ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a common disorder that is often times diagnosed early on, specifically during early childhood development. While ADHD is usually diagnosed a long time before a child starts school, if a student seems to be having trouble focusing, constantly disrupting, or even having trouble learning, the teacher will recommend they see a specialist. ADHD is often times suspected if a child is having problems in the classroom, but this is not always the case. Sometimes the problematic issues the child is showing is not ADHD but something else that needs to be solved. As a parent and as a teacher, it is important to know the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as being able to identify it between another issue.

Symptoms

Typically, there are three different behaviors associated with ADHD. If a child is experiencing any symptoms of ADHD, it is likely that they will be diagnosed with either inattentive or hyperactivity and impulsivity. The inattentive symptoms include:

  • Careless mistakes in work, overlook details
  • Easily distracted
  • Has a hard time following instructions
  • Hard time listening, especially when being directly spoken too
  • Has poor organization skills
  • Cannot stay on task or has troubling finishing homework
  • Avoids tasks that require a prolonged amount of mental work
  • Loses things easily

The symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity include:

  • Lacking the ability to sit still
  • Runs or climbs in inappropriate settings
  • Often times very loud
  • Lacks patience
  • Constantly “on the go”
  • Excessive talking
  • Blurts out answers before a question is finished
  • Intrudes conversations, activities, and will even take others possessions

While these symptoms are all seen in children suffering from this, they might expose each differently. It is important to evaluate the child, take into factor their age, gender, and their learning ability, these will be deciding factors on whether a parent should be notified about ADHD testing.

source: https://childmind.org/article/whats-adhd-and-whats-not-in-the-classroom/