Identifying Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD)

Does Your Child Have ADHD?
Identifying Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders

Most parents today have some idea about ADHD, though many refer to it as ADD, an
older and now-defunct name. There are three kinds of ADHD.


The most common is hyperactive-impulsive type, where children seem to be driven by a
high-energy motor. They have endless energy and are jumpy, fidgety, squirmy, noisy, and
seem not to be able to calm down. Hyperactivity is a cause of many class disruptions and
can create a problem at meal times.This hyperactivity is almost-always combined with impulsiveness. Children struggling with this impulsiveness tend to frequently do things without fully contemplating all their options. It seems like they make decisions urgently and quickly when unnecessary. They appear to display their emotions without control, blurt out inappropriate comments, unintentionally offend people without thinking, and have extreme over-reactions to things happening around them. They may also have difficulty sharing or taking turns, because watching others have fun is difficult when a child with impulsiveness has to sit still.


The second kind of ADHD is inattentive type. Children struggling with this disorder have difficulty keeping attention on what they are supposed to be doing or hearing. It is difficult for them to stay focused on learning something new if they're not interested (however, if they're interested, they have few problems). The inattentiveness causes the child to make careless mistakes even when trying to avoid them. Children affected by this aspect of ADHD struggle with homework, as they forget to write down assignments, bring the wrong book home, or leave their materials at school. Homework, then, is very frustrating for children with ADHD, as well as their parents.


The third kind of ADHD is the combined type, where hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and inattention are all factors. As you might imagine, this is quite serious, especially in school, and must be addressed. The most common first step for treatment, although many parents are uncomfortable with it, is medication. There are more than a dozen varieties of medications that, for the most part immediately, vastly improve the child's ability to learn, and thus benefit from both school instruction and the intensive approaches of parent-child, behavioral modification systems.