Acknowledging Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactiveity Disorders

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD for short) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders among school age children. More and more children are being diagnosed at disturbing rate. I was surprised when my son was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago by a psychiatrist. The ADHD children have differences in perception and seem to have problems in focusing, attending and following directions and being active most of the time. They struggle to complete tasks that might have already been started and planning ahead may be frustrating to them. In addition, impulsive behavior can led to conflicts with peers. These ADHD children can be oblivious to what takes place around them. Then there are other days when these children appear normal, apparently unaffected by this disorder. This can pose a problem for the affected children as it leads others to think that ADHD children can control their behavior at all times without medication.

ADHD is not discriminating. Faced with constant confusion and commotion in their lives, these affected children are from many diverse backgrounds. Ethnicity and culture backgrounds of the affected children and th

This condition ADHD is recognized in earlier years as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Minimal Brain Dysfunction, and Minimal Brain Damage, Hyper kinesis and Hyperactivity, is a serious medical condition that is thought to cause inappropriate levels of distractibility, impulsively and inattention. This condition can appear with or without hyperactivity (Alexander-Roberts 1). ADHD isn’t a convenient or assume term for parents to refer children that misbehave. It is treatable through prescription medication and therapy and if left untreated inhibits one from functioning properly in society.

According to an expert panel at the National Institutes of Mental Health, there are many important questions when it comes to diagnosing and treatment of a child with ADHD that are unanswered. First, no major studies have been conducted on the long-term effects of medications or behavioral therapies on ADHD. Second, there are no reliable guidelines on how to treat the inattentive subtype of ADHD, which might be more common in girls. There are also no authoritative treatment guidelines for treating adolescents and adults with ADHD. In addition, no studies have been conducted to determine the long-term (more than a year) effectiveness of medications and behavioral therapies. Finally, no therapies target other problems specific to many people with ADHD, including impaired working memory and deficits in language processing. Treatments are important given the lack of proven effectiveness of drugs on improving academic achievement and social skills (Encarta Encyclopedia 98).

Methylphenidate (Ritalin) and other central nervous system stimulants are proven to reduce disruptive behavior and raise intelligence test scores, such as autism, pervasive developmental disorder, and mental retardation. An estimation that 75 % of children with an attention disorder will benefit from stimulants (Encarta Encyclopedia). Stimulants are not a cure-all. They do not, for example help a child with social problems and improve a child’s ability to memorize facts by routine.

Parents sometimes are very disturbed by putting their child on a stimulant medication to treat their child’s symptoms of ADHD. Although the choice is entirely up to the parent some prefer to manage their child with behavioral methods, but, for others, medication seems like a miracle and can provide desperate families

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