Relevant facts of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder)

ADD 

I will describe what I consider relevant  facts or details of this cognitive disorder. I did some research and I will gather information from the pdf file that we will discuss later in class.
There are two types of ADD:
1) Hyperactive
2) DA without hyperactivity


DHD-I is similar to other subtypes of ADHD in that it is characterized primarly by inattention, forgetfulness. In some cases, children enjoy learning may develop a sense of fear when faced with structures or planned work, especially long or group-based  that requires extended focus, even if they thoroughly understand  the topic.
The inattentive children may realize on some level that they are somehow different inetrnally from their peers. However, they are also likely to accept and internalize the continous negative feedback, creating a negative self-image that becomes self-reinforcing.
If these children progress into adulthood undiagnosed or untreated, their inattentiveness, ongoing fustrations and poor-self image frequently create numerous and severe problems maintaining healthy relationships, succeeding  in post secondary shooling or succeeding in the workplace. These problems can compound fustrations and low-self esteem and will often lead to the development of secondary pathologies including anxiety, sexual promiscuity mood disorders and substance abuse. This to me represent the worst decision that a normal person can do; it is not advisible to moke this people, we do not know how profound the memories of what we say can threaten them.

It affects from 2% to 11% or more to those children who attend school around the world and it is characterized by inattentivness and excessive distractibility, forgetful in daily activities, has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities, does not give attention to details or makes careless mistakes in school work, work or other activities, loses things needed for tasks and activities and does not follow instruction and fails to finish schoolwork, chores or duties in the workplace ( not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).

What can teacher and parents do to fight and cope with this disorder? 

Children with ADD or ADHD can be extremely disorganized. Parents should work with them to find specific places for everything and teach kids to use calendars and schedules.
Parents are advised to get children into sports to help them build discipline, confidence and improve their social skills. However, sports and physical activity boosts the brains's dopamine, norepnephrine and serotonin levels and all those neurotransmitters affect focus and attention, some sports may be too challenging and can add fustration. In order to avoid this, parents should talk with their children about what activities and exercises most estimulate and satisfy them before signing them up for classes or sports.
Besides, toddlers and preschoolers may be unable to sit still, follow  even simple directions, or control impulses. They may become angry for no reason and hit their peers or siblings. They tend to be impatient, interrupting others when they are talking or playing. They may move constanty, jump from one activity to another, and have a high level of energy and a low sense of danger.

How to recognize ADHD symptoms at every age?
 I have a anecdote from a teacher experiencing the ADHD:

Although Carol Stevenson didn’t suspect attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when her son, Jacob, was very young, she still knew at an early age that there was something different about her child. As a toddler, Jacob was slow to talk and often resorted to hitting out of frustration. By the time he started kindergarten, he was speaking well, but his behavior was sometimes troublesome and disruptive at school.

“He was always playing with things, dropping his pencil, or using one pencil to flick another off the desk,” says Stevenson, who lives in Santa Clarita Valley, Calif. “He didn’t pay attention in class and would get up and walk around.” As a result, she says, he was always being redirected, reprimanded, and sent to the principal’s office.

Shortly after Jacob started first grade, Stevenson received a call from his teacher that ultimately led to a diagnosis of ADHD (previously known as attention deficit disorder, or ADD). “She said in her 30 years of teaching, he was only the second or third child she had so quickly recognized as having ADHD,” recalls Stevenson. “Essentially, she was sending out the message that it was something she doesn’t throw out frequently or lightly.”

Like Jacob, many children who are later diagnosed with ADHD show signs of hyperactivity or other red flags from the time they are very young,  Parents may recall the symptoms of ADHD to be excessive for the developmental age of their child. Some mothers say they remember their hyperactive children kicking in the womb more vigorously than their other children, says Walt Karniski, MD, a developmental pediatrician and executive director at Tampa Day School, which specializes in educational services for children with ADHD. Although the fetal kicker and colicky baby theories have never been substantiated, it is clear that children with ADHD often show signs early in life.

To be diagnosed with ADHD, a child must have displayed symptoms for at least six months and those symptoms must have started prior to age five. “If a child had ADHD at age five, he also had it at age four, and anyone who has ADHD at four had it age three, though it may not have been manifested,” says Karniski. Often the first suspicions of ADHD arise when children begin preschool and have to be in a structured environment for the first time, he says. As they progresses through school, other signs of the disorder may become evident. The diagnosis also requires that the symptoms be present in several settings. 

FACTS

-It is a heterogeneos conductual disorder that can respond to multiples  possible etiologys; environmental; brain injury, genetic and neuroanatomical-neuroquimical. 

-It can be confused with: 

• a learning problem
• psychosocial problems
• medical problems ( malnutrition, epilepsy, hearing or visual problems)
• depression, anxiety, bipolar disruption. 

-Its causes are unknown. It seems difficult to find a origin.

-The available evidence suggest a biochemical basis of the condition having been shown that the amount of neurotransmitters, essentially appears reduced dopamine and norepinephrine in the  front brain regions of patients with ADHD. 

At the school where I teach English, there is an unusual boy. He is in first grade. He is very impulsive, hit their classmates for no reason and interferes when I  am talking. He walks around the classroom and apparently he cannot follow my intructions. He listens well, but I think he must be seen by a doctor or a specialist so that he get treatment. I am not the one who will diagnose him, but throughout the research I have realized that he has many of the symptoms described in here. I have to admit that I am very concern and I do not know if the teacher ( the one that is always with him) is aware of the problem he has. She is very strict and yells a lot to the children. I mean, that group of children are very problematic, since they are always running and talking but we as teachers do need to take this task seriously and not to get them more fustrated. He is always poorly dressed ( dirty uniform and he neves uses socks), I think his family is not wary of his problem. I am not saying that he has this deficit, but his teacher said to me that he acts like crazy and  that maybe he has a problem, neves listens or gives importance to activities  and she described him as "poor boy".

I was very shocked, at the time she said that, but our reality is that there is still lack of medical or specialized information about this deficit in our country. Salvadorian schools need more profesional intervention and maybe that way teacher will be able to recognize and then experts can handle the situation properly.