What is ADHD?
It is a common neurodevelopmental (this has to do with the way the brain grows and develops) disorder of childhood. ADHD is normally diagnosed in childhood affecting between 10-15% of school-aged children with symptoms showing between the ages of 3 and 6.
What does the acronym ADHD mean?
A=Attention (the act of carefully thinking about, listening to, or watching someone or something)
D=Deficit (a problem that causes a decrease in some ability)
H=Hyperactivity (the state or condition of being excessively active)
D=Disorder (to disturb the normal functions of)
Now that we know a little bit about ADHD, what would the symptoms of it look like?
Inattentive Symptoms:
Fails to pay close attention to details or makes careless mistakes
Has difficulty sustaining attention
Appears not to listen
Struggles to follow directions
Easily distracted and easily loses things
Daydreams
Forgetful
Disorganized
Avoids tasks requiring sustained mental effort (ex: homework or classwork)
Hyperactivity-Impulsivity Symptoms:
Fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in chair
Has difficulty remaining seated
Runs about or climbs excessively in children
Difficulty engaging in activities quietly
Acts as if driven by a motor
Talks excessively
Blurts out answers before questions have been completed
Difficulty waiting or taking turns
Interrupts conversations
Unable to play quietly alone
No safety awareness in certain situations
Who can be diagnosed with ADHD?
The answer to this question is simple; anyone can be diagnosed with it. It typically is diagnosed around the ages of 3 to 6 years old when the symptoms start to show. This diagnosis is 3x more common in boys than girls, but this doesn’t mean that girls can’t be diagnosed with it. Since there is no single test for it, other tests have to be completed in order to rule out other causes before a formal diagnosis is established. Even though it is mostly diagnosed in childhood this doesn’t rule out a diagnosis in adulthood.
There is an episode from the TV show Modern Family and this episode was in season one, episode eighteen and it showed a real life connection between an undiagnosed child and ADHD. The link to this episode is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bA4N_ho99M or you can find it on the ABC website. The only thing with these links is that you have to either have a YouTube account to view it or a cable provider login to view the entire episode. This episode mainly concerns the father (Phil) and the son (Luke) and how their mannerisms mimic the symptoms of ADHD. In this particular episode we see Alex (one of Phil’s daughters) mention that Luke might have ADHD. In response to this comment Luke says he doesn’t and then asks what it is. Alex doesn’t want to answer since she knows by the time she explains he would be gone. Through this episode we see that instead of explaining the symptoms we see the father and son act them out and what makes it even better is that they are both completely oblivious to the fact that they are showing typical ADHD symptoms. Their mom was very overwhelmed with her son’s lack of focus and the father then attempted to help his son with a project due the next day. We see different scenarios were different symptoms are shown, while Alex is talking through some of the symptoms with her mom, since her brother and father are oblivious that they are even experiencing symptoms. Some different examples we see is that Luke gets easily distracted with his project or any type of homework, he tries to divert to other tasks like games or asking questions about other things.
Link to photo above
Another big example is when we see Phil down to the garage to get something, and an overhead light that was flickering distracted him. Then we see him get up and opened up the light fixture to see what was wrong with the bulb, as he did this he realized he had found his sunglasses that he was looking for. Then we witness him lose the focus for the flickering light and grab the sunglasses that were on a dangerously high shelf. Alex and her mom both realize at the same time that this is going on right now and rush to the rescue, to help Phil and to get Luke to work on his project. If you want more information the link to the blog post is: https://wolfshades.com/2010/03/26/tv-gem/.
You’re not alone, in your diagnosis
Each year approximately 11-20% of children are diagnosed with ADHD. This doesn’t mean that you are different or weird. There are many people that you might not realize are even diagnosed with it. Some of these include some famous sports players, actors, musicians, politicians, TV show hosts, etc. Lets see how some of these people cope with their symptoms.
There are even some animated characters that are portrayed as having ADHD. Many people are familiar with the classic story of Winnie the Pooh. The main characters in the story line all display characteristics that can be linked back to ADHD. The five main characters that we will be looking at and how they connect to symptoms of ADHD are: Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit, Piglet, and Eeyore.
Tigger: This type of ADHD can be referred to as the “tigger type.” Most times when we saw the character of Tigger, he was always
bouncing around because that’s what Tiggers do best. Some of the symptoms we can see in Tigger are inattention (easily distracted), impulsivity (doesn’t think before he acts), talks a lot, hyperactivity (has a lot of energy), restlessness (can’t sit still or wait his turn, and disorganization.
