How do I tell my child about ADD (ADHA)? by Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D. and Patricia Quinn, M.D.

How do I tell my child about ADD (ADHD)?

Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D. and Patricia Quinn, M.D.

Many parents are concerned about "labeling" their child with ADHD. Other parents feel it's important to discuss ADD (ADHD) with their child, but don't know where to start or exactly what to say.
Parents face a difficult dilemma due to the negative image that many people hold about ADD (ADHD). But not telling your child has negative consequences too. Just talk to an adult who has gone a lifetime without understanding the cause of his or her struggles and you'll quickly understand the importance of knowing about ADD (ADHD) as early in life as possible.

Why is important for your child to know about ADD (ADHD)? 

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Coping with ADHD Diagnosis by Brandi Valentine

As a parent or guardian, when your child was first diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, what were some of the first thoughts that came to mind and also, at the time your child was first diagnosed, what help, service or information would you have benefited most from?

By Brandi Valentine

That is the question that I asked of my readers in a recent Weekly ADDition. I'm not a professional writer but I tried to compile as much of it as I could so that I could share it with you.

As I read through the responses, the same words kept re-appearing. RELIEF, HOPE, SADNESS, FRUSTRATION AND IGNORANCE. Those who have a child diagnosed as ADD/ADHD have experienced them all.

Relief in knowing that there was a reason for their childs behavior and relief in knowing that the reason was a medical one, and not a result of something the parents had control over or were responsible for. It wasn't their parenting skills, they were not bad parents, nor was it the fault of a mother who felt that they were somehow responsible or had done something during pregnancy that caused their child. to be this way. It also gave many parents relief by knowing that they were not alone. For some, it even gave them insight as to how they behaved when they were a child.

Here are just a few examples of what readers had to say.

" Thank Goodness we found the problem. I was feeling very hopeless, as if my child was unruly by choice"

" Relief that there was a name for the way that my 16 year old son was acting and that he was not the only experiencing this."

" Relief, that there maybe help for him and those who have to live with him and guilt because my eldest child inherited dyslexia from me, and now my youngest had inherited ADHD from me."

" When my son was first diagnosed with ADHD it was both a relief and a disappointment. Being my first child, it was a relief to hear that there was something wrong, a reason why he didn't learn like other children and disappointment for not having a "normal" child."

"When my son was first diagnosed with ADHD, the first feeling was relief. Until that point, most people in our lives were convinced that all of our son's problems could be attributed to ineffective parenting skills."

" I honestly thought it was my fault and that I could have changed the outcome if only I had done something".

Very few comments were made about how hard or how easy it was to get a diagnosis for their child but again, most of the readers seemed to agree on another issue and that was the lack of support they received once their child had been diagnosed.

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ADHD Symptoms: How ADHD Differs in Boys & Girls by Mary Anne Dunkin

ADHD Symptoms: How ADHD Differs in Boys & Girls

Experts look at gender differences in the three types of ADHD.

By Mary Anne Dunkin
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Several years ago, neurology researcher Robert J. Melillo was preparing a presentation for a parent-teacher organization on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its treatment. He began to recognize the symptoms he was reading about in his own elementary-school-age son. 

"He was hyperactive and impulsive," recalls Melillo. "His teachers came to us and said he was having a hard time focusing in school. He was easily distractible, very energetic, and a risk taker."

Melillo -- a chiropractor, author, and PhD candidate -- has since made it his life's work to better understand ADHD in order to help his own son as well as the growing number of other children diagnosed with ADHD (previously known as attention deficit disorder, or ADD).

The symptoms exhibited by his son -- hyperactivity and impulsive behaviors -- are perhaps the most visible symptoms of a problem that affects an estimated 8%-10% of school-age children. Parents often begin to suspect ADHD when they receive repeated calls or notes from their child's teacher saying he can't sit still or be quiet and his behavior is disrupting the class. And, yes, usually that child is a he.

ADHD Symptoms in Boys and Girls

"Boys are more likely to be diagnosed -- three boys to every girl," says Marjorie Montague, PhD, professor of special education at the University of Miami. "No one knows if it is more common in boys or just more likely to be diagnosed in them. It may just be that boys are referred more commonly by teachers," says Montague, whose research focuses on learning disabilities and emotional/behavioral disorders.

It may also be, at least partly, because people tend to think of ADHD in terms of the most well-known symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity -- symptoms more often exhibited in boys. But ADHD in children can also take other forms, particularly in girls. Forgetfulness, being easily distracted, losing or misplacing things, disorganization, academic underachievement, poor follow-through with assignments or tasks, poor concentration, and poor attention to detail are otherADHD symptoms.

Girls with ADHD may be more likely to be inattentive than hyperactive or impulsive. That may mean they are more likely to be underdiagnosed with the disorder. 

If you suspect that your child may have ADHD, it's important to understand the different forms it may take. There are three types of the disorder, which are characterized by different symptoms. To be diagnosed with ADHD, a child must exhibit these symptoms in more than one setting, such as home and school.

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ADHD College Survival Tips by Marissa Kantor

ADHD College Survival Tips

Essential life skills to guarantee success for college students with ADHD ADD or learning disabilities.

by Marissa Kantor

John Muscarello had no trouble making the transition to college life, despite his severe attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD).

That's because the 20-year-old cultivated good habits while attending high school in Glen Head, New York. "I had an assignment pad where I wrote everything down," he explains. "I also had a big calendar on my bedroom wall. I wrote down upcoming papers and dates, so I always knew what I had going on. I would get home from sports, take a shower, eat dinner, take a pill, and then do all my work."

In high school, John handed in papers before they were due. "Teachers would help me revise them," he says, "and I'd hand them in again, when everyone else did." And he cultivated close relationships with faculty members - a strategy he continues at Pennsylvania's York College by e-mailing his professors at the beginning of each semester to introduce himself and explain his academic "issues." He got this idea from his mother, Mary, who always made it a point to meet with her son's teachers to give them a heads-up.

Of course, laughs Mary, "The fact that we owned a pastry shop and brought stuff to school didn't hurt either."

Things were different for David Burkhart, a 28-year-old graduate student. He had done well at the prep school he attended, where students woke up, ate, studied, and went to bed at prescribed times. Given the order imposed on him, no one even suspected that David had ADD, as well as dysgraphia.

But David's life unraveled as he began his freshman year at Auburn University.

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