Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
One of the best things in the world is to see your child playing their heart out. They feel so refreshed in the park with their friends. Friends who are the best of buddies, secret game planners, new game inventors, always on the move, running, falling, getting up and running again. It is such a pleasure to watch a bunch of monkeys turning into monsters in the park.
The park is also a place to observe different habits of other kids. There are some girlie gangs who are part of a Minnie Mouse club where they giggle and cook up new games. It may be a treasure hunt for big green leaves and small green leaves or our old age games of Kho-Kho and lime spoon race. During one of my daily visits to park, I noticed a little girl who was always doing things on her own. She never shows any interest in group play. She was never interested in trying new things or make-shift kiddie games. She usually runs and does most of the running in the park. Her mother told me, she does the same at home also and doesn’t like to sit for a second. The daughter’s continuous running around gives her mother a hard time focusing and completing any activity. Her interest keeps on shifting from one activity to another.
After a couple of days I met the same kid during a story session when all the 5+ year kids were listening to the story with genuine interest except the park girl. She kept on running in circles in the room, barely listening to a story.
As I read lots about parenting and kids, I was aware that all these are symptoms of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). I told her mother about ADHD and the next day in PTM she asked the teacher about her child’s behaviour in class. Her teacher confirmed that she also thinks that the girl has ADHD and should consult a doctor.
The next couple of sessions with the doctor confirmed ADHD and she has started the treatment now. Initially, it was a big shock for the mother, but later she realized that it is curable. She also realized that it’s better to know about it and work towards correcting it rather than being ignorant and expecting a child to behave in a normal way. There can be many reasons for ADHD. After discussing a lot about her childhood habits we figured out that the kid consumed too much sugar in her first year. She didn’t take mother’s feed at all and was totally dependent on outside milk and sugar. Doctor advised them that sugar gives energy so they gave too much sugar without realizing that sugar and salt are not good for health in the first year of the child.
There are three main signs of ADHD-
Lack of Focus – It’s extremely tough for kids suffering from ADHD to focus on the task at hand. They kept on shifting from one activity to another. Due to lack of focus they also can’t follow instructions. If the teacher is asking all students to do some work in a notebook, she has to tell ADHD kids individually to do the task. Until and unless their name is called out, they won’t do the class work.
Loss of Things – Kids suffering from ADHD have difficulty in tracking their things. They keep on forgetting their things like books, pencil box, colours, napkins in class and in their play areas.
On the move – ADHD kids keep running most of the time. If they are forced to sit still they might start playing with the chair or their fingers. It’s good to enrol these kids to sport activity so that they can burn their energy in a constructive way.
ADHD is definitely curable and a little understanding about the child suffering from ADHD can definitely help in early treatment and recovery.
Rashmi Sehgal is the mother of two adorable kids, 4 and 1-year-old fondly known as Angel and Lil Prince on her blog. She wears the dual hat of mother and IT Professional who juggles between work and kids trying to maintain balance between both worlds . She is a voracious reader , avid blogger , Shopaholic, love to experiment different way of learning and unlearning things with her daughter and take pleasure in reading books to her daughter. She writes at rashworld.wordpress.com