THE INFORMATION HERE WILL PROVIDE A GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder), LD (Learning Disabled) and Learning Challenged child. Basically, all of these children have fallen into the same category, and as you may or may not know the symptoms and educational and social challenges all overlap.

Imagine living in a fast-moving merry-go-round where sounds, images and thoughts are constantly shifting. Where you may see letters, words or even numbers backward, where you are easily bored and distracted at the same time. You are almost helpless to keep your mind on tasks you need to complete. You have difficulty remembering things that may have happened five seconds ago, let alone yesterday. You have difficulty organizing your thoughts and activities. Unimportant sights and sounds distract you; your mind drives you from one thought activity to the next. Sometimes you are so wrapped up in all of this turmoil that you do not notice when someone is speaking to you, perhaps a teacher, parent or friend. What you do feel is frustration, anger, confusion and fear that you do not learn or act as most of the others around you do. Your self-esteem is not good, you don’t have self-confidence and your world does not feel safe to you at any time.

A person with a learning disability lives with some — or all — of these symptoms every day.

Over the years, ADHD has been given many names. It is one of the most common learning and social disorders among children. Statistically, two to three times more boys than girls are affected. True attention deficit disorder is extremely rare, occurring in only 3 to 6 percent of the population — yet, unbelievably, it is now being estimated that the condition will be diagnosed in 20 percent of the population.

Identifying the main problems

The most common behaviors fall into three categories: inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

• Inattention — These children have a hard time keeping their mind on any one thing and may get bored with a task after only a few minutes. They can spend huge amounts of time on activities they enjoy, but focusing deliberate conscious attention to organize and complete a job or learning something new is difficult for them.

• Hyperactivity — These children always seem to be in motion. Even when they seem to be still, their bodies, minds and mouths are always moving. They can’t sit still. Sitting still for longer than a few moments, or even sometimes for a few seconds, may be an impossibility. Hyperactive children squirm in their seat, roam around the room, call out, need to have something in their hands, tap the desk, etc. You will notice that they will try to do several things at once, bouncing around from one activity to the next while not completing anything.

• Impulsiveness — These children have difficulty controlling their immediate reactions. You know the adage, “What we think, we usually say or do.” Most of us have the ability to control this impulse, but these children do not. Their impulsiveness may make it hard for them to wait for things they want or to take their turn in games. They may grab a toy from another child or hit someone when they are upset.

One may say that at times we all have some of these characteristics, so how do we assess whether our child has this disorder? Doctors, psychologists and educational specialists consider the following questions in making assessments:

• Are these behaviors excessive or long term? Do they occur more often than in other people the same age?

• Are they a continual problem, not just a response to a temporary situation?

• Do the behaviors occur in several different settings, or only in one specific place?

These behaviors are compared with a set of criteria and characteristics that appear in the reference book “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”

What makes it so complex to diagnose is that many things can produce the above behaviors. For example, a formerly cooperative child who becomes overactive and easily distracted after a parent’s death is dealing with an emotional problem. A child with chronic middle-ear infections may also appear distracted and uncooperative, as can living with family members who are physically abusive or addicted to drugs or families that are going through separations and divorces. The divorce rate now is more than 50 percent; do you wonder if there is a correlation between this and the behavioral characteristics that accompany ADHD? Can you imagine a child trying to focus on a reading or math lesson while expending all their energy each day on attempting to balance their emotions?

Suppose, even, that the child has a learning disability and is not developmentally ready to learn to read and write or work with numbers. Maybe the work is too hard, or maybe the materials have to be taught using different strategies or modalities.

We have seen that there are several different temperaments that a child may have, and each produces a different set of behaviors — and each, in turn, requires handling in different ways. If situations are mishandled or not understood, there is a very good possibility that these children are showing the effects of other problems, and not ADHD.

Classroom stories

Jerome shouted answers out in class, and then became disruptive when the teacher ignored him. He showed all of the symptoms of being hyperactive and impulsive. After observing Jerome in other situations, his teacher realized that he was just looking for approval for knowing the right answer. Once the teacher shifted her behavior and gave Jerome more opportunities to answer with positive recognition, Jerome became an exemplary student.

Molly, a fourth grader, made loud noises during reading group that disrupted the class. One day after spending some individual time with Molly, the teacher realized that the material was too hard for her. Molly’s disruptions ceased when she was placed in a reading group geared to her level of reading. She then began to participate with more success in the activity.

Stephen Dubrofsky has been a teacher, workshop facilitator, author and parent educator for the past 15 years, helping families create healthier relationships with their children. Learn more at www.stepforwardlearningcenter.com.