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 Symptoms of ADHD
Important Note: ADHD is usually diagnosed when the child is between 5 and 7 years old. This article has been added to this section for parents' future reference. Toddlers are still too young to be diagnosed with ADHD.
In this article you will find an explanation of the different symptoms that are evident with each type of ADHD child.
Those with the inattentive component find it difficult to play for any length of time with any one thing, flitting from toy to toy and activity to activity like a child in a toyshop surrounded by new toys. They do not appear to listen when spoken to directly, especially if we haven’t called their name or established eye contact. School work is often careless and incomplete with items required for school/home left behind. When faced with a task that requires organizational skills they are lost. This facet leads to them being reluctant to work at tasks that require sustained mental effort when there is no instantaneous reward or consequence. A fly on the wall or an ant on the floor is infinitely more interesting than the job of getting dressed or filling a schoolbag at the end of the evening in preparation for the next day.
An impulsive child has no concept of time and waiting for 4 o’clock and a visit to Nanna/swings becomes a nightmare for the parents. They are the children who blurt out the answer in class before questions have been completed and interrupt telephone conversations or are always talking to you right up in your face rather than keeping an arm’s length. They will dash in among a group of children playing and grab the football, joining in without asking only to wonder why, and cry, when they are rebuffed.
Hyperactivity brings with it an ocean of problems when the child is physically unable to keep still, remain seated when expected, runs around and climbs up anything and everything. They talk excessively even when playing ‘quietly’ and we wonder where the ‘off’ switch is.
Parents or carers are exhausted, shattered and often ostracized by their friends, as are their children ostracized by their friends. Mothers become depressed and parents find it difficult to unite in the face of this stress.
More articles on ADHD will follow soon.
Other Articles on ADHD
> What is ADHD
Special thanks to the ADHD Family Support Group for this article. For more information you can visit their website: www.adhdmalta.org or call on 21233749.
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