Is a neurobehavioral developmental disorder, primarily characterized by “the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity.
A complex disorder associated with a range of behavioral manifestations and with significant impairment in functioning.
A person whose inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity cause problems may have this disorder. Symptoms appear before age 7 years and are inconsistent with the person’s developmental level and severe enough to impair social or academic functioning.
A person whose inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity cause problems may have this disorder. Symptoms appear before age 7 years and are inconsistent with the person’s development level and severe enough to impair social or academic functioning.
A developmental disorder in children marked by difficulties in focusing adequately on the task at hand and by inappropriate fidgeting and antisocial behavior.
A condition in which a child has an inability to concentrate and shows disruptive behaviour.
Term used to describe behavior involving short attention span, impulsiveness, hyperactivity, or restlessness.
It is estimated that approximately 3—6% of children have some form of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); approximately three times as many males are identified as females (Barkley, 1998). Although diagnosis of ADHD may occur at any age, most often diagnosis is made in elementary school-aged children. Subtyping of ADHD is made based on the extent to which symptoms are present in areas of inattention and hyperactivity/ impulsivity with resulting subtypes of predominantly inattentive (PI), predominantly hyperactive-impulsive (PHI), and combined type (CT; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994). By middle childhood, the majority of children with ADHD also present with some cooccurring disorder (Barkley, 1998). Comorbid disorders with ADHD are most likely to be learning disabilities, language disabilities, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder.
A com¬ plex of behavioral problems marked especially by inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity, beyond what is considered normal for the person’s chronological and mental age; formerly called attention deficit disorder (ADD), hyperactivity, hyperkinetic syndrome, or minimal brain dysfunction (MBD). Definitions of and names for the disorder have varied over the years, partly because it is so hard to pin down and partly because the whole range of behaviors does not appear in all cases. Children with ADHD have difficulty finishing a task, following through a set of instructions, organizing work for completion, sometimes even watching an entire television program, often jumping into a task before instructions have been finished, interrupting others, and not waiting for their turn in school or at home. In PRESCHOOL, children with ADHD are constantly or excessively on the move, often in a disorganized or disruptive way; in older children, the disorder is more likely to show itself in squirming, fidgeting, and general restlessness, as well as in messy work and inability to complete assigned tasks. ADHD children frequently act impulsively, without reflecting on consequences, sometimes in such a way as to endanger themselves or others (as by grabbing a hot pan from a stove or riding a skateboard down a steep incline). Such behaviors interfere with learning and lead to both academic failure and low self-esteem, often accompanied by emotional instability and mood swings (lability) and spurts of temper. This is sometimes complicated in young children by inability to fully control bowels and bladder and resulting wetting (enuresis) and soiling (encopresis).
A persistent pattern of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, or both, occurring more frequently and severely than is typical in those at a comparable level of development. ADHD is the most commonly reported neurobehavioral disorder of childhood. The illness may begin in early childhood but may not be diagnosed until after the symptoms have been present for many years. The prevalence is estimated to be 3% to 5% in children; 4% in adults.