Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children
Adult ADD/ADHD - - - Alternative treatment options

Attention Deficit Disorder, commonly referred to as ADD, is a group of symptoms that affect concentration and a person's ability to focus. It can also cause mood swings and other social problems.

How Does ADD Manifest in Children? Children (under 12 years of age) with attention deficit disorder lack the ability to focus and concentrate. Attention deficit disorder in children affects daily functioning, as they may have difficulty in completing their school work and are often in trouble with parents and teachers. This is similar to adults with ADD who often experience problems at work or in relationships.

Usually, ADD child symptoms will appear over the course of many months rather than all at once. If the appearance of these symptoms is not managed correctly, it can lead to low self-esteem and other behavioral problems in the years to come.

Children who have ADD of the inattentive type are not hyperactive. However, they may have a hard time keeping their minds on any one thing and may get bored after only a few minutes on a task.

If they are doing something they really enjoy, they may have no trouble paying attention. However, focusing deliberate, conscious attention to organizing and completing a task or learning something new is very difficult.

The Difference Between ADD and ADHD

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is the umbrella disorder, encompassing three sub-groups. These three groups are defined as follows:

ADD Inattentive Type: A main characteristic of inattentive behavior is the inability to concentrate and focus. This lack of attention may only be noticed when a child enters the challenging environment of school. This is not classified as ADHD, as hyperactivity is not present.

ADD Hyperactive/Impulsive Type: A child with hyperactive and impulsive behavior is commonly ‘all over the place’ and very active (both mentally and physically), making hasty decisions at any moment. This is classified as ADHD as hyperactivity is present.

ADD Combined Type: ADD child symptoms of inattentive type are combined with the symptoms of hyperactive/impulsive type. This is the most common form of ADD. A child with more than six ADD combined type symptoms should have a comprehensive evaluation. This is classified as ADHD, as hyperactivity is present.

Diagnosing ADD in Children

Many of the techniques and principles used to diagnose attention deficit disorder in children are the same as those used to diagnose the adults with ADD, including teens.

To assess whether a child has ADD or is displaying ADD child symptoms, specialists consider several critical questions:

• Are these behaviors excessive, long-term, and pervasive?
• Do they affect the ability to perform life tasks?
• Do these behaviors occur more often than in other people the same age? ]
• Are they a continuous problem and not just a response to a temporary situation?
• Do the behaviors occur in several settings, or only in one specific place like the playground or at home?

It is often very difficult to diagnose ADD in young children below 5 years of age. This is because many preschool children have some symptoms of the disorder in various situations. In addition, children change very rapidly during the preschool years.

Since children mature at different rates and are very different in personality, temperament, and energy levels, it is useful to get an expert's opinion of whether the behavior is appropriate for the child's age.

Steps in Making the ADD Diagnosis

A diagnosis of ADD is only applied to children who consistently display certain characteristic behaviors over a period of time. Given that children diagnosed with ADD are often treated with high-schedule drugs, it is important that the process of diagnosing ADD is comprehensive.

This requires several steps and involves gathering a multitude of information from multiple sources. Generally, the child's pattern of behavior is compared against a set of criteria and characteristics of the disorder.

Health care professionals and psychologists often ask questions such as the following:

• How is your child doing in school?
• Are there any problems with learning that you or your child's teachers have seen?
• Is your child happy in school?
• Is your child having problems completing class work or homework?
• Are you concerned with any behavior problems in school, at home, or when your child is playing with friends?

Your health professional/psychologist will want to know how you handle different situations and may want to observe you interacting with your child. In addition to looking at your child's behavior, they may do a physical examination. A full medical history will be needed to put your child's behavior in context and screen for other conditions that may affect their behavior. Your health care professional/psychologist will also talk to your child about how he/she acts and feels. As a parent, you will more than likely be asked to provide crucial information about your child's life at home, behavior in school, and in other social settings.

Your health care professional/psychologist will want to know what symptoms your child is showing, how long the symptoms have occurred, and how the behavior affects your child and your family. You may need to fill in checklists or rating scales about your child's behavior. In addition, sharing your family health history can offer important clues about your child's condition. For an accurate diagnosis, your healthcare professional/ psychologist will need to get information about your child directly from your child's classroom teacher or another school professional.

Children 6 to 12 years of age spend many of their waking hours at school. For this reason, it is important that your child's teacher provide relevant information.

Your child's teacher may write a report or discuss the following with your health care professional or child psychologist:

• Your child's behavior in the classroom
• Your child's learning patterns
• Any school records that report a problem in the past
• How long the symptoms have been a problem
• How the symptoms are affecting your child's progress at school
• Ways the classroom program is being adapted to help your child
• Whether other conditions may be affecting the symptoms

In addition, your health care professional/psychologist may want to see report cards and samples of your child's schoolwork. Other caregivers may also provide important information about your child's behavior. Former teachers, religious leaders or coaches may have valuable input.

Recognizing the Symptoms of ADD

It is important to realize that ADD is not a physical ailment like a broken arm or chicken pox. ADD does not have clear physical signs that can be seen in an x-ray or show up on a lab test.

It can only be identified by looking for certain characteristic behaviors, and these behaviors vary from child to child. Symptoms of ADD typically occur in early childhood, but may also be developed later in life.

