How do you know when a 6 year old has ADHD?

Question

Okay, just to clarify, this isnt MY child im on about - it is my little cousin who is 6 years old

Answer 1

ADHD is very hard to diagnose. Some including myself don't believe it even exists. Take a look at yourself as a parent and ask yourself if you have given your child enough attention. I work with children some of whom have been diagnosed with ADHD. Diagnosis just allows you to pump your child full of speed! It's a cop out. It is interesting that all of the children i know who have been diagnosed with it appear to have a very messed up home life almost always lacking in one thing or another. Give your child the attention he/she needs, bring them up correctly in the early years and then watch as they don't develop so called ADHD. It's all in the parenting!

Answer 2

you don't.

There's no full proof way of saying that he has or does not have this mental defect.
The best test you can have done would be an eeg with which a doctor can measure if he has irratic brain activity yes or no.
However it's hard to tell if that irratic behaviour can be interpreted as ADHD with a 6 year old.
I'm talking from personal experience and it took plenty of doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists 12 years to determine that I had ADHD(first research was done at age 5).
The clearest indicators are that your six year old is running round the house like he's had an overdose of cafein. He can't keep order or organisation in what he does. And he can't plan anything.
I will warn you though that doctors are throwing around the word ADHD like it's a kind of fad. Every kid that acts a little irratic is supposed to have ADHD. So be careful and very critical.
I'll leave you with one warning: Don't get persuaded in having medication prescribed. These days doctors are throwing around prescriptions for Ritalin and concerta as if they were prescribing candy. Take it from someone who's used them. This stuff does nothing good and has some serious side effects I wouldn't expose your 6 year old child to. Feel free to contact me if you need any more advice or tips. I'm always glad to help fellow sufferers

Answer 3

I was told by my doctor if the child is unable to concentrate on anything for longer than two seconds the child may have ADHD. For example, if your child likes a certain show and watches it(minus commercials when they usually run around of course) but cannot sit still for dinner he probably doesn't have it. If he cannot sit still, literally, for longer than two seconds and nothing can hold his interest for longer than 2 or 3 minutes you should get him checked out. Make sure you use activities he likes to test him with. My son would never sit still and my mother wanted to put him on Ritalin. When I asked my doc, she told me the same thing I told you. Now if his activity seems to be over the top you may want to ask your doc about hyperactivity (which is actually what my son had a mild form of). To me it seems the difference between the two, is that ADHD seems to be a mental attention problem while hyperactivity seems to be a physical need to move constantly. Good Luck

Answer 4

Inattention

Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.

Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.

Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.

Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).

Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).

Impulsivity

Often blurts out answers before questions have been finished.

Often has trouble waiting one's turn.

Hyperactivity

Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.

Often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is expected.
Often runs about or climbs when and where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).

Answer 5

Try this site, it will explain everything about ADHD, plus you can do a on line assessment if your child has ADHD.http://www.psychiatry24x7.com/worldwide/. There are quite a few on line questioner/assessments you can go on. Your best is to go and see your GP and ask him or her to refer your child to a ADHD paediatrician. All the best.

Answer 6

i think the first sign was when he kept on running into the wall for 10 mins solid, then decide to drink some bleech... the little blight, gotta love um though

Answer 7

well we though that my niece was adhd but the doc said that aloth of liks are hyper like she is but thy said that shes too young to tell but just go see that doc and ask bout it

Answer 8

Pharmaceutical companies and psychiatrist have gone to bed to create one the biggest profit centers in the history of legal drugs.

Ask yourself this question and really think about the answer. What kind of society drugs its’ children to force their compliance with the system? Drugging has become a tool of conformity and control.

The DEA found that methylphenidate had nearly identical effects on humans as amphetamines and cocaine.

This powerful stimulant, that has the highest abuse potential and dependence profile of all drugs that have medical usefulness, is prescribed mostly to children. By the mid nineties, methylphenidate sales leveled off at 11 million prescriptions per year. Around that time the sales of other amphetamines (primarily Adderall, used for treatment ADD and ADHD) increased from 1.3 million prescriptions in 1996 to 6 million prescriptions by 2000. According to United Nations data the United States of America consumes 85% of all methylphenidate production. Of this 85%, 80% is prescribed to children. Apparently, ADD and ADHD are not common afflictions in other parts of the world.

In 1985, 500,000 American kids were diagnosed with ADHD. Today, between over 7 million children in the United States are labeled with this disorder.

What happened in the nine years between 1991 and 2000? In 1991, the United States Department of Education made children with ADD and ADHD eligible for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Act. In 1991, kids diagnosed with ADHD or ADD became eligible and entitled to extra government funding for their schools. School districts across America now had a financial incentive to label kids with ADD and ADHD.

It is pretty clear that we have become a society that drugs its’ children for financial gain and to force compliance with the system. Schools have a financial incentive, but why would parents drug their kids? Some parents who resist are threatened by schools and social workers. They are told refusing to medicate their kids is akin to abuse.

Many parents cooperate in the drugging of their children, because if their kids have a “disease”, it is not the parent’s fault. Behavior problems are the parent’s fault, while a disease is out of their control. Parents are labeling their kids, so they do not have to take the responsibility for their child’s behavior. This behavior may be nothing more than rebellion to conformity, but nonetheless embarrassing to the parents. Support groups for parents further these beliefs. Not surprisingly, groups like CHADD, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, are funded by Ciba/Novartis, maker of Ritalin.

Worse yet, they are teaching these kids that they are not responsible for their behavior either. If they misbehave, it is the disease in control. Then they drug the kid and credit the medication for his good behavior. These drugged kids become nothing but shells of human beings, not responsible for themselves and addicted to powerful drugs.

ADD is not even a real disease. According to Merriam- Webster’s Dictionary, ADD is a syndrome of disordered learning and disruptive behavior that is not caused by any serious underlying physical or mental disorder and that has several subtypes characterized primarily by inattentiveness or primarily by hyperactivity and impulsive behavior or by the significant expression of both. There are no physical or chemical abnormalities conclusively associated with ADHD.

Diagnosis of ADD comes from observation of the subject. How can you diagnosis a mental disorder, like attention deficit, by observation of physical activity? The people who diagnose children do not have any idea of the mental functioning of the subject’s brain. By the syndrome’s name it implies that the subject can not keep his attention focused, he has lack of attention. You could possibly say a person’s attention was not on a certain subject, but that does not mean his attention wasn’t totally focused on something else.

Some neurologists believe ADD is a sham. Fred A. Baughman, Jr., M.D., a Chief of Neurology (Board Certified) Fellow, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology said, “In numbers unmatched in any part of the world, U.S. school children are diagnosed and drugged in a quid pro quo association between education and for-profit psychiatry and psychology. Labeled ‘brain-diseased’, the schools have an excuse for the rampant illiteracy and unpreparedness, cause enough for the mounting unhappiness and failure of the children, while psychiatry/psychology gains lifetime patients….. Parents, wake up! Do you really believe that your child, seemingly normal until eight (the average age of diagnosis) has a ‘brain disease’ due to a ‘chemical imbalance of the brain’, diagnosed by a teacher? I don't think so. .... As a child neurologist for 35 years, I have authored original descriptions of real diseases characterized by objective abnormalities. Witnessing the burgeoning numbers of school children said to have A.D.D. and made to take brain-altering drugs, I have found I can validate none of it.”

Over 7 million little “square peg” children line up every morning to swallow down powerful drugs. ADD and ADHD would be better labeled PDD, Parental Deficit Disorder.

Answer 9

when he has a hard time focusing andcompleteing tasks... he/she has to make some sort of movement at all times... seems wired.