Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder seen especially in childhood. Contrary to popular belief, this condition, which is characterized by attention problems and hyperactivity, can be seen not only in children and adolescents but also in adults. It is observed that children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder cannot pay attention to their homework or responsibilities like their peers. Stating that these people are also overly active and have difficulty controlling their own behavior, experts pointed out that children with attention deficit usually do not make eye contact too much.
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"Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder seen especially in childhood," said Duygu Barlas, "This condition, which is characterized by attention problems, excessive mobility and impulsivity, is generally known to occur in children and adolescents, but it is also seen in adults."
The child cannot pay attention to his/her responsibilities like his/her peers
"In children or adolescents who present to our clinic with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, we can often see that they are unable to pay attention to tasks, homework or responsibilities as their peers, are very hyperactive and have difficulty controlling their own behavior," says Duygu Barlas,
"Actually, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is an umbrella. There are many different sub-areas under it. Attention deficit may predominate, but there may also be subtypes where impulsivity and hyperactivity disorder predominate. Attention deficit in particular can be overlooked. There is a belief among the general public: What is called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is actually a term used for children who are very active; however, attention deficit can be overlooked here. For example; when we ask a child who seems to be paying attention a lot in class, he/she may actually say, 'I am not actually paying attention, I am daydreaming at that time, my teachers or friends do not understand this'."
Children with attention deficit forget their homework
Duygu Barlas said, "Children with attention deficit cannot pay attention appropriately compared to their peers of the same gender and age group. Especially in difficult tasks that are not liked; in situations such as homework or responsibilities that are not fun, they cannot maintain their attention as expected compared to their age and people in the same gender group."
"In attention deficit, they often forget their homework very often. They may forget their erasers, pencils, things entrusted to them very often. Parents usually complain in this way: 'He forgets his homework, forgets his sweater at school, loses his eraser' etc...
When spoken to, it may appear that they are not listening
In addition, it may appear as if he/she does not listen when spoken to. This can be in attention deficit, but it can also be in hyperactivity and impulsivity. But what we see more often is in the attention deficit subgroup. The child may not usually make much eye contact, and even if they do, parents who say 'It is as if he/she is not listening to me' or 'We think our child is deaf' may have to visit other areas and doctors a lot. In fact, if they make eye contact with the child or tell them what they want to say directly, maybe the child will be able to maintain attention there.
Give your child two-stage instructions
Stating that children with attention deficit have great difficulty in keeping simple instructions in mind, Barlas,
These children may not have a problem with long-term memory, but when they are given two-stage commands and instructions related to short-term memory, for example, "Can you bring me water, and after you bring me water, can you take this toy to your room?" When children fulfill one command but not the second, parents may interpret this not as attention deficit, but as "He does not follow what we say, our rules". But here we need to pay attention to the following; is the child doing this to be contrary, to oppose, or is he/she unable to do it because he/she cannot keep the commands and instructions you give in his/her mind? Generally, there are many applications to our clinics in the form of opposition-opposing. This is something we often see in the attention deficit subgroup."
Hyperactivity is easier to diagnose than attention deficit
"When we look at hyperactivity and impulsivity, it is a part that can be diagnosed more easily than attention deficit," Barlas said,
The parents can give symptoms such as 'This child is very active, he is more active than his peers or children of the same gender group, he never stays still, he is constantly moving around, he speaks very fast, he makes word mistakes, he reads very fast, unfortunately he cannot sit in the class within the expected time, he constantly gets up and teases his friends, he wants to walk around the classroom or he runs very fast instead of walking'."
The role of parents is of great importance in treatment
Specialist Clinical Psychologist Duygu Barlas said, "As the child grows older, we expect hyperactive symptoms to decrease further, and attention deficit to remain more constant or even become more chronic. In general, while mobility recovers with age, attention deficit does not recover much and parents should get help in this regard."
"There is no single cause of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. These children need to be approached in a multidisciplinary manner. We work together with child-adolescent psychiatry specialists in our treatment. Our treatment here is multi-stage. There are things that both the parents, the psychiatrist, the psychotherapist and the child can do. The younger the child, the more we work with the parents. In attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, parents should never be left out of the treatment, especially if it is a child or adolescent, and especially if it is a child, especially from the age of 3 to middle school age, parents should definitely be included in the treatment. Also, since the child goes to school, it would not be very healthy to exclude teachers and counselors.
Do not label your child!
"Let me underline this; yes, diagnosis is a very important thing in every child and adolescent; but as psychotherapists, we, as psychotherapists, are more interested in what behaviors and symptoms are specific to that child rather than the diagnosis. Therefore, I ask parents not to focus too much on the diagnosis, not to make it a problem and not to label their children. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a name, but how this child experiences it, how the family controls it, these are unique and special for each family and child."
