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More like a joke, or half-serious, but anyway, at least an unappealing child gets the ADHD-sheep label from time to time. How is healthy energy different from problematic hyperactivity?
Children in the playground look like one big definition of hyperactivity: they move from place to place with an engagement worthy of free electrons and scream like the Huns. And if they really play Huns, it will take only a moment, because at a pace imperceptible to an adult, they will turn into aliens, vampires or a group of superheroes. Mothers are sitting on benches around the square. With resignation, they try to keep up with their children. Like the hiss of a warm wind, the magic word slips between them: ADHD.
The difference between half-joke and ADHD
From the group of Huns, let’s choose two cases: eight-year-old Kuba and Antoś. The boys were chosen not by accident – ADHD affects them more often. Rather, girls suffer from the less conspicuous ADD, or attention deficit disorder, without hyperactivity. Both boys behave the same: they run, scream, roll on the ground in simulated falls, hang from tree branches, throw stones and dig holes. At the same time, they ignore their mothers’ exhortations, promise to report to the bench and do not do it, they look as if they do not understand what is being said to them, because they want to run on, one of them has lost a drinking bottle, the other has lost a sweatshirt; neither of them noticed it. They seem to be tireless. They go to school the next day. Neither one nor the other is happy about it, but Kuba can sit quietly until the end of the lesson, fidgeting a little at best. He respects the rules of the class, keeps his hand up until he is indicated for an answer. At home, he does his homework, of course not of his own free will and not without protests, but because he knows that there will be no computer without it, he deals with them quickly as for the capabilities of an eight-year-old. Meanwhile, Antoś has another terrible day at school. And, by the way, he provides equally difficult moments for teachers. He is unable to stop himself from getting up during the lesson, waving his arms, jumping up, answering questions uninvited, cutting into the statements of other children, failing to complete tasks on time, quickly getting discouraged and quitting work, although it seems that the scope of the material does not exceed his intellectual capacity. He gets mad when something goes wrong, and when his friends during breaks do not obey his orders, he gets angry. There is a drama with doing homework at home, it seems that Antek is completely different in his thoughts, he focuses only for a moment and then turns off, gets up and leaves, and most often he does not know what was assigned and lives in his conviction. that is for sure nothing. He does not follow commands or does something completely different than expected of him. Sometimes it is perceived as waywardness and malice.
Kuba is an average eight-year-old who, in the name of later madness, is able to “suffer” hours of forced obedience and stillness. Antek has ADHD. It is an abbreviation for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, which is Polish for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Diagnostics in an ideal world
ADHD affects about 4% of the world’s population, so not every child in the playground who runs faster than the rest does. It is not a disease, but a childhood mental disorder, the causes of which are better and better known. A dozen or so years ago it was believed that they were caused by damage to the nervous system, nowadays this theory is abandoned, rather that hyperactivity is caused by delays in the maturation of some brain structures. This hypothesis seems to be supported by the fact that symptoms become weaker or disappear altogether with age, so it looks like the brain is maturing at its own pace. An important factor is genetic predisposition, additionally stimulated by environmental circumstances, e.g. smoking by the mother during pregnancy or complications in the course of childbirth. Therefore, one should not be surprised when, during a visit to a specialist who is to diagnose or rule out ADHD in a child, parents will be asked about the course of pregnancy and the circumstances of childbirth. What is the ideal diagnosis for ADHD? Doctor Alicja Rutkowska-Suchorska, a specialist psychiatrist for children and adolescents, says:
– The order should be this: pediatrician, neurologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, educator. The pediatrician excludes somatic diseases that may cause hyperactivity or problems with concentration. These can be diseases with fever or pain (e.g. otitis media) and chronic diseases: allergy, hyperthyroidism. A neurological examination is necessary to rule out, for example, epilepsy. A child psychiatrist assesses the mental state, and the psychologist assesses the level of psychomotor and intellectual development of the child and temperament, because a child with a lively temperament in an unacceptable environment may seem “overactive”. The educator deals with issues related to learning and mastering the school material. In an ideal world, this team of specialists should finally meet and discuss the diagnosis – whether or not the child has ADHD. In the real world, the diagnosis is made by a child psychiatrist after receiving certificates from other specialists. Sometimes a neurologist.
The symptoms of ADHD can be grouped into the following terms: hyperactivity, impaired concentration, and impulsiveness.
Hyperactivity means not only that the child is mobile, or even excessively mobile, to the caregiver’s abilities, but the need for movement clearly exceeds its age range. Concentration disorders are associated with the inability to focus on performing one activity, and therefore with the inability to perform it. The already focused child distracts even the smallest distraction, he also sometimes loses the plot in the middle of his speech and forgets what he was talking about. An onerous but also dangerous trait of ADHD people is impulsiveness. These are not only instant and ill-considered statements, often completely out of time, but also actions the consequences of which the child is unable to predict. Children with ADHD are uncritical, do not use cause-and-effect thinking, cannot imagine the results of their actions, and thus decide whether they are safe and profitable. The effect of this is trauma. Children with ADHD are statistically more likely to suffer from trauma than children without the hyperactivity syndrome.
Practice in hyperactivity
Another measurable effect of ADHD is difficulties in making friends, rejection by the group. Children are afraid of loud, unpredictable and sometimes even aggressive colleagues. Also, teachers and caregivers feel that the child is simply disobedient and disobedient. Meanwhile, a small ADHD sheep becomes convinced that he is bad, since he hears it all the time from different people and, unfortunately, these kids are often characterized by low self-esteem, and depressive states may also appear. This is a field for teachers to show off. The more knowledge about ADHD they acquire and the more reliably they pass it on to their students, the easier it will be to coexist with hyperactive children.
Properly selected and effective drug therapy can reduce symptoms, but it is not enough. Much depends on the parents. They must learn not to blame the child for things beyond their control, but at the same time they cannot “make” their life easier, for example by doing homework for them. Working with a child should be based on activities divided into short stages, adapted to the time on which the toddler can concentrate. Any such activity, e.g. rewriting sentences in exercises, should end with the child’s success and praise. Let’s not have to rewrite five sentences at once in a beautiful handwriting, but let’s start with three words. Enabling your child to be successful will have a positive impact on their self-esteem and willingness to repeat the rewarded behavior. It is also worth involving the school in adjusting the requirements to the child’s abilities.
Doctor Alicja Rutkowska-Suchorska says that although hyperactivity cannot be “run out” and it is impossible to fatigue the ADHD sheep in advance, it is a great idea to enroll your child in sports. Maybe it will improve motor coordination, and maybe it will become a great competitor, successful in competitions, which will result in a better emotional well-being of the child.
Ritualising the daily schedule as much as possible, which teaches the child to predict the future, brings good results. You also have to be consistent, not to throw words into the wind, always carry out plans and promises, because all this affects the child’s ability to predict the effects of his own, and not only his own, actions. It is worth investing time and commitment in effective ADHD therapy, because research shows that most children will grow out of it to some extent, so it is important that they do not have unnecessary traumas, lack of self-esteem or inability to establish contacts with their peers.
Text: Julia Wolin