Other Differences

Along with the classic characteristics of ADHD, other features have been identified which can cause differences in day-to-day functioning. 

Emotional Dysregulation

Children and young people with ADHD can feel emotions more intensely than people without the condition, this can be one of the more difficult traits to manage. Emotional dysregulation means having difficulty containing and managing emotions, which can result in outbursts of anger or extreme behaviours such as violence, aggression, running away or engaging in risky behaviours like alcohol and drug use. 

Executive Functioning

Executive function refers to skills that help us to focus, plan, prioritise and organise ourselves. It also helps us to regulate our behaviour, adapt to new or unexpected situations and think about abstract concepts. Children and young people with ADHD who have trouble with their executive functioning might find being on time difficult, have trouble retaining information and find it tricky to organise themselves.

Find out more about organisational skills (executive function) here

Excessive Mind Wandering

Daydreaming or mind wandering are frequent experiences with ADHD and can cause issues with day-to-day interactions. Differences in understanding instructions and keeping on task with activities can lead to frustration and embarrassment. 

While negative outcomes are associated with mind wandering, it can also lead to positive outcomes like increased creativity, problem-solving and imagination. 

Time Management

Young people with ADHD can have a difference in their concept of time. Measuring how much time has passed can be difficult to manage, resulting in your child being late or unprepared for appointments, meetings or classes. Some people with ADHD try to counteract this by being excessively early or setting multiple reminders and alarms to avoid being late and dealing with subsequent conflict or punishment.  

ADHD in Boys & Girls

ADHD is more often diagnosed in boys than girls. This isn't because girls are less likely to have the condition, but rather because ADHD characteristics can be harder to spot in girls and women. 

Girls are more likely to have traits of inattentiveness and less likely to show outwardly disruptive behaviours typically seen with hyperactivity. This means girls who have ADHD may not be picked up on, and as a consequence, fewer girls are diagnosed.

It's important to remember that not all children will display typical characteristics. Some children may display behaviours from one type of ADHD, while others may show traits from both. 

Read more about differences in presentation here

ADHD Across Age Groups

ADHD can sometimes be noticed from early childhood, but the differences linked with the condition can change as your child gets older. 

ADHD in Childhood

Young children with ADHD might find it difficult to participate in their preschool or primary school settings. You might notice they:

• Lose possessions
• Shout out or interrupt others
• Daydream or do not pay attention
• Have never-ending energy
• Talk too much

You can help support your child with suspected ADHD traits by:

• Communicating with their preschool or school setting about their difficulties
• Speaking to your GP about the challenges your child is having
• Reading up on ADHD to help find coping tools for your child
• Keeping your routine consistent and creating structure for them with visual aids like visual timetables at home 
• Praising good behaviour to support their self-esteem
• Trying to regulate their sleeping patterns and keeping bedtime consistent
• Planning opportunities for your child to burn off energy with regular exercise and physical activities
  
  

ADHD in Teenage Years 

During their teenage years, young people tend to display fewer hyperactivity characteristics associated with ADHD. Due to greater expectations and independence of secondary school, your child may need support to organise school work and cope with friendships. 

Young people might have differences with:

• Organising themselves at school, with homework, coursework and exam preparation
• Friendships, because young people with ADHD can sometimes fail to pick up on social cues, interrupt, and act impulsively with friendship groups
• Regulating their emotions, and displaying emotional impulsivity when they get frustrated or angry
• Engaging in risky behaviours such as smoking, drug use, drinking alcohol or acting impulsively about sexual health and safety
• Learning to drive due to impulsivity and inattention behind the wheel

You can help support your teen with suspected ADHD characteristics by:

• Contacting your teen's school to make sure support is put in place for them
• Supporting them in getting organised by scheduling regular homework time, making visual aids for homework and checking in with them to help keep them on task
• Talking through any friendship differences with your child and being open for them to talk when they come across social challenges
• Teaching cool down and calming strategies like mindfulness and breathing techniques to help your child cope with difficult feelings like anger and frustration
• Encouraging participation in extracurricular activities to minimise unstructured and unsupervised free time
• Creating a healthy dialogue about sexual health and relationships to encourage your child to speak up if they are worried
• Speaking with their driving instructor about their condition and how it could affect their lessons. If they take medication, ensure there is enough and they are taking it around their lessons

Find out more about growing up and teenage years here

Management Of ADHD

Therapeutic Support & Medication

Treatment for ADHD can help to support your child's symptoms and make the condition less challenging in their everyday life. It can be treated by using medication and therapy, but often a combination of both is arranged by a specialist and monitored by your child's GP. 

