ADHD

            Currently ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), is one of the most diagnosed disorders among young children today. Could it be that children are being diagnosed too soon, or could it be that they are being misdiagnosed. There are so many signs and symptoms for ADHD, which can make it difficult for a parent and even physicians to tell what is wrong with the child.
             As a parent with a child, who was diagnosed with ADHD a year ago, it is clearly understandable what other parents are going through. It feels like the entire situation is a roller coaster, and it is never ending. First, you have this adorable child, whom you love unconditionally. Then all of a sudden the child does a one eighty. The child is unable to sit still, bites his or hers' nails, has a short attention span, doesn't want to behave, and very aggressive. Immediately it is believed there is something wrong with the child.
             There are so many people in our society that if they would see a child as stated in the above paragraph, would immediately say the child suffers from ADHD. But that isn't always the answer. Even physicians are quick to diagnosing children with this disorder, without even doing any type of work up. The physicians immediately prescribed Ritalin, which can totally do the opposite if the child has been misdiagnosed. But for many parents, they wouldn't know that if they didn't study up on ADHD.
             Harper writes, that the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) deem ADHD was a group of disorders that causes persistent dysfunction in the central nervous system in the areas of attending (alertness), activity (motion), cognitive processing (learning), executive function (sequencing, organizational skills, self-monitoring), and social interaction (25). .
             Speaking from experience, with a child supposedly having ADHD, which is thought of being misdiagnosed, showed all the classic signs of ADHD. At the age of three, which is very early for diagnosing a child with ADHD, my son started biting his nails, couldn't sit still at the dinner table nor was able to watch a program, he wouldn't stay interested in any type of activity whether it was being read to or if it was playing with toys.