Twice Exceptional: ADHD and Giftedness Essay

ADHD is a very common neurodevelopment disorder of childhood. It is usually diagnosed in late childhood, around the age of seven by the teachers. The symptoms are typical during ages 3-6 and if not treated properly becomes chronic and persists even after entering adulthood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, staying organized and controlling impulsive behaviors. It is very difficult to diagnose and when undiagnosed the children can grow to be mislabeled as trouble makers in their adulthood.

First step to understanding this disorder is to understand how it is diagnosed and what criteria is required. There are 18 possible symptoms for ADHD that are divided into two categories, inattentive and hyperactivity/impulsive (Barkley 1997). In order to be diagnosed with ADHD an individual must show at least 6 symptoms in one category for 6 months (Barkley 1997). Depending on what category the symptoms were in the child would also be assigned to a subtype, either: predominantly inattentive or predominantly hyperactive/impulsive; but if the individual met criteria for both inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive then the child would be diagnoses with ADHD combined (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 2013). Some of the symptoms that fall under the inattentive subtype are inability to stay focused on tasks (i.e. during lectures, conversations,

According to Dr. Rosemary Hutchinson, ADHD is one of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and at least three evaluations with the family should be done before making a diagnosis. It is important for a doctor to have knowledge of the child’s illnesses, developmental milestones, and family life. ADD/ADHD have the symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity are common to a number of other conditions that can be mistaken for ADD/ADHD. Children may show signs of these behaviors due to family and social problems. (Hutchinson)

To get a clearer picture of the disorder, APA subdivided the symptoms according to its three most important traits, inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). As most of the symptoms of ADHD may typically be present in normal behavioral development, APA established that only when six or more of the symptoms are present in a child can he or she be considered as suffering from ADHD (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Furthermore, the child should also exhibit these symptoms within a period of 6 months or more to completely confirm the occurrence of the disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).

ADHD Research Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disability in which children consistently show one or more of the following characteristics over a period of time. (1) Inattention, (2) hyperactivity, and (3) impulsivity (Kirst-Ashman, Zastrow 2004). Children who are inattentive have difficulty focusing on any one thing and may get bored with a task after only a few minutes. Children who are hyperactive show high levels of physical activity, almost always seeming to be in motion. Children who are impulsive have difficulty curbing their reactions and don’t do a good job of thinking before they act.

In addition to symptoms of ADHD being present by the age of seven the symptoms must affect the person’s life in a number of settings. In addition the symptoms have to not be explained by another mental disorder. If it only occurs alongside a psychotic mood disorder it is not considered ADHD. Inattention in ADHD is classified as making easily avoidable mistakes and ignoring details, usually do to not paying attention. It can happen in any number of settings( Surman, 2013). For example an accountant suffering from some of the innatention aspects of ADHD may not notice they forget to put a decimal point in a number resulting in a much higher number then shoud have been expected. The average adult may catch the mistake but someone someone with at least part of the innatetion aspect will likely move on without a thought in the world. Hyperactivity is demonstrated by inabiltiy to sit still and the need to get up from one's seat to move around. Impulsivity shows itself in a person's inabilty to resist acting on their urges. Usually the person will jump in front of others in a conversation. the person may at random pick up things and start messing with them. For a person to be diagnosised with ADHD a number of the DSM-IV-TR's critera must be met.

According to the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) there are three main types of ADHD. These types are Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder with predominance in inattentiveness, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder with predominance in hyperactivity and impulsiveness, and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder with a combination of both hyperactivity and inattentiveness. There are certain criteria that must be met before a diagnosis can be made to attribute ADHD to the behavior of anyone.

Primarily Hyperactive also includes nine signs, and six of the nine need to be present to have this type of ADHD. Fidgeting, squirming, getting up many times, running or climbing at inappropriate times, talking too much, not playing quietly, talking out of turn, always on the go, and interrupting, are the nine signs of this type of ADHD. The object of the article and website is to help parents and educators see the signs and symptoms of ADHD, and how to treat the disorder. The web pages are from 2016, which makes the information current and detailed and the opinions are fact based and accurate, with proven studies, the articles are processed through a medical editorial board, and not just one author’s opinion. The object of the article and website is to help parents and educators see the signs and symptoms of ADHD, and how to treat the disorder. Health care providers, such as pediatricians, psychiatrists, and child psychologists, can diagnose ADHD with the help of standard guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics or the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Diagnosing ADHD no year retrieved from

Although so many kids are getting diagnosed with adhd; There is a 1 out of 5 percent of children who are being misdiagnosed with the disorder. Studies show that not all kids that are overly hyperactive, or can’t stand still have adhd. However some kids you can tell just from a glance right away, and others it may require a lot more work than what the human eye can see. The official definition of adhd is “ A chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness”. It is based on subjective criteria so you can’t just say you think your kid has adhd.

Families who have children with ADHD often experience much higher anxiety and stress levels. A large number of children, almost half, will exhibit signs of ADHD by the age of four. However, most children are not diagnosed until he or she reaches elementary school. The behaviors that are associated with ADHD in children put them at risk for a host of other problems and complications such as completing their education, alcohol and other drug abuse, and an increased risk for delinquency. There has been much research on ADHD in recent years and many different types of medications and interventions have proven to be quite helpful. With the proper diagnosis and treatment, children with ADHD can learn to cope with the daily demands of the classroom, social situations, family interactions, and life in general.

In the psychiatric medical field, there is a book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) that provides very specific guidelines on how to recognize, diagnose, and treat mental disorders. ADHD was first introduced to the DSM in 1980 when the DSM-II was published. Since then, three more DSM’s were published, making DSM-V the most up-to-date published manual. In the DSM-V, it describes “people with ADHD [must] show a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development” and a detailed list of criteria for either inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity follows (“Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)”). Also, everyone potential patient must present four specific conditions: they had to present the inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms prior to age twelve, the symptoms must be present in at least two different settings, the symptoms must impair the individual or evidently interfere with life, and the symptoms must not better fit any other mental disorder (“Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)”). Also, only professionals trained to diagnose ADHD are able to diagnose patients, therefore, eliminating any diagnostic errors attributed to a lack of

The brain is an electrical system that communicates with other subsystems within our brains to get the smallest to the most complex things done and our brains do this constantly. This system operates on low voltage electrical impulses that carry messages from one tiny neuron to another in fractions of a second, these neurons are not physically connected; there are gaps at each point of connection and to get messages from one neuron to another, an electrical message needs to jump the gap (Brown, 2013). So, essentially children with ADHD cannot release these chemicals or they don’t jump the gap fast enough to get transmitted properly. While these factors may make the child's symptoms increase in duration or they may get worse, they are not the root cause. There are multiple possible causes that scientists are constantly researching but it still remains that researchers do not know the cause of ADHD.

Think of times you have observed preschool children. Did many of these students exhibit characteristics similar to those used to identify students with ADHD? Have you observed a young child who exhibited these behaviors at such an extreme level that you thought he or she might be identified with ADHD?

Psychologists and Psychiatrists have recognized several different types of ADHD. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), a tool commonly used by professionals to diagnose mental disorders, illustrates three patterns of behavior to note when

There are three main types of ADHD. They are the primarily inattentive type, primarily hyperactive-impulsive type and the combined type. A child with the inattentive type fails to pay attention to details and gets easily distracted and tends to daydream on a day to day basis. On the other hand the hyperactive-impulsive type makes it hard for the child to stay still for long. Mostly this child would jump or climb things in inappropriate occasions. The most common type of ADHD is the combined type. This type is characterized by both impulsive behavior and hyperactivity, and inattention and distraction.