The phone calls come once a day, sometimes more, from the school administration office. Each call recounts a slightly different version of the same story: your elementary school age child creates problems in the classroom. Some of the problems are behavioral, stemming from the constant motor that drives your child. Distraction and inattention inhibit your child’s learning ability, regardless of the subject matter or classroom activity.
You finally arrange a meeting with school officials to discuss your child’s behavior and academic performance. The meeting lasts about an hour, and the acronym ADHD is tossed around throughout the entire sixty minutes. Befuddled, you listen to a lengthy list of symptoms that teachers and administrators feel your child exhibits. When you open the double school doors, all you want to do is yell as loud and as far as you can.
Then, you want to know: What exactly is ADHD?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder lists two of the main components in its name: distraction and hyperactivity. The third component-impulsiveness-finalizes the general ADHD attributes from which a number of traits are associated. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), approximately 3-5% of children have ADHD. The Canadian Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Resource Alliance estimates the incidence at 5-12% of school-aged children.
ADHD is not a cookie cutter condition that manifests the same symptoms and strengths. While one child may exude over the top hyperactivity in the classroom, another child may sit reticent and endlessly gaze out the classroom window. However, enough commonalities exist to establish a foundation of child ADHD traits.
The following is a general description of ADHD traits:
Hyperactivity Children with ADHD are unable to sit still and as a result, may be disruptive in the classroom. While many children are exuberant and energetic, the ADHD child stands out because he or she is far more hyperactive than his or her peers.
Hyperactive children with ADHD fidget and squirm, talk incessantly, simultaneously engage in several activities, and suffer from a continuous state of internal restlessness. The traits often continue into the teenage years and adulthood.
Impulsiveness Children with ADHD lack self-control. Impulsive children vocalize without thinking about the ramifications of their words; they inadvertently hurt the feelings of other children. Failure to restrain emotional responses leads to strained relationships. Above all, impulsive children may take serious risks because they do not contemplate the consequences of their actions.
Distraction Children with ADHD are prone to distraction and daydreaming. They have trouble concentrating, and this adversely affects their performance in school. Although many children with ADHD are highly intelligent or even gifted, they perform well below their academic abilities.
ADHD children are easily bored, and this makes task completion and learning new things difficult. Inattention creates organizational difficulties, such as failing to write down homework assignments. ADHD children frequently misplace personal items, or they bring the wrong items to or from school.
ADHD Science Scientific research has proven ADHD symptoms have a direct relationship with brain structure and neurotransmitter limitations.
Brain structures of ADHD children differ consistently from those of children without the condition. Several brain regions and structures tend to be smaller. Overall brain size is on average 5% smaller in affected children than children who do not have ADHD. The frontal cortex is part of the cerebral cortex, which is the outer surface of the brain. Problem solving, attention, reasoning, and planning are all executive functions performed in the frontal cortex. The executive functions are adversely impacted in a smaller than average size brain.
The greatest physiological impact on an ADHD child results from dopamine and norepinephrine neurotransmitter deficiencies. Norepinephrine is the neurotransmitter that controls attention levels; low levels cause inattention and distraction. Low levels of Norepinephrine also make it difficult to sustain focus on a task, plan ahead, and understand concepts like sequencing events and managing time.
Studies show dopamine correlates with the impulsive actions of an ADHD child. Researchers often label dopamine the “Pleasure” neurotransmitter. Dopamine deficiencies cause what psychologists refer to as the inability to delay gratification. ADHD children tend to pursue activities that trigger the reward center in their brains, thus generating more dopamine.
Some studies conclude ADHD children have only twenty-five percent of the two neurotransmitters found in a normal brain.
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Mark Norris My name is Mark Norris, your ADHD parent coach. My academic background includes training in ADHD coaching along with a Master`s degree in Adult Education. I am also a certified Nurtured Heart Approach practitioner. Full Profile & Contact Information...
