ADD /ADHD

We all know kids who can’t sit still, who never seem to listen during class lectures, who choose not to follow instructions no matter how clearly you, as the teacher, present them, or kids who may blurt out inappropriate comments at inappropriate times. Occasionally these children are called defiant and/or troublemakers. They are sometimes criticized for being lazy and undisciplined.  When in fact, they may simply have a disability. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that appears in early childhood. You may also know it by the name attention deficit disorder, (ADD).

 

ADD/ADHD is a general inability to pay close attention to detail or to filter out irrelevant information causing limited focus on the task at hand.  This disorder begins in childhood and does carry over into adulthood.

Here are a few tips to help you navigate and plan

 

Symptoms

·         high activity levels
·         difficulty remaining still for long periods of time
·         limited attention spans

 

Warning Signs and Possible Characteristics within the Classroom

•  A sense of underachievement, of not meeting one’s goals (regardless of how much one has accomplished)
• Difficulty getting organized
• Chronic procrastination or trouble getting started
• Many projects going simultaneously; trouble with follow-through
• Tendency to say what comes to mind without necessarily considering the timing or appropriateness of the remark
• An ongoing search for high stimulation
• A tendency to be easily bored
• Easy distractibility, trouble focusing attention, tendency to tune out or drift away in the middle of a page or a conversation, often coupled with an ability to focus at times
• Often creative, intuitive, highly intelligent
• Trouble going through established channels, following proper procedure
• Impatient; low tolerance for frustration
• Impulsive, either verbally or in action, as in impulsive spending of money, changing plans, enacting new schemes or career plans, and the like
• Tendency to worry needlessly, endlessly; tendency to scan the horizon looking for something to worry about, alternating with inattention to or disregard for actual dangers
• Sense of impending doom, insecurity, alternating with high risk-taking
• Depression, especially when disengaged from a project
• Restlessness
• Tendency toward addictive behavior
• Chronic problems with self-esteem
• Inaccurate self-observation
• Family history of ADD, manic-depressive illness, depression, substance abuse, or other disorders of impulse control or mood