ADHD Is A More Common Than Imagined Childhood Disorder That Can Adversely Affect A Child At Home, In School, In Social Settings, And In Relationships With Peers And Others

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is one of the more common mental disorders that develops in children and often goes undetected and untreated, even into adulthood.

This is a childhood disorder that can and does adversely affect a child at home, in school, in social settings, and in relationships with peers and others.

This, in turn, affects the parent/child relationship as anger and frustration often result as parents grapple with an under-performing child, and a child grapples with Temper Tantrums and with his or her desire to do well and obey one’s parents, but never being able to complete assignments, fulfill responsibilities, or do other required activities.

Worse yet, the affected child does not ever understanding why they can’t seem to ‘get it together’ and make it all work out?

This can also play havoc with a Preteen’s Self-Esteem, which only serves to make the problem worse.

ADHD is one of those childhood mental and behavioral disorders that frequently flies under the parental and medical radar, precisely because it does deal with neurological (dealing with the human brain) issues, and parents are not doctors, and because is a subtle condition that can resemble normal childhood learning issues.

So let’s understand a few things right off the bat here:

1. This is a neurobehavioral disorder and NOT a mental disease

2. This disorder does NOT mean that your child is crazy or anything of the sort

3. This disorder does not mean the parent has done anything wrong, and in fact NO ‘good or bad’, ‘normal or abnormal’ labels or judgments should be assigned to this condition

4. Identifying this disorder is a necessary step to bring healing to those who suffer with this disorder, and ruling out this disorder is helpful for parents whose children’s misbehavior truly springs from other causes, and finally . . .

5. Just because this condition may have been ‘overplayed’ or ‘overblown’ somewhat in the past, it does not mean that it is not a real condition that really does occur in some children and which needs to be treated when identified for what it is

There is an abundance of information on ADHD available on the internet today, so what we will do here is to give a general background for parents who have no history or idea regarding this condition, give some general ideas of what to look for in their own children, and at least broaden the awareness that it is possible that this condition may be behind the reasons why your child seems to have trouble concentrating, staying on task, being calm, or having trouble controlling their impulses in speech, actions, or deeds.

Here is a Highly Praised Behavioral Program for parents of ADD/ADHD kids that you may want to research further.

This is in no way intended to be a comprehensive guide to all things ADHD, nor do we believe such is possible within a simple yet effective web page on the subject.

What we do hope to do is heighten your parental awareness as to some of the facts and attributes of this disorder, so that if your child displays any (or many) of the behavioral symptoms of this disorder, that your parental instincts and discretion can begin to connect the dots and take steps towards finding out more on your own and in accordance with your unique family conditions as applicable.

We will first describe some of the results of this disorder in a child’s behavior.

We will then describe some of the clinical difficulties and uncertainties regarding this condition.

We will then give a short and pithy explanation as to some of the more common treatments one can expect to encounter in the treatment of this condition.

And finally, I will tell you of a true story I read regarding this condition, how it affected the family involved, and what implications this story may hold for your own children and family.

(Not a bad day of web surfing, wouldn’t you agree?)

Active Child At Play - © CarbonNYC

As promised above, we will here describe some of the results of ADHD as manifested in a child’s behavior.

Please note that many of these descriptions are common to normal childhood behaviors and development, but you as the parent will need to get a feeling for if these activities happen more often than normal, for longer than normal, and so forth, with your own child in question.

Inattention Manifestations:

• Easily distracted
• Difficulty in sustaining attention while doing tasks or while at play
• Struggles to follow instructions
• Daydreams or seems to be in another world
• Has difficulty in organizing tasks and activities
• Frequently does not follow through on instructions, and fails to finish schoolwork and other chores
• Misses details, forgets things, and frequently switches from one activity to another and back again without finishing any of them
• Easily becomes bored with a task or assignment after only a few minutes, unless they are doing something that they enjoy doing
• Often loses toys, books, and even homework assignments

Hyperactivity Manifestations:

• Has difficulty playing quietly
• Talks nonstop and/or talks when others are talking
• Can’t seem to stay seated in the classroom; get’s up at inappropriate times
• Has difficulty doing quiet tasks and activities
• Touches and plays with anything and everything in sight
• Fidgets with their hands or feet and squirms a lot in their seat
• Seems to be constantly in motion – reminds you of the child-sized Energizer Bunny


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Impulsivity Manifestations:

• Has difficulty waiting their turn
• Blurts out the answers before the questions have even been completely asked
• Speak or acts quickly without thinking first
• Show their emotions without restraint
• Acts without regard for the consequences, or acts as if there are no consequences
• Interrupts people’s conversations and/or butts into people’s activities or other children’s games

This leads not only to children not immediately being diagnosed who should be, but many of these children grow up to be adults who suffer from this disorder and STILL do not know it.

Many of the symptoms need to be present in children BEFORE the age of 7 to constitute true ADHD, yet a child before age 7 acts in many ways that mirror the symptoms of ADHD. In other words, is my young child just acting like young children do, or is there something more to it?

Since this disorder spans many different aspects; namely Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity, it can show up in different ways in different people, which only adds to the confusion we are discussing here.

In order to make a proper diagnosis of ADHD, a number of other ailments, such as sleep conditions and/or medical conditions, must be ruled out, as once again many of these conditions share similarities one with another.

Suffice it to say, proper diagnosis requires patience, skill, and more patience, and more medical skill.

Understanding that this is a difficult condition to identify with certainty should give us a better idea of what to expect when working to help our children who may be afflicted with this disorder.

Our third Guest Author will discuss ADHD in one of his articles, so please make sure to see what he has to say once that article is published on this Website.

Please note that medicines should only be used as part of a comprehensive program to help a child suffering from ADHD to get better, and NEVER to simply relieve the stress or to lighten the load from off of a parent’s shoulders.

Medications should never be given to a child in order to serve a parent’s needs only.

As stated above, since this disorder spans many different aspects; namely Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity, doctors can and do tailor the treatment to the person's individual symptoms and needs.

To reiterate, different people get different treatments according to their individual and unique symptoms and needs.

This is a true story, kept purposefully vague so as to protect the innocent, that I read concerning one family’s experience with ADHD.

It is probably representative of many such similar stories, and serves to show how this disorder can affect a family, and how it can actually cause “disorder” in the same, until is it diagnosed and properly treated.

There once was a family consisting of parents (both highly successful professionals in their fields) and two daughters, three years apart.

This family loved to learn and was energetic, smart, and motivated in life.

The older of the two daughters did very well in school, and was the model daughter in every way.

The younger daughter enjoyed school and wanted to do well, but couldn’t seem to finish her homework or to stay focused in school.

This led to poor grades and confrontations with her parents, who could not understand what the problem with this daughter might be?

Things went from bad to worse as the daughter grew hopeless and sad, wanting to please her parents and herself, but not being able to do things in the way she always planned to do them.

Since this girl did not display many of the outward, hyperactive tendencies of ADHD (girls are naturally more mature and less hyperactive than are boys), her condition was not quickly detected, which made the problems worse.

Eventually, however, this girl was properly diagnosed with ADHD.

She then received the treatment (a combination of therapy and needed medications) and her grades shot back up to A’s and B’s, and her home life returned to the happy state it should have been all along.

Also, her parent’s confidence in her was regained with interest, as her parent’s could now understand the reasons BEHIND why her daughter had struggled in school, and how that had affected so many other aspects of the parent/child and family relationship.

Children with ADHD are bright, curious, energetic, and lovable. With a proper diagnosis and treatment regimen, their lives can and will be organized, controlled, and overflowing with hope and joy and bright possibilities for the present and for the future.

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