Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD causes children to have problems with concentration or motor inhibition. It is easier to detect at school, and its treatment will depend on the considerations of pediatricians, neuropediatricians, psychologists, speech therapists and educators.
Its causes are unknown, but it affects between 6 and 10 percent of schoolchildren. My child “won’t sit still” is a typical feeling of parents when they come to the pediatrician’s office worried. It is not a new pathology, but rather a condition that has recently been labeled as such. In order to treat it, early diagnosis and early intervention are important.
How do I know if my child has ADHD?
They are very active and unable to concentrate on any game or activity that requires continuous attention and forces them to think. The diagnosis at school is easier: they do not pay attention in class and are always messing around, they are continually punished by their teachers for not following the norm, they have difficulty organizing and finishing their homework, and tolerate it badly if it requires sustained mental effort, they get distracted by the flight of a fly…
We can say that a child can suffer from this syndrome if he/she appears before 7 years of age, manifests symptoms for more than six months in a row and that the manifestations occur at school and at home. ADHD does not exist if the child behaves normally at school and at home is “a bullet”, or vice versa.
The behaviors derived from this disorder result in a significant neglect of daily activities, which in the long run cause a significant delay in school. The relationship with their peers is usually bad, since on the one hand they are frustrated children who are continuously reprimanded in public. At the family level, parents often present couple problems due to the multiple arguments caused by the education of their child, in addition to the existence of social isolation due to the fact that parents see that their children are “unwelcome” when they get together with other couples with children in moments of leisure.
Causes of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
We know that it is a neurobiological disorder that affects the neurotransmitters dopamine and noradrenaline, which causes these children to have problems of concentration or motor inhibition that make them behave in this way. We also know that it has a hereditary component of genetic origin and that it can be influenced by perinatal and psychosocial factors. However, the exact causes are still unknown.
Treatment: how to help my child if he/she suffers from attention deficit disorder?
Parents, teachers and friends should be attentive to any alteration that may correspond to this disorder. The pediatrician will assess the diagnosis and may initiate medical treatment if deemed appropriate, always in close collaboration with the neuropediatrician. It is also essential to carry out a multidisciplinary treatment through psychologists, educational psychologists, speech therapists and teachers. In this way we will achieve that the child “does not miss the train” of intellectual, social, personal and family learning, and getting them to become conventional adults.
If you have any doubts, you can get information from the Association of Parents of Children with ADHD, where they will be able to advise you on the best way to proceed.