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Is your child having trouble staying on task, focusing on
homework, and paying attention in class? Is your child
impulsive, inattentive, and constantly fidgeting? These
symptoms are milestones for Attention Disorder Hyperactivity
Deficit (ADHD).
What is ADHD? It's a neurobiological disorder affecting
all aspects of a child's life. There is nothing new about
ADHD, it's been around under various names throughout
history. It was in the 1900s that the condition was
recognized as a disorder. While no one knows the causes of
the disorder, some "causes" attributed to ADHD have not been
proven. Sugar, food additives, and other dietary elements
are not involved in most ADHD cases. Allergies are
co-existing conditions, not causes. ADHD is not the result
of parenting techniques, neglect, or poor discipline.
While your child may exhibit several or all of ADHD
symptoms, that doesn't mean your child has ADHD and should
be on medication. There is no single test -- either medical,
neurological, or psychological -- to determine ADHD. "The
precise cause of ADHD is unknown; therefore the diagnosis
must be based on many sources of information, rather than a
single diagnostic test," says Gary Gaffney, M.D., UI
Behavorial Health.
"Many children exhibit ADHD behavior including
hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and lack of concentration," he
says. "However, about 30 percent of the group of children
are not hyperactive. Their problems are in focusing on work
material and concentrating on school tasks." If your child's
school and teacher have collected academic test results and
reports of classroom behavior, you may want to share them
with your health care professional to determine if your
child has ADHD.
While there is no cure for ADHD, there are treatments
that help manage ADHD behaviors. Often the best treatments
are a combination of parent education, behavior modification
strategies, and in some children medical interventions. To
be most effective, the strategies should be used both at
home and at school.
If you have a health-related question, or to make an
appointment, call UI
Health Access - 800- 777-8442 or 384-8442.
More information:
Listed above are several Web sites that offer additional
information on this topic. University of Iowa Health Care
does not sponsor or endorse these sites, or guarantee the
accuracy of the information contained on these sites. These
links are here for general information only, and should not
be used for personal diagnosis or treatment. If you have any
questions, please contact UI
Health Access.
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Does your child:
- Have trouble concentrating on school work?
- Lose and forget things they need?
- Shift from one unfinished task to another?
- Complain normal things are "boring?"
- Interrupt and intrude?
- Blurt out answers before hearing complete
questions?
- Take risks and act before thinking?
- Fidget?
- Have trouble staying seated?
- Not wait in turn?
Rewards and praise help
- Praise good behavior.
- Praise immediately.
- Praise randomly, even for "normal" things.
- Praise often.
- Be specific. Say exactly what was well done.
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