The symptoms of ADD in children are often quite different from those of ADD in adults. However, the biggest indicator of ADD in children is usually inattention that is inappropriate for the age and not caused by any other environmental, psychological, or physical factors.

This means that a child with a primary diagnosis of depression, for example, should not be diagnosed with or treated for ADD.

The following symptoms are common indicators of ADD in children:

• Difficulty keeping attention on work or play activities at school and at home
• Losing or forgetting things like toys, pencils, books, or tools needed for a task
• Avoids or dislikes activities that require sitting still or a sustained effort
• ]Seems disorganized and doesn't pay close attention to details
• Has trouble with tasks that require planning ahead
• Forgets things and is easily distracted
• Does not follow directions or finish tasks, often skipping from one uncompleted activity to another
• Does not appear to be listening when someone is speaking
• Does not pay attention and makes careless mistakes
• Is forgetful about daily activities
• Has a tendency to daydream
• Becomes easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds
• Rarely follows instructions carefully and completely

To help recognize ADD, some of the symptoms that cause impairment must:

• Be present before seven years of age
• Be present consistently for a period of six months
• Above all, the behaviors must severely compromise at least two areas of a child's life, such as school, home, or social settings.

A child whose schoolwork or friendships are not impaired by these behaviors would not be diagnosed with ADD. Similarly, a child who seems overly active at school but functions well elsewhere would not be diagnosed with ADD.

To complicate things further, different symptoms may appear in different settings, depending on the child and the demands of different surroundings:

A child who can't sit still will be noticeable in school, but the daydreamer may be overlooked. Yet both may have different types of ADD. The impulsive child who acts before thinking may be seen as a 'problem child', while the child who is sluggish may be seen as 'unmotivated'. Yet again, both may have different types of ADD. Inattention may not become apparent until a child enters the challenging environment of school. Homework is particularly hard for these children. They will forget to write down an assignment, or leave it at school.

They will forget to bring a book home, or bring the wrong one. The homework, if finally finished, is often full of errors and erasures. Homework is often accompanied by frustration for both parent and child.

True ADD symptoms appear on a regular basis across a wide variety of situations and can interfere with learning. That is why a teacher sometimes is the first to notice inattention, hyperactivity and/or impulsivity, and bring these symptoms to the parents' attention.

One of the first questions a parent will ask is "Why is this affecting my child? What went wrong?" or even, "Did I do something to cause this?"

When correctly diagnosed, there is little evidence that ADD can arise purely from social factors or child-rearing methods. Most substantiated causes appear to fall in the realm of neurobiology and genetics.

Environmental factors may influence the severity of the disorder, and especially the degree of suffering the child may experience. However, these factors do not seem to give rise to the condition by themselves.

Experts in the field are finding more and more evidence that legitimate ADD does not stem from the home environment, but from biological causes. Knowing this can remove a huge burden of guilt from parents who might blame themselves for their child's behavior.

The exact cause of ADD in children is not known, although researchers continue to study the brain for clues. They suspect that there are several factors that may contribute to the condition, including:

Heredity and genetics: The fact that ADD tends to run in families suggests that children may inherit a genetic tendency to develop an attention-deficit disorder from their parents. Studies indicate that 25 percent of the close relatives in the families of ADD children also have ADD, whereas the rate is about 5 percent in the general population.

Many studies of twins now show that a strong genetic influence exists in the disorder. The relatives of ADD children (both boys and girls) have much higher rates of ADD, anti-social, mood, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders than the families of non-ADD children.

Chemical imbalance: Children who have ADD may not make enough chemicals in key areas of the brain that are responsible for organizing thought.

Experts believe an imbalance of the chemicals that helps nerve cells in the brain communicate with each other, called neurotransmitters, may be a factor in the development of ADD symptoms. Without enough of these chemicals, the organizing centers of the brain don't work well.

Brain changes: Areas of the brain that control attention are less active in children with ADD than in children without the disorder.

Myths Surrounding the Causes of ADD

Although the following factors may present symptoms similar to those of ADD, research has shown that there is no evidence that legitimate ADD is caused by the following:

• Immunizations
• Too much TV
• Poor home life
• Poor schools or colleges
• Bad parenting
• Aspartame (or sugar substitutes)
• Lack of vitamins
• Fluorescent lights
• Video games

However, in some cases, the above factors could certainly cause symptoms similar to those seen in ADD in certain individuals, and it is worth investigating their impact if a link is suspected.

Treating ADD

Children with ADD are often treated using conventional prescription medications. While there is a place for prescription medication in certain cases of ADD, careful consideration should be taken regarding possible side effects and cautions.

There are alternative treatment options available for children with attention deficit disorder. There are also many herbal and homeopathic remedies which can help maintain harmony, health and systemic balance in the brain and nervous system, without side effects or sedation. These products are known for their supportive function in maintaining brain, nervous system, circulatory health, and well-being.

“I have been using these Products in my practice for the past two years. Both children and adults have benefited from the effects of the remedies and I can comfortably say that the response has been outstanding. ” - Victoria Whitefield, Psychologist and Licensed Counselor in Private Practice