It is a brain disorder marked by inattention and hyperactivity that may interfere with normal growth and development of the person. It is a medical condition. A person with ADHD has differences in brain development and brain activity that affects attention and self control. In this child struggles to pay attention, listen and follow directions. Some of the warning signs of ADHD are of two main categories, Inattentiveness and Hyperactivity impulsivity. In most of cases the symptoms fall into both these categories. In some cases there will be symptoms of only one category.
Inattentiveness in the sense means children will be having a short attention span and easily Distractible. There will be an inability to carry out instruction. They have difficulty in organizing a task. They will make careless mistakes. Inability to continue a task which is time consuming. They frequently lose things.
Some of the signs of hyperactivity or impulsivity are excessive talking, interrupting conversation. There will be Inability to concentrate on the task. They use excessive physical movements. They will not wait for their turn, they will speak in between. Another sign is impulsiveness. Impulsiveness means they may quickly act before thinking. They may do things without asking for permission. Their emotional reaction may be too intense.
The American psychiatric association states in the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) that 5% of children have ADHD. That means about 1 in 20 children. The percentage of children estimated to have ADHD have changed over time and its measurement can vary.
There was a boy who born in London in 1994. He was the only son of his parents, after many years he got two younger siblings. He was very much interested in music. He learned to play piano, drums, guitar and trumpet. One day he came to know about a local music competition in Stratford and he participated in it and he got second place in that. His mother posted videos of his performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos and the popularity of the site grew up. Mr. Braun, marketing executive of Def Recording was in a search of a different singer. One day accidently he saw one of his videos in the YouTube, he was impressed by that. He contacted his mother. Mr. Braun and church elders convinced her to let him go with Braun. The 13 year old boy went to Atlanta in Georgia to record a demo tape and everyone liked that. Slowly he became popular through some of his unique video albums, especially, the album- “sorry”. Yes, that was JUSTIN BIEBER. He was also diagnosed with ADHD.
By writing this story I want to tell you that ADHD does not mean your inability in spite you are carrying a lot of positive things that others are struggling to keep.
There is some personality strength that can make the condition advantageous and not a drawback.
They are usually energetic, they are ready to do anything at any time and most of the time they will be busy in doing things. This will make them channel towards success. They are open and they are willing to try new things. They are less afraid of failures. They can see success and failure as opposite sides of the coin. Because of this nature the life experience will be greater in ADHD persons. They are proven as most creative persons. Because they view life from a different angle and with a different perspective. This will encourage them to approach a situation and task with a thoughtful eye. Because of this reason they may also be inventive. They are hyper focused, that means if they are doing something they will intensively focus on it and they may not even notice the world around them. The main benefit of this behavior is that, if an ADHD person finds passion in a task he may work at it until its completion without breaking concentration.
But they need assistance in harness these traits to their benefit. A counselor or a psychiatrist can help them better. They can help ADHD persons in exploring their full capacity.
There is no definitive test to diagnose ADHD. Healthcare providers and even teachers can assess ADHD in children and adult based on symptoms. There is a lot of treatment which can improve concentration and behavior. As like any other disease early detection is proven as the first medication in ADHD. Through teaching adaptive technique they can able to- manage time, increase organizational skill and concentration.
