The World of ADHD Children

In the United States, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common diagnosis for children and adolescents. Every child who is uncontrollable in the classroom is considered to be suffering from ADHD, and due to this illness more people are being treated everyday. Some even wonder whether ADHD was made by society to defend and obey the natural order. In addition to parents, teachers are also good sources of information to observe the characteristics of ADHD children in their daily education.

ADHD occurs in children and adults, but it is the most common and diagnosed in childhood. Because the symptoms of ADHD are similar to the typical symptoms of most infants, it is sometimes difficult to take a diagnosis of ADHD. Teachers are usually the first people to notice the symptoms of ADHD because they see their children every day in their classmates' learning environment. Since there is no single test that can diagnose a child of ADHD, I will meet a doctor or mental health expert to gather all the information necessary for diagnosis. The goal is to eliminate external causes of symptoms such as environmental changes, school difficulties, medical problems, and ensure child's health.

Diagnosis of ADHD is a particularly difficult task especially for adults. Why is this difficult? It is mainly due to the symptoms of ADHD overlapping with anxiety and depression, and the ancient belief that ADHD is only seen in children. However, less than 20% of adults with ADHD have been diagnosed and there are many misdiagnosed and untreated individuals. Adults who are not diagnosed at young age are often aware of low self-esteem, failure of detailed-oriented tasks, anxiety, and depression (ADAA, 2017).

Until recently, it was widely believed that children of ADHD were experiencing symptoms and behavioral disorders during adolescence and early adulthood. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly evident that this does not hold true with the accumulation of long-term prognostic data for children with ADHD. During puberty, 70 to 80% of children with ADHD are considered to continue to show significant defects in attention and impulsiveness compared to colleagues of the same age. Therefore, although the frequency and intensity of these symptoms may be absolutely diminished, they are still defective compared to their colleagues. In a small number of studies with a small number of children with ADHD in the early adulthood, approximately 50% continue to confirm the symptoms of the disease even though they are not eligible for formal diagnosis.