At a young age children can sometimes tear through the house like a
tornado, leaving a wake of destruction in their path.
Especially young boys enjoy roughhousing, climbing on furniture and
seemingly lose interest in their toys after only several
minutes. For many parents these years are exhausting but time
limited. Children under the age of five often exhibit all of
these symptoms and more. They are a function of their growing
and maturing neurological system and not necessarily a picture of what
is to come.
Parents ask the questions ìwhat is ADHDî when
their children appear to continue to exhibit behaviors similar to
younger children, cause disruptions in the classroom, are difficult to
parent and have a hard time completing even simple tasks.
In some cases this type of behavior may not disappear after the child
has reached kindergarten or first grade. Instead it appears
to remain the same, and in some instances appears to get even
worse. The perception of increasingly bad behavior can be
from the expectation that as children grow and mature so will their
behavior.
ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a condition in
which the brain chemicals of a child or adult do not function in the
same way as they do in others who do not suffer from these
symptoms. These chemical, or neurotransmitters, affect the
organization of thoughts and produce the symptoms that are associated
with the condition.
Children and adults with ADHD have some similar and some dissimilar
symptoms. Those symptoms also depend upon the type of ADHD
which the individual experiences. There is a type in which
the person has more hyperactivity, another where the individual is
inattentive and a third where the person has a mixture of both.
ADHD is actually a common disorder, especially among boys, affecting
between 5 and 10% of the population depending upon the statistics and
the area of the country in which you live. Depending upon the
social norms, there are some communities who do not accept any
disruptive behaviors from boys or girls and will quickly attempt to
medicate children to keep them in line.
On the other hand it is important to get an accurate assessment of the
situation so that early intervention and treatment can increase the
successful outcomes. Children with ADHD have a more difficult
time in school, reading, doing math and making friends. All
of these skills are needed to successfully complete their growing years
and mature into productive and happy adults.
With early intervention, both behavioral and medical, children and
parents are able to have a better bond and children are better able to
function in their environments. If you suspect that your son
or daughter has ADHD it is important to discuss this with your
doctor. They will likely recommend an evaluation tool that
integrates the evaluations of parents, doctor and teachers to see the
whole picture.
Children who are compliant and focused at home but disruptive in the
classroom are not candidates for ADHD medication. The
condition will affect the behavior of these children in most situations
and environments. So while the teacher may have difficulty
with Johnny\'s disruptions in the classroom if he is easy going and
happy in all other situations, able to carry out tasks easily and stay
focused outside the classroom there is another issue at play that may
be easily remedied with behavioral counseling without the medications
and their side effects.
The questions about what is ADHD has been a topic of heated debate
throughout several communities for years. Some see the antics
of young boys as the typical ëboys will be boysí
behavior while others are unable to tolerate the behaviors at
all. At some point the behaviors become more than boy
behaviors ñ but at what point that happens is a matter for
the parents and physician to discuss.
New Report Shows Most Children With ADHD Take Medicine RTT News (RTTNews) - A new survey from Consumer Reports Health showed that an overwhelming amount of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder take ...