The Behavior in Children With ADD

Attention deficit disorder, also known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a condition that typically surfaces during early childhood and is marked by difficulty controlling spontaneous reactions. KidsHealth, a project of nonprofit children's health organization Nemours, reports that from 8 to 10 percent of children have ADD, and boys are three times as likely as girls to be diagnosed with the condition. Children with ADD typically have difficulty focusing and struggle with paying attention more than children without the condition. These symptoms are present in home, school or daycare. ADD can impact a child's social skills, academics and behavior at home.

  1. Inattention

    • Children with ADD who are inattentive are able to listen and focus on topics that interest them, but once tasks get boring or repetitive they get bored and quickly lose interest. Another symptom of inattention is difficulty completing a task and jumping from one activity to another while the first is incomplete. According to nonprofit mental health information resource HelpGuide, they may also have trouble following directions, planning ahead, forgetting steps, making careless mistakes or frequently lose items like toys and homework.

    Hyperactivity

    • Hyperactivity is one of the most obvious and common symptoms of ADD. While all children might seem hyper at some point or another, children with ADD are constantly on the go. A child with ADD struggles with sitting still, might jump or climb on furniture and might also have a short fuse or temper. You might also notice leg shaking, foot tapping or finger drumming when a child is forced to sit still, such as in school or church.

    Impulsivity

    • Impulsive behavior is the last characteristic of children diagnosed with ADD. Impulsive children experience difficulty with self-control. They have difficulty waiting for their turn, interrupt others when speaking, guess answers instead of thinking the problem through or have angry outbursts or tantrums when upset.

    Types of ADD

    • According to WebMD, doctors classify an ADD diagnosis into three separate categories, depending on which characteristics are evident. The most common type of ADD is combined type or inattentive/hyperactive/impulsive. These children exhibit all three characteristics of ADD. The second type is hyperactive/impulsive . These children are hyper and impulsive, but don't usually have problems paying attention when necessary. The third is the inattentive type, which was formerly known as ADD before it was merged as a type of ADHD.

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