ADHD symptoms in children

Trying to spot specific ADHD symptoms in children can be quite difficult. More often than not, parents have a general feeling that something is wrong, and that their child act in a way that is dissimilar from other children their age.

To present the symptoms of ADHD, we have to be aware of the different types of the disorder first. As the meaning of the acronym suggests, the primary symptoms include inattentiveness and hyperactivity. But we also need to mention impulsivity. For those who don’t know, inattentiveness is simply lacking attention. The difference between hyperactivity and impulsivity is that there are children with ADHD who are very hyperactive and seemingly tireless, but who doesn’t show the impulsive characteristics of ADHD, such as acting out without thinking first. Of course, this also occurs the other way around.

Since these three characteristics of ADHD can occur independently of each other, let us present the symptoms of these types separately.

Symptoms of predominantly inattentive ADHD

Lots of children with ADHD who are inattentive can, in fact, stay focused. But that requires that the task is interesting or exciting enough. When faced with boring or repetitive tasks, they tend to lose intrest very quickly.

• Often appear careless
• Has trouble staying focused
• Doesn’t seem to listen when being spoken to
• Gets bored easily
• Frequently misplaces items and loses items in different places
• Often appear careless

Symptoms of predominantly hyperactive ADHD

Hyperactivity is easily spotted, but who really knows when it comes to young children? A perfectly normal five year old can be active enough to alarm parents. Therefore, we need to specify exactly what type of hyperactivity we are talking about when it comes to ADHD symptoms.

Children with hyperactivity often:

• Have trouble to stay physically still. Fidgeting and squirming is common.
• Run and jump around, and climb parents and furniture even in calm situations.
• Talks when not spoken to, without seeming to care if anyone is listening.
• Seldom plays quietly. Most children play both actively and quietly depending on the situation, but you seldom see children with hyperactivity draw or play with puzzles.
• Are ill-temepered and can scream and get very upset over practically nothing.

Impulsivity

Granted, some of these symptoms of ADHD float into each other. It’s not uncommon for children to present most of these symptoms. However, impulsivity carries its own set of traits:

• Interrupts others during conversation or play.
• Acts intrudingly on other peoples games.
• Has tantrums and displays a very raged behaviour when becoming frustrated.
• Doesn’t seem to think and plan, but instead guesses and does things by trial and error.
• Are uncomfortable in conversation or other social situations.

Concluding thoughts

So, to summarize, when you are looking through these symptoms of ADHD in children, you might get the urge to go through the list and cross symptoms off as you would a shopping list. However, there are numerous types of ADHD, and each child is absolutely unique. This is why we need to keep an analytical mind and instead try to analyze the child. And, of course, only professionals should diagnose a child with ADHD and take action according to that.