By Michelle Tottle
The big question around what behaviours indicate that your child has ADHD has been going on for years. A lot of people often say that children do not have ADHD and that it is just poor parenting. I personally have a child with ADHD and can say from experience, parenting a child with this disorder is not only stressful but extremely challenging. So from my experience and my academic knowledge around ADHD I would like to discuss 3 behaviours that, for me, are associated with ADHD in the attempt to shed some light on this much talk about topic.
Lack of Concentration
When my child with ADHD was in Prep the school advised me that they felt that he had an auditory processing disorder. Not being familiar with this disorder I went into panic mode as I thought there was something drastically wrong with him. As it turned out, he had a hearing test and I was informed that his hearing was perfect and the specialist had doubts that my son had an auditory processing disorder. Phew, $300 later and my son was in the clear. However, the school was not content with this diagnosis as they continued to have issues with my son being distracted very easily by noise. What I came to learn is that my son was easily distracted by noise because he found it difficult to concentrate when there was a lot going on around him. One characteristic of ADHD.
Hyperactivity
When my child was a baby, he never slept. Well, that is an exaggeration, he napped!! The Child Health Nurse who would come to my home on a weekly basis told me that by holding my child and patting him on the back and rocking him so that he would calm down was actually hyping him up. Wow, how bad did I feel as a mother! I stopped doing this and starting patting him on the back so he would go to sleep. I even went to a sleep clinic for babies and tried the controlled crying. I also went to a paediatrician however my child still only napped. As he got older, from the moment he woke up to the moment he did eventually go to bed, he did not stop moving. He would jiggle on the lounge chair, run around in circles, jump up and down on the bed and run from one end of the house to the other. Even when he slept he was moving. What I came to learn was that my son was hyperactive and found it extremely difficult to sit still. Second characteristic of ADHD.
Impulsiveness
When my child was a toddler he was highly emotional. So if he fell down and hurt himself he would scream and scream. When he did not get his own way he would throw things and hit walls. When he saw something funny he would laugh until he cried. The emotion he displayed was very loud, animated and quick. I say 'quick' because one moment he would be fine the next moment he would be screaming, or crying or laughing. It was almost as if an emergency button had been pushed and there was no time to react. When he was at school, I would get phone calls to say "You need to come and pick your son up as he has been suspended for throwing a chair in class." I would go to the school and ask what had happened. Their response most of the time was "He did not want to read today so he threw a chair." I would ask my son what had happened and he would just say 'I don't know." What I came to learn was that my son was impulsive and found it difficult to control his behaviours. Third characteristic of ADHD.
To cut a long story short. When my child was in Grade 2, he was suspended more than he was at school. I took him to a Paediatrician and took him to a Psychologist who specialised in mood disorders for children. The Psychologist did various tests on him and the assessments indicated that he had the typical pattern of a person with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The Paediatrician confirmed this diagnosis and my son commenced taking Ritalin. My 7 year old child who was constantly getting suspended and who failed a lot of his subjects in the first semester at school changed into a well behaved,'A' student the second semester at school because he was taking Ritalin. So look for lack of concentration, hyperactivity and impulsiveness in your child if you suspect ADHD and ignore all those people, who don't have a clue and get them checked out by professionals.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Michelle_Tottle/2155436
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9200972
The big question around what behaviours indicate that your child has ADHD has been going on for years. A lot of people often say that children do not have ADHD and that it is just poor parenting. I personally have a child with ADHD and can say from experience, parenting a child with this disorder is not only stressful but extremely challenging. So from my experience and my academic knowledge around ADHD I would like to discuss 3 behaviours that, for me, are associated with ADHD in the attempt to shed some light on this much talk about topic.
- Lack of Concentration
- Hyperactivity
- Impulsiveness
Lack of Concentration
When my child with ADHD was in Prep the school advised me that they felt that he had an auditory processing disorder. Not being familiar with this disorder I went into panic mode as I thought there was something drastically wrong with him. As it turned out, he had a hearing test and I was informed that his hearing was perfect and the specialist had doubts that my son had an auditory processing disorder. Phew, $300 later and my son was in the clear. However, the school was not content with this diagnosis as they continued to have issues with my son being distracted very easily by noise. What I came to learn is that my son was easily distracted by noise because he found it difficult to concentrate when there was a lot going on around him. One characteristic of ADHD.
Hyperactivity
When my child was a baby, he never slept. Well, that is an exaggeration, he napped!! The Child Health Nurse who would come to my home on a weekly basis told me that by holding my child and patting him on the back and rocking him so that he would calm down was actually hyping him up. Wow, how bad did I feel as a mother! I stopped doing this and starting patting him on the back so he would go to sleep. I even went to a sleep clinic for babies and tried the controlled crying. I also went to a paediatrician however my child still only napped. As he got older, from the moment he woke up to the moment he did eventually go to bed, he did not stop moving. He would jiggle on the lounge chair, run around in circles, jump up and down on the bed and run from one end of the house to the other. Even when he slept he was moving. What I came to learn was that my son was hyperactive and found it extremely difficult to sit still. Second characteristic of ADHD.
Impulsiveness
When my child was a toddler he was highly emotional. So if he fell down and hurt himself he would scream and scream. When he did not get his own way he would throw things and hit walls. When he saw something funny he would laugh until he cried. The emotion he displayed was very loud, animated and quick. I say 'quick' because one moment he would be fine the next moment he would be screaming, or crying or laughing. It was almost as if an emergency button had been pushed and there was no time to react. When he was at school, I would get phone calls to say "You need to come and pick your son up as he has been suspended for throwing a chair in class." I would go to the school and ask what had happened. Their response most of the time was "He did not want to read today so he threw a chair." I would ask my son what had happened and he would just say 'I don't know." What I came to learn was that my son was impulsive and found it difficult to control his behaviours. Third characteristic of ADHD.
To cut a long story short. When my child was in Grade 2, he was suspended more than he was at school. I took him to a Paediatrician and took him to a Psychologist who specialised in mood disorders for children. The Psychologist did various tests on him and the assessments indicated that he had the typical pattern of a person with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The Paediatrician confirmed this diagnosis and my son commenced taking Ritalin. My 7 year old child who was constantly getting suspended and who failed a lot of his subjects in the first semester at school changed into a well behaved,'A' student the second semester at school because he was taking Ritalin. So look for lack of concentration, hyperactivity and impulsiveness in your child if you suspect ADHD and ignore all those people, who don't have a clue and get them checked out by professionals.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Michelle_Tottle/2155436
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9200972
