| Many children are brought to mental health | | | | The focus today is not just in simply controlling |
| professionals because of behavioural difficulties at | | | | restlessness and physical activity, but in directing and |
| school or in the home. | | | | maintaining attention which will lead to better controlling |
| This does not necessarily mean that they will be | | | | the hyperactive element. |
| diagnosed with AD-HD. | | | | It is not that children with hyperactivity do not want to |
| However, they are brought to these professionals | | | | set goals, they do. |
| because they exhibit inattention, impulsiveness and | | | | It is just that they have difficulty responding |
| hyperactivity, which are not appropriate for that child's | | | | appropriately and working steadily towards their goals |
| age. | | | | as they cannot control their behaviour on command, |
| Children with this disorder have disturbances in each of | | | | even for a brief period. |
| these areas to differing degrees. | | | | They act before they have thought through the |
| In extreme cases, a child could be running, jumping, | | | | consequences of their actions, because they are |
| climbing, picking fights with other children, and disrupting | | | | unable to do this. |
| in an ongoing manner, that is, the child is never still. | | | | It seems that more boys than girls are identified as |
| Extreme destruction would also be a side effect both | | | | hyperactive, yet in both it can persist into adulthood. |
| at home and outside the home. This can cause fear in | | | | It is important to understand that, if your child has been |
| siblings, as well as family and friends. | | | | diagnosed with AD-HD, s/he is not deliberately being |
| Some children can exhibit symptoms of AD-HD | | | | uncooperative in the extreme. |
| between the ages of 2-4 years. | | | | It is a neurological disorder that involves a form all of |
| Frequently parents are not alerted to the disorder until | | | | 'faulty wiring in the brain', the circuitry is not what is |
| children enter school as they are not usually required | | | | considered 'normal'. |
| to obey social demands before that time. | | | | It is for this reason that thorough diagnosis by an |
| Preschoolers are notoriously very active, and a study | | | | AD-HD professional is carried out. |
| showed that 50% of preschool mothers believed their | | | | Simply because a professional is a psychiatrist, |
| son to be hyperactive (Varley, 1984). | | | | psychologist, social worker, guidance officer, counsellor, |
| If not addressed early, AD-HD children can become | | | | or teacher does not mean that they have the precise |
| adults with varying degrees of antisocial behaviour and | | | | skills required to hold an opinion about whether a child |
| potential substance abuse. | | | | has or has not got AD-HD or qualified for an AD-HD |
| The hyperactivity in AD-HD is not one particular | | | | diagnosis. |
| condition. | | | | This cannot be stressed enough. |
| Broadly defined, it is a set of behaviours, such as | | | | This is a specialisation within medicine. |
| excessive restlessness, and a short attention span | | | | We are talking here about the life of your child and of |
| that differs from those of children of the same gender, | | | | your family. |
| mental age and socioeconomic status. | | | | |