Introduction
It is a very common aspect of children that during their childhood they are likely to ignore or forget things, start anything without thinking, or having lack of focus. Such children are perceived as behaving normal but studies from research show that they can be victims of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is a very common disease that is found in children, defined as a mental disorder and behavioral disturbance that is caused by various factors including environmental factors such as inconsistent parenting (Castellanos et.al, 2002). As it is a mental disorder when a child catches the disease, he experiences plenty of problems that affect his overall life. He is unable to focus on anything he does and same time does nothing with seriousness. He is short tempered and does not pay attention to any activity he does. A disease affects the ability of a child to behave normal, learn anything quickly or at all, and be a part of others’ company. Such children are described as defiant, emotional, very resistant to discipline, and extremely aggressive. Their behavior patterns reflect serious deficiencies through which they are either very active or poor at performing the tasks they are given.
Primary Symptoms
Children characterized as suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are likely to be very troublemakers, indiscipline, and very much criticized by others. It is a disorder that appears in early childhood before the age of seven, affecting movements, speech, and attentiveness of a child. Its signs are possible even before a child starts to go to school when parents feel that such behaviors are normal at this age (Michelson et.al, 2002). However, ADHD can be diagnosed in adults as well. As signs or symptoms of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are obvious then closer look should be taken. It is not important for parents to scrutinize them in home but symptoms can be present in situations at school, social events, work, in the community, and play as well. When a child struggles with issues such as difficulty paying attention in school and studies or forgetfulness then proper actions, solutions, and treatments are very essential. However, capitalization of giving strength to a child and working together with him requires initial recognition of symptoms and signs that whether he is really suffering from such disorder or is it something else. Inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity are the primary characteristics that signal a disease.
Signs and symptoms- In attention
It does not mean that a child suffering from ADHD is not able to pay attention to anything, but it rather means that even if he is doing his interesting task, he gets bored by its repetition. Thus, he leaves that particular task and loses his focus. Often, he keeps bouncing towards different tasks without completion of any single task he is given. Inattentive child also feels trouble when the environment around him is noisy, and he is unable to focus proper and perform his task calmly (Fuchs et.al, 2003). As he is inattentive, he hardly pays attention to the details given about task and makes very careless mistakes. He does not listen to things carefully and stay focused, distracting quite easily. As he does not follow instructions, he feels difficulty in remembering things, planning, and finishing his projects successfully. He has trouble to organize himself and often loses his belongings such as toys and books.
Signs and symptoms- Hyperactivity
Hyperactive child is never sitting quite and calmly. He keeps moving here and there, searching for any activity. As a result, such children are very active, but behind that, they have certain reasons. Moving from one activity to another, they keep themselves busy and do several things at once. When they are instructed to sit quite and be a part of disciplined children, they react in certain ways such as sitting and drumming fingers, shaking their legs, and tapping their feet. When others expect them to sit quietly, they leave their seats, moving constantly. As they cannot sit or play quietly and talk less, they hardly give themselves required rest. Moreover, they are short tempered as well.
Signs and symptoms-Impulsivity
A child loses his self-control and thus behaves abnormally, often annoying others. They do not know how they are acting and making others feels trouble. Such children do actions such as occupying the places of others, interacting in conversations, make thoughtless observations. They also disturb in class while asking very irrelevant questions. They cannot behave with patience and often ignore the instructions of others. Their behavior of acting emotionally and getting moody reflect that they are weird, disrespectful, and needy. They are also perceived as disturbing children as they always behave wrongly at wrong times. In addition to that, their powerful emotions such as temper tantrum and angry outbursts also lead them to be categorized as impulsive children.
Causes of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
The above-mentioned signs and symptoms very relate to the ADHD, but it is not necessary that a child always have ADHD. These are the signs that one cannot detect through lab or blood tests as they just show psychological disorders. Therefore, it is important to scrutinize the symptoms that look like ADHD and diagnose them by the help of professional who would help to rule out and explore the possibilities such as behavioral disorders, psychological disorders, learning disabilities, major life events, and medical conditions of a child. True causes of ADHD are unknown, but before any such actions, it is also important to rule out the common roots and causes of ADHD that may include environment, food and nutrition, genes, and brain injury (Willcutt et.al, 2005). It is not necessary that all the victims of ADHD have same troubles, signs, and the same experiences. As an adult when one comes to know about the disease, he may go through various types of grief. On the other hand, when a child suffers from such illness he might not even know about it. In such situations, adults can help themselves through plenty of ways, but for children they need proper treatments and attention to enhance the quality of their lives and make them better.
How to combat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
A child’s very first treatment is his systematic evaluation done by his parents. Teachers can help in very good way by giving the input about a child. Then such reviews are taken to mental health professional who conducts a detailed interview with a child and his parents. During the process professional also undertakes IQ and achievement tests of a child that help to find out his mental condition. ADHD is a disease that can be easily managed effectively and in which parents can play a vital role by understanding all about disorder and behave like advocates (Barkley, 2003). They can educate themselves and learn various techniques and strategies to deal with the situation successfully. If parents are bad, meaning that they are short tempered, depressed, poor at disciplining their child, and stressed then they cannot help and cope up with the behavior of their child. A child who keeps receiving critical comments and hostile attitude is most likely to become aggressive and develop oppositional behaviors.
