ADHD

ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACIVE DISORDER

ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACIVE DISORDER Steven is a 6 year old and his mother cannot remember a time when her son was not into trouble. As a baby he was incredibly active as a matter of fact he had more accidents and was more clumsy than his brother. Trouble stated when he started going to kindergarten ,his life since then has not been the same. Steven does not seem capable of attending to assigned task and following instructions, he would be wondering around the room without teachers instruction. His body always seem to be in motion. He is either tapping his pencil, fidgeting ,or daydreaming. His teacher labels him as impulsive, inattentive, indiscipline and its reflecting in his schoolwork and attitude. He has fallen behind in academics and has great difficulty in mastering new concepts, he no longer follows directions from teachers and has started showing great signs of distress and agitation for his age. Steven is a just another example of a neuro developmental disorder seen in children which manifest itself in early childhood developmental days called ADHD(Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder).No its not a fatal disorder but it does affect a child cognitively and behaviorally. According to Rapport et al., 2008 More than 90% of children with ADHD underachieve scholastically , it is also seen that these children are more likely to be retained ,expelled or suspended. The symptoms also include unable to attend details, fails to listen when spoken to by others, inattention, fails to carry out instructions, disorganized, dislikes or avoid effortful work, lose items, easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli along with forgetting to do many everyday activities. These symptoms often appear before 12 years of age and individual impaired function, often if it isn’t diagnosed in childhood it is called as ADHA untreated in adults ,which includes all the above stated symptoms in an adult. For a clinical diagnosis the child should depict the symptoms for 6months or more followed by at least six of the following symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity to a degree that’s maladaptive for example fidgets taps ,hands and feet ,squirms, unable to play quietly, inappropriately climb or runs, unable to wait turns, talks excessively, barging into others activities and conversations. Is it treatable? Yes!!!absolutely with the help of behavioral intervention along with occupational and drug therapy. If you observe similar symptoms in your child or at home or from school. Take immediate actions and consult a Clinical/Neuro/Child psychologist. Usually behavioral interventions work very well as they spell out targeted behaviors with rewards and systematically reinforce appropriate behaviors. One such play therapy commonly used in west is “Playing Attention “in which a therapist records the child neural activity when they are asked to perform a task that require attention. Their are no specific causal factors as to why this occur however if your child shows such symptoms ,try to understand from where its coming and definitely visit psychologist or psychiatrist also its best to also keep in loop the school especially the teachers or Home room teacher so that the child isn’t labeled and is being dealt in an affectionate manner to help them be better. Remember its an impressionable age lets help them heal and get better together.