by Andie Anderson

Created on: April 26, 2008   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

In today's world just about everyone knows what the letters ADHD stand for and know someone who has been diagnosed with this disorder.

I was a child of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but wasn't diagnosed until I brought my child to a psychiatrist to be tested. I was forty-three years of age when I was diagnosed. If I had known what the disorder was, life would have been different I believe and possibly better. A child who hasn't been diagnosed due to the lack of knowledge of teachers, parents, counselors, or even friends can have a difficult time with school work and fall beneath the cracks of education and possibly drop out of school, have self esteem issues, job issues, and relationship issues.

Many of the jails and prisons have inmates that have this disorder. I know this because I worked in a prison and I have ADHD. I have done so much personal research that I can even tell if an adult or child has the disorder. People who have ADHD are very sensitive to subtle nuances of personality to an almost psychic level. We are master deceivers because we have had to cover up things like tardiness, poor attention to detail, losing interest quickly, boredom, changing subjects in a conversation, not being able to sit still, tactless remarks to friends, family, and professionals. When I grew up, the excuse for my behavior was "She's lazy, crazy, and stupid" Think what this does to a child's esteem. Personal traumas can affect you the rest of your life in every thing that you do.

I found that independent study programs within the classroom work well- whereby the class is divided into small groups of four or five to a table whereby a student can get feedback from his peers in studying. When you are ready to take a test, the teacher gives you the test paper and everyone at the table is at a different level, so there is no cheating or attempt to race through a course and miss important data, you go at your own speed but you also get attention from the teacher.

Students with ADHD are eager learners, they are very intelligent and want to know information and they get bored very fast. A class curriculum may not be challenging enough, and the student needs constant testing on how he or she is doing. Attention changes daily. Diet is important- It is important to stay away from beverages with caffeine and carbohydrates that can make the child slow down or speed up. Teachers need to learn about the DSM-IV diagnoses of ADHD. Girls can be passive and still have ADHD, they don't have to be "bouncing off the walls".

Parents need to know what to look for in their child. My mother had a Master's Degree in Education and didn't know what ADHD was. By the time I was diagnosed, she was deceased so I couldn't tell her what my pain was all these years and these kids feel pain. Desk computers are a wonderful tool for children with ADHD. They are predominantly visual learners. A wonderful thing to tell a child with ADHD is to let them know that many famous people had the disorder, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin to name a few. Esteem issues are important. Children and Adults with ADHD have little or no confidence even if they have done well. They can have Dyslexia, a form of learning disability.

I found that having a study buddy is important in doing homework and to take frequent breaks, playing classical music while studying actually helps with attention, every child is different in how they learn, it is the teacher and parent that need to work together as a team to help these kids get ahead in life.

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