Winnie the Pooh: When viewing Winnie the Pooh we can relat
e him back to the classic inattentive ADHD. This is because he tends to be in a fog most of the time and even though he is very lovable, we can see that he is inattentive, sluggish, and unmotivated. We can think of this type as a daydreamer with their head in the clouds.
Rabbit: Rabbit is the classic case of the over-focused ADHD. He has a very hard time shifting from one task to another because he is so oriented to that one specific task. He also gets stuck in negative thoughts, obsesses over things, inflexible, worries a lot, and always wants thing his way. Link to photo
Piglet: Piglets character can be compared to some children who are diagnosed with ADHD in the fact that they are always worried, nervous, and startled easily. Sometimes this causes stuttering, which we 
sometimes see, this can be a residual symptom of ADHD in some children. In this “Piglet Style” ADHD the brain is so over-stimulated that they are hypervigilant, trouble shifting from one activity to another, obsessive and gets stuck with negative thoughts. Link to photo
Eeyore: This character of Eeyore is diagnosed with ADHD, along with depression, which can commonly happen with an ADHD diagnosis. With Eeyore we can see that he is inattentive, he has chronic sadness, negative, apathetic, low energy level, he feels like he is worthl
ess, helpless, and hopeless. We can see all of this with Eeyore as he walks slow, looks sad, doesn’t get much done, and all he really ever gets happy over is the fact he is noticed. Link to photo
What does it feel like to actually have ADHD?
To connect everything together here is one last video clip, this clip gives examples from ordinary people who are diagnosed with ADHD of what it feels like to have it.
All together these media sources summarize what the literature has to say on the topic of ADHD. Some key points from what the literature says on the topic is that ADHD is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in school-aged children. These Children may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors, and can be overly active (Attention-Deficit, N.D.). Children who are eventually diagnosed with ADHD don’t grow out of what some people might call typical childhood behaviors. According to Leslie, et al., some things that ADHD can impact are: academics, family and peer relationships, poor self-image, and low occupational performance (2007). For people diagnosed with ADHD this does not mean that they will be unsuccessful, this just means if they 
do not receive proper treatment that there might be serious consequences like failure in school, added stress to the family, depression, disruption to family life, substance abuse, job failure, and the list goes on. For a child to be diagnosed with ADHD they must have six symptoms and they must have them before the age of 12 (CHADD, N.D.). These symptoms can then be broken down into three categories of predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, or combined. With the inattentive presentation these children have a hard time finishing tasks, paying attention to details or following directions. This type of person would be someone who is easily distracted and forgets things. With the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type these children fidgets, talks excessively, hard to sit still for long periods of time like in class, always on the go, impulsive, accident-prone, etc. The combined type has symptoms of both (Attention Deficit, N.D.). These symptoms can present as mild, moderate, or severe (CHADD, N.D.) and they will continue into adulthood. Throughout the years children can experience delays in independent functioning and behave or act younger than others their age. Another residual effect is that they might have mild delays in language, motor skills, or social development (CHADD, N.D.). A child diagnosed with ADHD might experience issues as they are growing up like academic delays, driving problems, difficulty with social problems, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, etc. Some treatment options to help control and reduce symptoms are behavior therapy and medication (Attention Deficit, N.D.). It is important to remember that not every treatment option is the same for each child it varies depending on them. Not every child will present with the same symptoms or difficulties managing ADHD, it all depends on the person. Link to photo above
Additional Resources:
If you have any additional questions three great sources to look at are:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site and search ADHD, the link is https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/index.html.
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) website, this website is the national resource on ADHD. On this page there is helpful links, tips, explanations, etc. The link for this page is http://www.chadd.org/Understanding-ADHD/About-ADHD.aspx.
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has a great page about ADHD, the link is https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/ADHD.
References:
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/ADHD. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2016, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/index.html
Bass, S. (n.d.). Types of ADD/ADHD in the form of the characters from Winnie the Pooh! – HealthyPlace. Retrieved October 28, 2016, from http://www.healthyplace.com/adhd/articles/types-of-addadhd-in-the-form-of-the-characters-from-winnie-the-pooh/
CHADD – The National Resource on ADHD. (n.d.). About ADHD. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from http://www.chadd.org/Understanding-ADHD/About-ADHD.aspx
Leslie, L. K., & Wolraich, M. L. (2007, June 7). ADHD Service Use Patterns in Youth. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 32(6), 695-710. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsm023
Top 10 Inspirational People with ADHD. (2016, October 3). Retrieved October 28, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6LxfDFSZ0s
[Web log post]. (2010, March 26). Retrieved October 28, 2016, from https://wolfshades.com/2010/03/26/tv-gem/