Does ADHD mostly affect children

How Does ADHD Affect Children?

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5141901_adhd-affect-children.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask

･ Children affected by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) will have difficulties attending… ･ Children affected by ADHD will have difficulties with restlessness and hyperactivity. They may not be… ･ Children affected by ADH…

How Does ADHD Affect Children in the Classroom?

http://www.ehow.com/how_5142162_adhd-affect-children-classroom.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask

･ Children with ADHD are often inattentive in the classroom. This may be manifested by not being able to… ･ Children with ADHD are hyperactive. They may not being able to sit still at their desks, frequently getting… ･ Children with ADH…

Do ADHD children have this problem continuously or sometimes? Doe…?

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pediatrics-1429/index_41.htm

Pat, High achieving kids can have ADHD and have all A’s, but the condition can be manifest in …

Related Questions Answered on Y!Answers

My 2 1/2 yr old is an only child that very active but won’t speak. What should I do?

Q: Is my child progressing normally. She is 2 1/2 years old. She started crawling and walking fast. Now, she’s been at home mostly. She has been in daycare for over 1 year now. She says about 10 words. I worried because other kids her age speak more than she does. She still speaks in baby talk. I am stressing myself out. It’s frustrating. I want to talk to her, but she won’t even listen when I read to her. She understands what I am saying. She responds to me with yes or no answers. When I tell her to do something, she does it most of the time. I need help. I worry about her constantly. Her dad was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and she has the symptoms. I am not sure if that is affecting her speech and development.

A: I’m sure you’re taking her in for regular check-ups by her pediatrician, so what did the doctor tell you about this? Either way, you may need a second opinion, including a hearing test. This is a very crucial time in speech and language development, so there is no time for delay. I’m no expert, but the fact that she isn’t interested in being read to is a huge red flag for me. It sounds as though she may have taught herself to read your body language, if not to lip read to some extent.I agree that it’s doubtful that ADHD would affect language development. She’s old enough that this is a concern and should be seen by whatever specialists are required.Good luck.

Ritalin………. whats your opinion????

Q: My 10 year old has just been prescribed Ritalin for ADHD. After questioning the psychatrist ref long term effects, i was told that he had searched but found no written evidence of this.Is there anyone out there whos child has taken or is currently taking this drug and whats your views on this. I know of the side effects in regards to appetite and sleeplessness. I have had problems with my son since he was 3 years old with all the common adhd problems (although hyperactivity is low, impulsiveness and a major lack of concentration is highly present which affects his social skills immensly).I as a parent dont even take paracetamol if i have a headache so i am worried what ‘crap’ i am giving my child! Ps Please no-one say give him a slap because people who say this are damn ignorant – and regarding parenting issues i attended classes 3 years ago which did not have any positive effect on his behaviour…only made him agressive and to be honest i was doing mostly what they trained.WIBBLE: – I totally disagree with the ignorant folk who say ‘schools & parents are not in control’ pls understand this- it is not the run of the mill behaviour that works with normal discipline procedures!So thanks Wibble…those people irritate me also!EMILYROSE – thanks for your answer, i wondered do you know where i can find out info done on these studies/findings?Emily Rose – Thanks your an angel xDevil Weed – thanks for answer… i would like to point out that my son has no learning dificulties, he is actually very bright academically…it is the behaviour that is a prob…like acting before thinking..and hurting children etc because he does not stop and think before he acts. (Also its not that i dont accept him as he is, he is my son but it is very hard to stand back and watch him struggle which causes him to be unhappy, low self esteem and unacceptable socially) I love him regardless.

