Characteristic symptoms
Hyperactivity
Hyperactivity can be very disruptive not only to learning in the classroom but to family life. It can undermine attempts to develop routines, cause sleep disruption to adult care-givers, and have a significant impact on siblings.
Parents may adjust ‘normal’ family activities such as going out, eating out, visiting friends and family members. Hyperactivity can thus have a major influence on all members of the family.
UKAP’S Dr Suzy Young offers some advice and top tips on managing hyperactivity in children.
Impulsivity
Blurting-out answers in class, struggling to wait for a turn, making poor choices on the spur-of-the-moment are all indications of possible ADHD or general immaturity and may be regarded more as a nuisance than anything else.
But impulsivity can have severe consequences. Young children may run into the street without thinking of the danger and we know from hospital data that those with ADHD are at increased risk of fractures and falls as a result, as well as involvement in road traffic accidents.
But there can also be social consequences. Other children find their ADHD peers too inconsistent and difficult to predict, disruptive of games and play, and lacking the finer social skills that allow deeper friendships to develop.
Inattention
We used to think that inattention was the lesser of 3 ‘evils’. Everyone is inattentive at times, especially when things bore them.
But inattention during the early years can affect social development and the acquisition of social skills and mean that it is difficult to build friendships and feel valued.
Inattention can affect the ability of a child to master core language and literacy skills regardless of ability and potential, and reinforce a sense of failure when others are making progress.
It can go unnoticed in class and slow progress is often put down to a ‘lack of effort’. If academic underachievement of this kind persists, teachers and caregivers should be asking if something else is contributing to poor performance.
Just because a child is not displaying obvious hyperactivity or serious behavioural difficulties does not mean that they do not have ADHD. This is especially the case with girls, who will more commonly have the purely inattentive kind of ADHD than boys.