There are a lot of things that can get in the way of children’s learning. I have discussed a number of these over the past months. Some children need extra one-on-one or small group instruction to help overcome lack of early childhood exposure to language, books, or proper social skills. Some children have learning disabilities that make it difficult for them to learn to read. Other children come to school without enough food or sleep, or carry with them significant family problems, such as grief or loss, that take their minds of school work. Still others have behavior difficulties that distract them (and others) from learning.

Another important roadblock to learning that must be considered is the inability to focus or regulate attention. Clearly, we all have times when we struggle to concentrate and pay attention. Indeed, I recently left a meeting with colleagues at which my mind wandered everywhere except to the matters at hand. However, when a child demonstrates levels of inattention, impulsivity, and over-activity that are well beyond what is expected and appropriate for his/her age and gender, we must consider whether the child might actually have a disruptive behavior disorder known as ADHD. ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Children with ADHD often have difficulty concentrating on schoolwork, fail to give close attention to details, consistently make careless errors, frequently interrupt conversations or activities, and have difficulty remaining seated when required to do so. There is clearly much more to this diagnosis, but these basic symptoms are the hallmark, and they must have persisted for at least 6 months, must have been present to a certain degree before the age of 7, and must be present in two or more settings (such as home and school). Interestingly, boys are three times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls. A diagnosis of ADHD should only be made by a trained mental health professional.

Children with ADHD often have great difficulty in school. Because they can’t easily regulate their behavior and their attention, they struggle to remain focused on topics that are not of great interest. They tend to either over-focus (for example, they spend way too much time on one part of an assignment, such as a drawing, and ignore the rest of the assignment), or under-focus (for example, they rush through an assignment and don’t add details, or don’t take time to check for mistakes). Some children with ADHD have difficulty controlling their behavior, and consequently break the rules at home and school, blurt things out, or act without thinking. All of this results in poor academic performance. These children rarely reach their academic potential, often struggle to make and keep friends, and often are a challenge to parent because of the difficulty they have following through on parent directives.

I have written many times about the importance of early identification. Children with ADHD tend to do somewhat better in primary school, where they have one classroom teacher and less demands on time and organization. However, when they reach Campus B, life implodes. Now they have multiple teachers, a much more difficult schedule to follow, and lots more homework. Demands on their weak organizational and time management skills increase. In addition, the demands and complexity of the social world increase exponentially. The end result is often not pretty, and might include failing grades, poor behavior, suspensions, depression, or even dropping out of school.

There are things that can be done. Next week I will discuss some of these interventions. However, the first step is to identify these children as early as possible. As parents, if you sense that your child fits the above profile, you need to work with your child’s teacher, the principal, the school nurse and the educational psychologist to determine what the cause may be and whether it might be due to ADHD.

Helpful websites abound, including www.CHADD.org , www.ADDitudemag.com, and www.adhdnews.com

Be sure to email me if you have questions, at Peter.Wolinsky@gov.ai.

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