ADHD in Children | Discovering Children With ADHD

Determining ADHD in Children

Diagnosing ADHD in children can be extremely difficult as there is no specific test that can be ran to determine it.

After a child has shown certain symptoms for a period of time then it is up to specialists to diagnosis attention deficit disorder according to specific guidelines and criteria.

This process will require documentation and possible interviews with the people who are closest with the child including teachers and family. There are particular characteristics in children that specialists examine before making a definite determination such as if they are constantly moving around, fidgety, can not play quietly, do not seem to listen to authority, talk excessively, interrupt others, leave tasks incomplete, and are very easily distracted.

To diagnosis ADD/ADHD in children between the ages of 6-12, there are stringent guidelines that were developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The ages of 6-12 are the best years to determine if a child has ADHD because younger than 5 years of age and later when the child is into the teenage years diagnosing it then can be rather difficult.

There is no one particular process or one particular person who can assist in determining whether its present as it is a multi step process. Before anything is determined, the doctor or specialist will conduct a complete medical background of the child before attempting to diagnosis anything.

Once he or she has been diagnosed with ADD, they are generally defined into one of the following categories:

Inattentive/hyperactive/impulsive, otherwise known as the combined type where the child displays all three symptoms and this one of the most common type of ADHD diagnosed in children.
There is also the hyperactive/impulse type and these children have the two named symptoms but have the ability to pay attention.
Third, there is the inattentive type where the child is not hyper and is not impulsive but is very inattentive.

Treatment should and usually does include social skills training for the child which help him/her to develop skills to strengthen the relationships that they are in with family, friends, and teachers. Another big part of treatment is support groups and parenting classes so that if the parents are taught the proper skills they will be able to be a good support system for their child.

However, there is no particular treatment that is available for any one person as one may respond well to one type of treatment and another may not. Some children may experience undesirable side effects from a particular medication while others may have discovered that there is anxiety and depression accompanying their child’s ADHD and it may have to be treated with a combination of things.

In other words, each treatment may actually have to be tailored to meet the best needs of the child.

One of the new approaches to treating ADHD in children is coaching. Each child is assigned a personal coach who works with them to raise their self esteem and teach them how to react to certain situations. This approach has had very favorable results thus far and seems to be keeping the children more on the right path.