| ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity | | | | makeup and not by poor child-rearing practices -- as |
| disorder. It was once known as ADD or attention | | | | having ADHD. Nowadays, these children are easily |
| deficit disorder but was renamed in 1994 by the | | | | recognized as thousands of studies and scientific |
| American Psychiatric Association (APA). | | | | investigations into ADHD have been published. These |
| ADHD is a mental and developmental condition of | | | | studies provide sufficient information on the nature, |
| inattention and distractibility that becomes evident in | | | | causes, symptoms and treatments of ADHD. |
| some children in the early school years. ADHD is the | | | | A child with ADHD faces a complex situation. He or |
| name of a group of behavioral disorder found in many | | | | she should receive help, guidance, and understanding |
| children and adults. Studies show that people with | | | | from his or her environment, especially from parents. |
| ADHD have differences in the parts of their brains that | | | | Naturally, all children, particularly younger ones, act |
| eventually control their attention and activity. It is a | | | | anxious or excited at times. However, the difference |
| condition characterized by their behavioral and learning | | | | with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is that |
| disorders. The disorder is three times more common | | | | symptoms are there over a longer period of time and |
| among boys than girls. Symptoms are always present | | | | occurs in different settings. They disrupt a child's |
| before the age of 7 and can continue through | | | | capacity to function socially, academically and at home. |
| adolescence, causing children and adults significant | | | | The cause of this disorder is a deficiency of chemicals |
| social or academic impairment. Symptoms of this | | | | in the brain that are responsible for systematizing |
| disorder often become less severe in the late teenage | | | | thought. Without enough of these chemicals, the |
| and early adulthood years. | | | | organizing centers of the brain don't perform well. |
| Dr. Heinrich Hoffman, a physician who wrote books on | | | | Studies show that attention-deficit hyperactivity |
| medicine and psychiatry, first described ADHD in 1845. | | | | disorder is more common in children who have close |
| In 1902, Sir George F. Still published a series of lectures | | | | relatives with the disorder. Recent studies also link |
| in England in which he described a group of | | | | smoking and other substance abuse during pregnancy |
| hyperactive children with significant behavioral | | | | to the disorder. Medications such as Ritalin are used |
| disorders -- caused by a dysfunction in their genetic | | | | most often to treat the disorder. |