Tag: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

What Is ADHD?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a brain disorder that affects how you pay attention, sit still, and control your behavior. It happens in children and teens and can continue into adulthood.

ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder in children. Boys are more likely to have it than girls. It’s usually spotted during the early school years, when a child begins to have problems paying attention.

ADHD can’t be prevented or cured. But spotting it early, plus having a good treatment and education plan, can help a child or adult with ADHD manage their symptoms.

ADHD Symptoms

Symptoms in children

Symptoms are grouped into three types:

Inattentive. A child with ADHD:

  • Is easily distracted
  • Doesn’t follow directions or finish tasks
  • Doesn’t seem to be listening
  • Doesn’t pay attention and makes careless mistakes
  • Forgets about daily activities
  • Has problems organizing daily tasks
  • Doesn’t like to do things that require sitting still
  • Often loses things
  • Tends to daydream
Hyperactive-impulsive. A child with ADHD:

  • Often squirms, fidgets, or bounces when sitting
  • Doesn’t stay seated
  • Has trouble playing quietly
  • Is always moving, such as running or climbing on things. (In teens and adults, this is more often described as restlessness.)
  • Talks excessively
  • Is always “on the go,” as if “driven by a motor”
  • Has trouble waiting for their turn
  • Blurts out answers
  • Interrupts others

Combined. This involves signs of both other types.  read more

Temple professor urges more employers to hire people with autism

Tom Edwards remembers a former colleague in the aerospace industry who was a computer whiz – back in the days when computers took up entire rooms.

The man, a chief engineer, was incredibly talented, but he rarely made eye contact, kept strange hours and often arrived wearing clothes that did not match.

Years later, Edwards realized his colleague likely was on the autism spectrum. By then, he had a son with autism who struggled to launch a successful career.

“He always wanted to do a good job,” said Edwards, a Temple University engineering management professor who has led workshops on the benefits of hiring employees with neurodiverse conditions.

“It never quite worked out. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure this out. Eventually, it dawned on me – he’s not being supervised well.”  more