Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurological condition that involves problems with inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity that are developmentally inconsistent with the age of the child. We are now learning that ADHD is not a disorder of attention, as had long been assumed. Rather, it is a function of developmental failure in the brain circuitry that monitors inhibition and self-control. This loss of self-regulation impairs other important brain functions crucial for maintaining attention, including the ability to defer immediate rewards for later gain. Behavior of children with ADHD can also include excessive motor activity. The high energy level and subsequent behavior are often misperceived as purposeful noncompliance when, in fact, they may be a manifestation of the disorder and require specific interventions.
The child with ADHD is easily distracted, forgets instructions and tends to flit from task to task. At other times they may by fully focused on an activity, usually of their choice. Such a child may also be over-active, always on the go physically. They are often out of their seat and even when seated are restless, fidgety or shuffling. The phrase rump hyperactivity has been coined to describe this wriggling restlessness often seen in children with ADHD when they are required to sit in one place for a length of time. Often children with ADHD will speak or act without thinking about possible consequences. They act without forethought or planning, but also with an absence of malice. A child with ADHD will shout out in order to be attended to, or will butt into conversation and show an inability to wait their turn. (Anderson,1999)
Children with ADHD may experience significant functional problems, such as school difficulties, academic underachievement, troublesome interpersonal relationships with family membersand peers,and low self-esteem. Primary care clinicians frequently are asked by parents and teachers to evaluate a child for ADHD, early recognition, assessment and management of this condition can redirect the educational and psychosocial development of most children with ADHD..........
