”Doctor, is my child ADHD?” This is the kind of straightforward and urgent question that I often encounter in my clinic and online consultation. Parents’ complaints are always full of complaints and helplessness: their children are disobedient, moving all day long, often getting into trouble, causing trouble; they never listen carefully in class, make a lot of small movements, do homework without supervision, and often dawdle until 10 o’clock at night before their homework is finished; they are careless in exams, and their academic performance goes up and down; they always lose everything, do things without finishing, are impatient, impulsive and capricious, and often The same mistakes are often made, and they are either left behind or told off, so much so that they are frightened when they get a call from the teacher.
If you have such a baby at home, as a parent, do you feel physically and mentally exhausted and aggrieved? You do not let your child go, you have given a lot of time and energy, but they just do not fight, make you angry, make you anxious, make you headache, make you very humiliated, simply “troublemaker”.
Indeed, there are many such children around us, they are not generally active, not mischievous, and not intentionally do not study well, but can not control their own behavior, and has seriously affected the academic performance, interpersonal interactions and family quality of life, their common characteristics are: smart and active, capricious and impulsive, poor academic performance. These children are likely to have ADHD.
ADHD is the most common psychological and behavioral disorder of childhood, with a prevalence of about 3-5% in China, and an estimated 2-3 ADHD children per 50 school-aged children, mostly boys. The main clinical manifestations are attention deficit, hyperactivity and impulsivity.
How to determine whether there are attention deficits: 1.
1. being sloppy and always making careless mistakes.
2. Easily distracted when learning or playing activities, jumping from one thing to another.
3. is often distracted when talking to him or her
4. often fails to complete homework or daily chores as instructed
5. is often unable to complete organized tasks or other activities
6. is reluctant to do things that require sustained use of the brain (e.g., homework)
7. often loses things and loses pencils, toys, clothes, etc.
8, easily distracted by external stimuli.
9, “forgetfulness” in daily life.
How to determine whether hyperactivity.
1, often move their arms and legs constantly, even when sitting, they twist and turn.
2.In the classroom or other occasions that require sitting properly, they will leave their seats without permission.
3, often unable to sit or fidget.
4.Can’t keep quiet to do some leisure activities
5.All day long, like winding up, energetic, rarely stopping.
6.Talking too much.
How to determine whether impulsive.
1.Often other people’s questions are not finished that rush to answer, talk and action reckless, regardless of the consequences.
2, no patience, unwilling to wait in line, want something immediately to get.
3, often disrupt or interrupt other people’s conversations or activities.
If your child exhibits any of the above, he or she must also meet the following conditions to be considered for “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children” or ADHD.
1. certain symptoms appear before the age of 7.
2. The child exhibits certain symptoms in at least 2 settings, such as home and school.
3. the symptoms persist for at least six months
4, the symptoms have affected the child’s academic development or interpersonal interactions.
5. normal intelligence.
Of course, the diagnosis of ADHD requires a specialist to understand in detail how the child behaves in different settings such as home and school, through examining conversations, and doing the necessary auxiliary tests and psychological assessments to exclude other disorders before it can be clarified.