Fact: Some children with ADHD are hyperactive, but many others with attention problems are not. Children with ADHD who are inattentive, but not overly active, may appear to be spacey and unmotivated.
People living with ADHD may have a variety of skills and abilities beyond those of their neurotypical counterparts. These may include hyperfocus, resilience, creativity, conversational skills, spontaneity, and abundant energy.
People with ADHD experience an ongoing pattern of the following types of symptoms: Inattention—having difficulty paying attention. Hyperactivity—having too much energy or moving and talking too much. Impulsivity—acting without thinking or having difficulty with self-control.
“Common symptoms of ADHD may enhance athletic performance. Some athletes with ADHD naturally excel in baseball and basketball, which involve quick movements and reactive decision-making, due to these athletes' inherent impulsivity.
To release that restless energy, kids with ADHD need to get plenty of exercise. Research is finding that staying active not only lets kids with ADHD burn off steam, but it also can help with issues such as: lack of focus.
At what age are symptoms of ADHD the worst? The symptoms of hyperactivity are typically most severe at age 7 to 8, gradually declining thereafter. Peak severity of impulsive behaviour is usually at age 7 or 8. There is no specific age of peak severity for inattentive behaviour.
ADHD students are often extremely creative, curious, passionate, and energetic—all attributes of successful entrepreneurs and inventors.
It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors (may act without thinking about what the result will be), or be overly active.
The symptoms of ADHD usually improve with age, but many adults who were diagnosed with the condition at a young age continue to experience problems. People with ADHD may also have additional problems, such as sleep and anxiety disorders.
Our team found in previous publications that ADHD is linked with both hyper- and hypo-brain functioning. We think that the physical movement is a way to increase dopamine and/or noradrenergic activity in the brain, and that the increase in these neurotransmitters works to improve focus and alertness.
The five gifts of ADHD include creativity, emotional sensitivity, exuberance, interpersonal empathy, and being nature-smart (The Gift of Adult ADD, 2008).
Children with ADHD tend to be extra-imaginative. So they might daydream or get sidetracked. But they also may notice what most others don't. This creativity can help them come up with new ideas and solve problems.
ADHD symptoms and medications may make children, in particular, more vulnerable to undereating during the day, overeating in one sitting, and developing specific food fixations.
You can inherit genes that boost risk for ADHD from your mother, from your father or from both parents. In a recent Norwegian study, inherited risk was somewhat higher when a child's mother had ADHD compared to their father, but researchers weren't certain why that would be.
ADHD tends to run in families and, in most cases, it's thought the genes you inherit from your parents are a significant factor in developing the condition. Research shows that parents and siblings of someone with ADHD are more likely to have ADHD themselves.
As a general rule, children with ADHD do better when they get plenty of individual attention from coaches. That's why they're more likely to succeed with individual sports such as swimming and diving, wrestling, martial arts, and tennis — or even more rarified endeavors such as fencing and horseback riding.
Make sure your child is getting enough sleep, eating a well-balanced diet consisting of three meals, a snack and adequate fluids daily, and has an outlet for some form of daily exercise. These healthy habits will help your child to feel his or her best and help minimize ADHD symptoms.
Struggles with reading, writing, and math are common among students with ADHD. Use these strategies and tools to help your child overcome these and other learning challenges in core school subjects.
Children with ADHD can find it hard to get to sleep at night. They may find it hard to stay asleep through the night as well. Behavioural sleep problems in children with ADHD are very much like those any other child might suffer from.
Youth with ADHD often have more stress than their peers without ADHD due to the symptoms they live with. Disruptions in daily routines can add to stress as well. Stress is an emotional response to difficult circumstances.
If, on the other hand, an individual with ADHD loses interest in an activity, his nervous system disengages, in search of something more interesting. Sometimes this disengagement is so abrupt as to induce sudden extreme drowsiness, even to the point of falling asleep.