Kids who do fine at home, but have problems only at school may have difficulties other than ADD. The American Academy Of Pediatrics (AAP) now recommends that any child between the ages of 6-12 who does not pay attention well, is hyperactive or impulsive, is not doing as well as other children in school, or has other behavioral problems should be tested for ADD (Matthews 40,). .
Children, who show difficulties in fine motor skills, (cutting with scissors, coloring, and handwriting etc,) are thought to have ADD. At age three or four a child may appear to have ADD because of lagging development. For example, Diller notes:.
There is a natural spectrum of ability, and by that age some children are ready to learn such information, through vision and sound associations, while others are not. Their developing brains are not ready to process such information. Because it is too difficult for them, they are not engaged or lose interest. Some of them, particularly the boys, can look at this point as if they have Attention Deficit .
Disorder.
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Doctors love to diagnose people with newly-discovered medical conditions. Does it not seem that whenever a new condition is discovered, everybody seems to be diagnosed with it? Doctors seem to be just waiting for a chance to diagnose the condition. It is like a child with a new toy. .
The diagnosis for ADD usually starts with teachers. A teacher will notice a student fidgeting or talking too much and think that the child has ADD. Another facet of this is classroom control. McGinnis observes: .
That harried teachers and counselors have learned to recommend an ADD diagnosis to parents in order to get their more rambunctious students on Ritalin, an easy way to quiet them down. .
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Chronic bad grades are also considered to be an ADD symptom.
