ADHD

The traits of ADHD can be divided into two groups: Inattentive behaviours and hyperactive and impulsive behaviours.

Inattentive traits can include:

• Being very distractible
• Having difficulty remembering
• Poor organisation

Hyperactive and impulsive traits can include:

• Impatience
• Excessive movement
• Talking and interrupting
• Difficulties turn-taking

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Yes. Brain imaging studies have shown that people with ADHD have structurally different brains than people without ADHD. It also can be genetic, children whose parents have ADHD up to a 60% chance of also having ADHD.

A child can be diagnosed with ADHD by a medical professional if they present with multiple traits of the condition across different settings. There are three core characteristics on the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, which are inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity, and a child with the condition may present with the following:

• Being easily distracted
• Constantly changing from one activity to another
• Appearing to find it difficult to listen to or carry out instructions
• Making seemingly careless mistakes and finding it difficult to learn from them
• Appearing forgetful or losing things
• Having difficulty organising tasks and time
• Being unable to stick to tasks that are boring or time-consuming
• Finding it difficult to sit still
• Excessive talking
• Finding it difficult to wait their turn in conversations or activities
• Seeming to act without thinking
• Finding it difficult to concentrate
• Fidgeting

Of course, all children will have difficulties in some of these areas, but for a child to be diagnosed with ADHD, these characteristics would significantly impact upon their daily functioning.

If you think that your child may have ADHD, speak to their GP and/or school about your concerns.

For children, a Paediatrician will be the professional who undertakes the assessment and gives the formal diagnosis. You can be referred to a Paediatrician either via the school SENOC or in some areas by going to visit the GP.

Supporting resources 
Explore how to support your child from diagnosis to day-to-day life

Yes. Children and young people who are inattentive but not particularly restless or impulsive may have what is called 'Inattentive type ADHD'. They tend to be diagnosed later because they are missed due to the absence of hyperactivity. However, Inattentive type ADHD can still result in many challenges for the child or young person, particularly in learning environments.

There are a variety of research-backed therapies that can help relieve symptoms of ADHD. Some of the most effective approaches combine both therapy and medication and stimulant medications are the most commonly prescribed. These drugs stimulate the parts of the brain that are under-stimulated and related to thinking and attention. The goals of these medications are to reduce hyperactivity/impulsivity and increase focus/attention. Another example is cognitive behavioural therapy, this approach emphasises mindfulness and teaches a child to be aware of their emotions as a way of improving attention.

Supporting resources

ADHD and managing self-regulation

There are many things that you can do to support your child with ADHD.

Firstly, it is important to consider that ADHD is a spectrum condition, meaning that no two individuals with ADHD will present in the same way and therefore there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to managing ADHD. However, there are many general strategies that may be beneficial to your child:

• Talk to your child’s school about the support that can be put in place in the classroom
• Establish a good routine to help establish boundaries and reduce anxieties. This can also assist with planning, organising and working memory by strengthening executive functions and can help to prepare for transitions.
• Involve your child in developing routines so that they will have more investment in the process and will be more likely to stick with it.
• Use checklists and allow your child to tick items off their lists once they have completed them. This can promote a sense of reward when tasks are completed and increase motivation.
• Allow time for language processing when asking your child a question or giving an instruction.
• Take time to talk to your child about how they are feeling
• Coach your child to articulate and verbalise their emotions rather than externalising them through actions or behaviour.
• Using visuals, for example, the Feelings Thermometers can be very useful to explore how they are feeling.
• Allow your child time to calm down when stressed, as this is an important way to help them feel safe and to be able to think rationally and logically again.
• Teach your child a variety of relaxation and breathing techniques to use during this downtime.
• Encourage a healthy balanced-diet and try to avoid excess sugar
• Build in opportunities for physical activity to reduce stress, support sleep and help with focus.
• Look for opportunities to praise and reward your child’s strengths to encourage positive behaviours and increase their sense of self-esteem and self-worth.
• Focus on and celebrate the positives of ADHD, using the many successful people with ADHD as role models.

ADHD is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition that can present with challenges but also has many positive qualities.

Children who have ADHD can be highly imaginative and creative, they can think quickly on the spot, have lots of ideas, give lots of attention when interested in a particular subject, think “out of the box” and can be great talkers. All of these qualities can become real assets for a child as they grow up.

There can be challenges with ADHD, of course, for example, difficulties with organisation, planning, memory and sustaining attention on subjects that the child is not immediately interested in. However, if children are identified and diagnosed with ADHD during their childhood, they can be supported to learn strategies for themselves that will address these challenges as they get older, for example, learning how ADHD impacts on their life and in their learning, being physically active and getting enough sleep.

Many children who have ADHD accept it for themselves and recognise the positive features and, in the long term, become successful and happy adolescents and then adults.

Yes, children and young people can experience difficulties with sleep. This can result in not falling asleep easily, not sleeping soundly through the night and then not waking up feeling refreshed. The mental and physical restlessness of ADHD can disturb a child’s sleep patterns. This can then exacerbate problems with concentration and focus throughout your child’s day in school.

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Executive functioning is the way in which your brain plans and organises itself. The functions are self-regulating skills that we all use to accomplish tasks, for example, target setting, prioritising, self-monitoring and time management. homework. It is very common that children and young people with ADHD will have difficulties in these areas.

Supporting resources

ADHD: Understanding executive functioning

Time blindness is a term that was first used by doctors treating people with ADHD. Most young people develop an innate awareness of time and an ability to track its passing. However, for some children and young people with ADHD, this 'time awareness' does not develop so successfully leading to missed appointments or playing a game for hours and not realising that there was homework to do done. In the most severe cases, this can have a profound effect on a person’s life. 

It is common that ADHD and other neurodevelopmental conditions will run alongside each other. Other neurodevelopmental conditions include Autism, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Tourettes, Dyscalculia etc. For some children, they may receive a diagnosis of 2 or more conditions. This means that they are co-occurring. For some children, the co-occurring conditions are easily identified but for others, it can take some time.

Supporting Resources: 
ADHD and Co-occurring Conditions 

The condition is not really an Attention Deficit. People with ADHD can pay attention. It is actually a condition which leads to difficulties controlling, directing and sustaining attention. People with ADHD can pay a lot of attention to things and activities that really interest or excite them or activities which are immediately rewarding. This is called hyper-focus.