Q: Miss Lim suspects that Paul might have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). What are some characteristics that indicate that a child might have ADHD? In your opinion, does Paul display some of these characteristics? (3 marks)
Characteristics of ADHD include :
1) Inattention
This is most obvious in situations where the child has to focus his attention to boring, and repetitive tasks (Lay, 2007).
There will be difficulties in giving concentrated effort to tasks that have little or no 'intrinsic appeal' (e.g. listening to a teacher talk endlessly) , or where there are no rewards or feedback for immediate completion of tasks (Lay 2007).
Paul: Going to join a group for a discussion had no intrinsic appeal for paul, so he continued to examine at the exhibits at the back of the room.
b) this was reinforced when he deserted his group after a while and started bothering his classmates in the other groups.
2) Behavioral Disinhibition (Impulsiveness)
It is perhaps suggested that this is the quintessential trait of ADHD. (lay, 2007, pg. 249).
This refers to 'an inability to delay a response or to defer gratification; in short , it is poor self-regulation.' (Lay, 2007, pg.249).
An example is a child giving answers without waiting for instructions to be finished, etc.
And such children do not respond well when the goal is a long term one and they want immediate or smaller rewards or for tasks that do not require much work (Lay, 2007).
Such children have a hard time waiting in line, and end up not saying the right things at the right time.
Because of such impulsiveness, they end up 'eliciting a pattern of negative, controlling and directive behaviour from both peers and adults alike... they have been shown to have less knowledge about social skills and appropriate behaviour with others' (Lay, 2007, pg. 251).
Paul: His inability to contain his emotion shows when he walked to the noticeboard and started to hit it while muttering 'i hate this' repeatedly.
b) this is also shown where he decided to go bother other students in other groups instead of focusing on his own group work.
3) Hyperactivity
Restlessness, inattention, and impulsiveness which declines with age.
Paul: He was wriggling feverishly on his chair due to lack of activity. And he ended up falling over from his chair.