Kids Health Watch is Sponsored by Children’s Medical Group
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) can be very disruptive for your child, your family and the classroom. It’s fairly common, with close to 5% of children having been diagnosed with it during their school years.
At some point during their child’s life, many parents will wonder if ADHD/ADD is on the horizon. It’s something we’ve all thought about when our 4-year-old is bouncing off the walls, refusing to sit down to complete a coloring sheet or learn letters. The diagnosis is more likely to come, however, when kids are a bit older, and symptoms are truly disrupting their lives or school performance is suffering because of ADHD/ADD.
Diagnosing your child is a fairly straightforward process that starts at your pediatrician’s office. It can involve questionnaires for parents or teachers, or a child meeting with a child psychologist to help with the diagnoses. This can involve an interview and observation of the child’s behavior during activities. A thorough evaluation can help to confirm diagnosis, but can also help to eliminate any other issues that might be present.
Confirming a diagnosis is the first step, but then what? There are several options regarding management of your child’s ADHD/ADD. This depends on the age of your child as well as the types of issues your child is having.
For younger children, typically impulsiveness (or ‘running on a motor’) is the biggest issue which can lead to discipline problems in the classroom or at home. The impulsiveness generally improves as they age or mature. As children age, issues with attention can become a little bit more dominant, especially as school work becomes more challenging.
If a child is diagnosed with ADHD/ADD, but is not having any problems at home or at school, then not much intervention is needed. However, for children who are having discipline problems, or are not doing well with their school work, an intervention to help their child can be quite beneficial.
Interventions for children with ADHD/ADD can include parent/teacher intervention with management of behavior at home or in the classroom (which works better for younger children), or starting medication. There are several options for medications for children with ADHD/ADD which can be discussed with your child’s pediatrician.
As always, your pediatrician should be your first resource to ask if there are questions regarding the possibility and diagnosis of ADHD/ADD for your child.
Author: Savannah Browning
Dr. Savannah Browning grew up in Fayette, AL. She moved to Mobile to attend Medical School at the University of South Alabama in 2009, and has been a proud Mobilian ever since. She joined Children’s Medical Group in 2016, and her office is at the Airport Boulevard location. She lives in Mobile with her husband, Andrew, and their three children: Jude, Luke, and Annie.