As a result, effective treatments include parent education and training, behavioral therapy, assistance at school, and social support. At home, he can feel good effects if he is given supporting environment that minimizes his distractions, good diet, and exercise plan. Parents can apply tips such as making structure; bringing consistency, applying clear communication, and giving rewards to a child that affect him positively without depriving him of his natural energy, sense of wonder and playfulness. The important thing is that a child needs positive push, support, love, encouragement, attention, and time. On the other hand, there are number of therapies that can be applied to help a child. Cognitive behavior therapy is one of such therapies that bring self-esteem in the children. By applying therapy, child can easily learn to interact with others and fight back his negative behavior of tantrums and defiance. A behavior approach works as a reward system in which parents and teachers work together and develop specific required behaviors with the help of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and educational psychiatrists so that children can spend a life normally. Behavior therapy is a kind of therapy through which children learn to develop problem-solving techniques. Therapy studies the ways children behave and their ways of thinking. When a therapy starts, therapists talks to a child in which he learns about negative thoughts and inherent tendencies that evoke such disturbances and behaviors of children. He studies the way a child behaves, acts, and reacts to certain situations and then the reasons behind them. Later on, he teaches new skills that help child to respond positively and manage the problem faced in schools, home or with friends.
Furthermore, Cognitive behavior therapy involves various sessions with children and their parents in which therapists learn the feelings, typical behaviors, experiences, and difficulties of children and then suggest ways to overcome them (DuPaul et.al, 2001). It consists of various reward systems and communication methods to get closer to a child and reinforce him on a consistent basis. There is no doubt to say that therapy works perfectly, but it can only work effectively when appropriate time, commitment, and hard work is given to explore the new patterns of acting and thinking. Once such approach is adopted, new skills can easily be applied to daily life and symptoms of ADHD are managed very successfully. In addition to cognitive therapy, the ADHD coaching also works to modify the behavior, gain improved interpersonal skills, and enhance a sense of achievement in children. It also consists of various sessions including children and their parents.
In addition to cognitive therapy, educational techniques can also be applied. They include help with study skills, short tasks, and regular reminders that improve academic performance and return self-esteem of a child. Educational techniques focus on maximizing the strengths of a child and have less emphasis on negative behaviors (Biederman et.al, 2002). They help to improve the performance of a child in school, giving him a push to behave confidently. Besides, above-mentioned solutions parents can also opt for complimentary therapy in which emphasis is on diet. It results in cutting some food diets and introducing diet supplements. On the other hand, some medication also proves to be effective, including stimulants. They help to improve the hyperactivity and impulsiveness aspects and improve child’s ability to pay attention to the wok more appropriately. Nevertheless, according to research they can only work best if combined with above mentioned therapy, coaching, and parental training. Medication also has some side effects that may include improper sleep and loss of appetite. The focus remains with building up the positive aspects of a child and his behavior in home, school, and play.
Conclusion
The adoption of different approaches to combat ADHD in children very much depends upon each child’s needs. In addition to the challenges and negative impacts that ADHD can bring, it also proves to be bringing with positive impacts and traits in a child. ADHD brings in obvious the creative aspects of a child who proves to be extremely imaginative and creative. While daydreaming and having various different thoughts at a time, he behaves like a problem solver. Forgetful of how others are noticing him he indulges in his own world. As a result, such children are more flexible and open to various new ideas that keep developing in their minds. Whenever they do any activity, they reflect enthusiasm and spontaneity that help to solve their problem. Children with ADHD are more likely to be lively personalities and find fun in any activity they perform. Their hyperactive aspect also motivates them to make difficult tasks easy to do and strive for success. As a result, children with Attention Deficit hyperactivity disorder are not only artist but they prove to be intellectuals too. Therefore, with right support, a child can easily return to the right track of success in all areas of his life, minimizing and eradicating all the symptoms of ADHD in children.
References
Barkley, R. A. (2003). Issues in the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. Brain and Development, 25(2), 77-83.
Biederman, J., Mick, E., Faraone, S. V., Braaten, E., Doyle, A., Spencer, T., & Johnson, M. A. (2002). Influence of gender on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children referred to a psychiatric clinic. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(1), 36-42.
Castellanos, F. X., Lee, P. P., Sharp, W., Jeffries, N. O., Greenstein, D. K., Clasen, L. S., & Rapoport, J. L. (2002). Developmental trajectories of brain volume abnormalities in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Jama, 288(14), 1740-1748.
DuPaul, G. J., McGoey, K. E., Eckert, T. L., & VanBrakle, J. (2001). Preschool children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: impairments in behavioral, social, and school functioning. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(5), 508-515.
Fuchs, T., Birbaumer, N., Lutzenberger, W., Gruzelier, J. H., & Kaiser, J. (2003). Neurofeedback treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children: a comparison with methylphenidate. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 28(1), 1-12.
Michelson, D., Allen, A. J., Busner, J., Casat, C., Dunn, D., Kratochvil, C., & Harder, D. (2002). Once-daily atomoxetine treatment for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a randomized, placebo-controlled study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(11), 1896-1901.
Willcutt, E. G., Doyle, A. E., Nigg, J. T., Faraone, S. V., & Pennington, B. F. (2005). Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analytic review. Biological psychiatry, 57(11), 1336-1346.