A: I’ve was taking Ritalin for a while, and recently switched to Concerta, which is just a time released version of the same thing (so I only have to take it once a day instead of three times). I’m an adult, so I don’t have any first-hand knowledge of the effects on kids, but I did a fair amount of research on it, and as a biochem major I have enough background in psychobiology and scientific writing in general to make some sense out of it. So here’s what I can tell you:Studies have shown no significant long-term effects of Ritalin on children. Many children do experience some initial weight-loss or slowing of growth with the start of treatment due to decreased appetite, but long-term studies have shown that children taking Ritalin do catch back up, and there’s no evidence of a persistent deficit in height or weight. When your son’s doctor said he couldn’t find any evidence of long-term effects, what he basically means is that he’s pretty sure there isn’t any evidence of long-term effects, but he can’t say with 100% confidence that there’s nothing out there documenting some possible long-term effect, or that it’s not possible that there is something that has been missed by all the studies that have been done. Ritalin’s been used in kids for several decades at this point, and it’s extremely unlikely that it has any serious long-term effects that no one has noticed yet. As you know, the main side effects are decreased appetite, and trouble sleeping. He shouldn’t have trouble sleeping unless he takes his last dose too late in the day. Of course, not eating enough can have a long-term effect on growing kids. If he doesn’t take the morning dose much before breakfast, he shouldn’t have trouble eating at that point, and even if he’s taking a third dose in the afternoon it will probably wear off by dinner time, and he’ll eat normally. He’ll also be taking a dose at lunch time. What I’ve found is that the morning dose wears off before lunch anyway, so it may not be an issue. But the other thing I’ve noticed is that while I always feel as hungry before a meal, I can still eat a normal portion, so if your son does lose his appetite a bit, encourage him to try to eat his lunch anyway.I think it’s entirely unnecessary to suggest that you try making changes to his environment before putting him on meds, as it sounds like you already do consider meds a last resort. I understand why you’d be worried about long term effects of the medications, but what about long term effects of untreated ADHD? Sure it’s not likely to cause any organic damage, but what about psychologically? Lots of people with undiagnosed or untreated learning disabilities end up getting so frustrated with school that they drop out. I talked to someone on here who ended up trying to kill himself out of depression that was ultimately determined to have been caused by his frustration with the symptoms of his undiagnosed ADHD, and since he’s started dealing with the ADHD he’s stopped feeling depressed. Now, I’m not trying to say that if you don’t medicate your son something terrible will happen. Just that there are there are risks associated with the medication, there are also risks to not medicating, and you should really be weighing the risks of each option against each other rather than just considering the risks of the meds and ignoring the potential harm that could come from not adequately treating the ADHD.BTW, I noticed someone recommended you try Adderall XR instead of Ritalin. Switching to Adderall just to get the once-a-day version isn’t necessary as Concerta is an extended release version of Ritalin. There’s no reason to think that Adderall is any safer than Ritalin, or that it will have fewer side effects. In fact, most of what I’ve seen on the topic suggests that Adderall has a stronger effect on appetite than Ritalin does. The two drugs are pharmacologically very similar, but I do consider Adderall a stronger appetite suppressant. I’d recommend you stick with Ritalin for a while and see how that goes. If it’s not working for him, then you might want to try Adderall (there’s also Strattera, but I’d stay far away from that if you’re nervous about drugs in general as there haven’t been any long-term studies, and the side effects can be unbearable for some patients). If you get good results from the Ritalin, you might want to consider trying Concerta so he doesn’t have to take a pill at lunch, and because it doesn’t have the “roller-coaster” effect that the short acting preparations tend to produce.____OK, I’ve got a couple references for you…Unfortunately, this one’s the abstract of a review, and I can’t find the full text anywhere, so there’s not much to support their claims other than their statement that it’s supported but if correct, their conclusion is quite good:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=14658920&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSumThis one deals specifically with height and weight, and shows no significant long-term effects:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16670649&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsumAnother one about growth:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16670649&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsumThese three show significant long-term benefits to treatment (their purpose was compairing two different treatments, but that doesn’t make the results of the methylphenidate-treated group any less valid:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15213582&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSumhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15213581&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSumhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15213583&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSumThis one shows no lasting effects on dopamine transporters:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16139732&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSumA couple studies showing that Ritalin exposure during childhood might actually have long-term benefits in reducing the symptoms of ADHD in adults, even after the medication is stopped (i.e. not only does it not hurt, it may actually help long-term):http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17196789&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsumhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16616981&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsumAnd finally, to support my point about Ritalin vs. Adderall:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16670648&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSumhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16511362&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_DocSumBoth studies found that neither drug was more effective, but Adderall had a somewhat greater effect on appetite and weight.Those are just the abstracts, which are all that is going to be freely available for most of them. I might have access to the full text of some of them through my school’s subscriptions, so if there are any you want the full text of, you’re welcome to email me and I can see if I can get hold of it for you, but I did notice that there were several in there that I don’t have access to the full text.