Practical information about ADHD

As someone who has worked with children with ADHD for many years and has also struggled with my own ADHD, I have always tried to help parents understand the experiences of their son or daughter who have ADHD. This has not always been easy to do because, unlike some medical problems, ADHD isn't something that is visible in the way that some disabilities might be to other people. The purpose of this blog is to help you to understand the various aspects of ADHD so that you can better help your ADHD child.

ADHD is the most common mental health disorder in children and adolescents. Boys are three times more likely to have ADHD than are girls and we know that ADHD is genetic and runs in families. Girls who have ADHD have symptoms that are different than boys with ADHD, in that they are typically very sociable and outgoing and don't know a stranger. There are 3 types of ADHD which are the hyperactive type, inattentive type, and combined type. Children with the hyperactive type of ADHD are much easier to identify and diagnose as they typically have significant behavior problems at home and at school. However, children who have only the inattentive type of ADHD are often not diagnosed and don't end up getting the necessary treatment. I have heard many, many times over the past 30 years that teachers have told parents that their child is a lazy student and just doesn't try in school, when the child actually had the inattentive type of ADHD. You can imagine the frustration that both parents and children experience when multiple strategies are tried to get a child to do better in school, but none of them work because the child has undiagnosed ADHD. Many children with ADHD also have secondary diagnoses such as oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety, or depression, or a learning disability. They also are prone to having low self-esteem because of ongoing school issues and difficulty making friends. About 90% of parents with children who have ADHD also feel completely ineffective in disciplining their children because common discipline doesn't work well for these children. I have seen so many ADHD children who have had all their privileges taken away for long periods of time due to poor school performance or other negative behaviors, leading to even more problems for the child and family. Children who have the hyperactive and inattentive type of ADHD typically outgrow their hyperactivy in their early teens but the inattentiveness usually doesn't go away.

So what is life like for a child with ADHD? They are very good at paying attention and following through on tasks that are enjoyable for them. So much so that they may spend hours playing a video game and then have a temper tantrum when you ask them to stop. But paying attention and following through on tasks that are boring for them is almost impossible for any length of time. They tend to be impulsive and that can alienate them from their peers and parents. They blurt out comments without considering how it might affect others, they take things that aren't theirs without considering the consequences, they intrude on other children's personal space, and they often interrupt others when others are talking to them. This often causes other children to avoid socializing with ADHD children, which leads to the ADHD child being attracted to and making friends with other children who also have ADHD. They also tend to be forgetful and have to be reminded many times at home to do basic things. Finally, they tend to get frustrated fairly easily and may have frequent temper tantrums. For children with undiagnosed ADHD inattentive type I have seen a very common school pattern. These children typically do well academically up until the 6th grade when they move from having one teacher to multiple teachers. It is more difficult for the ADHD child to organize work with more than one teacher and you start to see many missing or late assignments, roller coaster grades, and the child not being so positive about school. Poor attention span can be caused by a variety of issues so it is important to determine the cause before starting any treatment.

Fortunately, there is testing that can be done to determine if your child has ADHD and 504 disability law requires schools to make reasonable accommodations in school. There is also discipline that works more effectively for ADHD children which can help reduce the negative behavior and frustration at home. It is also important to know if your child has another mental health issue besides ADHD so that you have the most effective treatment plan.