All children find it hard to pay attention at times. With tons of things on their minds and not truly knowing how to control it, this behavior may seem normal. However, if your child is struggling to stay focused more than most kids his age, you may want to look into Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Children who are overly hyperactive may move around often, touch or play with anything and everything around them or talk continuously may be dealing with ADHD. Children become impulsive, blurt out comments without thinking about them, display their emotions without restraint and may fail to realize their consequences of their actions. Without noting these tendencies at a young age, as these children grow older, they will tend to make choices that have a small immediate payoff rather than working toward a larger goal for a longer period of time.
Children with ADHD need support to help them pay attention, control their behavior, slow down, and feel better about themselves.
What Is Not ADHD?
Age plays a huge role in diagnosing ADHD. To be ADHD, these behaviors must appear before age 7 and continue for at least six months. The symptoms must also create a real handicap in at least the classroom, at home or in social settings.
If a child seems too active on the playground but not elsewhere, the problem might not be ADHD. It might also not be ADHD if the behaviors occur in the classroom but nowhere else. A child who shows some symptoms would not be diagnosed with ADHD if his or her schoolwork or friendships are not impaired by the behaviors.
Even if a child’s behavior seems like ADHD, it might not actually be ADHD. Many other conditions and situations can trigger behavior that resembles ADHD. For example, a child might show ADHD symptoms when experiencing
- A death or divorce in the family, a parent’s job loss, or other sudden change.
- Undetected seizures.
- An ear infection that causes temporary hearing problems.
- Problems with schoolwork caused by a learning disability.
- Anxiety or depression.
Seeing a qualified doctor is always recommended when dealing with ADHD. Providing a loving, supportive and understanding home is always a plus when a child has ADHD.