD, such as a failure to pay attention to details, which leads to making careless mistakes in schoolwork or other activities.
Lack of Focus
Once you get your child to pay attention to something, you may find that it's short lived. Children with this type of ADHD are easily distracted, daydream often and become confused easily. As a result, they have problems focusing on one thing at a time, become bored after just a few minutes of working on a task and tend to switch activities frequently. Your child may dislike, try to put off or completely avoid tasks that require a focused mental effort, such as schoolwork, homework or household chores. However, he may become completely absorbed in something that he actually likes to do, like a game or fun activity.
Disorganization and Incompletion
Because she has trouble with attention and focus, an inattentive-type ADHD child has problems completing things that she sets out to do and as a result often fails to turn in homework assignments or finish her chores. Sometimes she misses the instructions on how to do something, sometimes she promptly forgets them, and sometimes she struggles with following through on the instructions she does remember. On top of all this, she likely has difficulty organizing tasks in a way that would allow her to get them done efficiently. You may also notice that she tends to lose things, such as assignments, pencils and other tools that are required to complete something. But it's probably not deliberate because she's just as likely to misplace her personal belongings, such as items of clothing, keys, toys and games.
