Attention Skills: ADD and ADHD

Our six year old foster son nearly drove his kindergarten teacher to insanity. She had over 20 children to deal with and our little tornado arrived in her classroom about three months before the school year ended. She came to me literally shaking one day saying, "I guess I'm just going to have to hold his hand the entire day! He needs medication!!!"

No matter how calmly and how often we discussed his behavior with him he still threw several tantrums per day and was a ball of energy. After much pleading from the school we finally went to the pediatrician about his behavior. Before the doctor even handed me the assessment he said, "Yes, he probably will be diagnosed with ADHD and we can put him on medication to help."

I wasn't completely against medication but if another option was available I would have chosen it first. So, I asked the pediatrician if putting him in a smaller school setting would help. He said, "Absolutely!" Unfortunately, foster children aren't allowed to be homeschooled or that would have been ideal for us, but there was also an option of putting him in a very small private school. So, we planned to pay his tuition to attend the next year, especially if we had the chance to adopt him and his sisters. They ended up leaving that summer, though.

ADD or ADHD

The difference between Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the key word "hyperactivity". Children with ADD tend to be quieter and daydream a lot or have trouble concentrating. Children with ADHD get noticed easily like our little tornado in the story above! They are constantly moving and interrupting the classroom. Sitting still for any length of time is nearly impossible. The commonality of disorders is the consistency of this type behavior at home and school and it lasting for a period of six months or more.

Do you suspect ADD or ADHD in your child? Contact a mental health professional and learn as much as you can about these disorders before making major changes, such as medication. Here is a free ADHD test to give you an idea of the probability of this disorder in your child.

Mind the Children does not diagnose disorders of any kind.