There are 5 different types of medication used for ADHD and if your child is prescribed medicine, they would be given small doses at first which would be gradually increased. 

As well as taking medicine, different therapies can be useful in treating ADHD in children. They can also be effective in dealing with additional problems like anxiety which could appear due to ADHD. The most common therapies include:

• Psychoeducation
• Behaviour therapy
• Parent training and education programmes
• Social skills training
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Alternative lifestyle adjustments can also make a difference in some cases, including changes to diet like cutting out certain foods or adding supplements. It's always advisable to speak to your GP before introducing supplements to your child's diet. 

Find out more about treatment for ADHD here

Supporting Relationships

Children and young people with ADHD typically experience differences in 4 key areas. These include:

• Attention and concentration
• Impulsivity and restlessness
• Organisation and planning
• Forgetfulness and memory difficulties

With differences in these areas, it's common that conversations, socialising and relationships can be affected, which may have negative effects on a child's emotional wellbeing. 

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) involves a young person being sensitive to feelings of rejection and experiencing intense emotional pain when they think they have endured some form of rejection. RSD is not a diagnosis in the UK, however, in recent years people have associated it with ADHD. 

While experiencing RSD is not a symptom of having ADHD, people who experience ADHD may have encountered more rejection and criticism throughout their lives because of their ADHD differences. Young people with ADHD can also feel emotions more intensely than others, so this combination can lead them to identify with RSD. 

Signs of RSD could include:

• Feeling embarrassed or self-conscious very easily
• Showing signs of low self-esteem and not believing in themselves
• Struggling to contain emotions when they feel rejected - for example, getting angry, or bursting into tears
• Becoming withdrawn and appearing depressed, quite suddenly
• Focusing on pleasing other people and avoiding disapproval
• Avoiding tasks or situations where there is a chance of failure or rejection
• Striving for perfection, at the expense of their wellbeing

Young people with ADHD who identify with RSD would not be given a separate diagnosis of rejection sensitive dysphoria in the UK.  

How to Support Your Child

Strategies to help your child build on their social skills and maintain and develop friendships can support their emotional wellbeing. For example:

• Supporting your child to listen in conversations but encouraging active listening
• Encouraging your child to practice social skills through role-play, conversation prompts or visualisation (rehearsing conversations with different people in different settings)
• Helping your child to learn skills to manage and maintain relationships using strategies to organise themselves, like setting time daily to reply to texts and messages from friends, or using to-do apps on their phone
• Teach your child how to plan ahead and support them in building a schedule
• Acknowledge your child's successes and praise or reward them immediately, while being specific about the reasons why
• Look for signs that your child may be feeling anxious,  not confident or rejected, talking to them about their feelings and getting support for their emotional health from your GP if needed

Learn more about relationships and ADHD here

Reasonable Adjustments 

Reasonable adjustments can be made to support your child at school, home and out and about to help them participate in activities and enjoy life. 

They can be small adjustments like a fiddle toy to pack in a bag in case they are needed, or formal changes made at school to help your child cope. Your child doesn't need a diagnosis for adjustments to be made both in school and elsewhere. 

Reasonable adjustments can look like:

• Minimising distractions in the immediate area
• Providing additional time to complete work during lessons or exams
• Access to fiddle toys/wobble cushions
• Regular breaks for movement
• Support during transition times including help with organisation, new schedules and finding their way around a new place
• Methods of young people signalling when they are feeling overwhelmed, like traffic light cards in class, or discreet signals between a child and a teacher
• Acceptance of little or no homework at school or extracurricular clubs
• Breaking down tasks into manageable steps 
• Specific focus on practical tasks
• Specific focus on reinforcing positive behaviour and praising achievements

ADHD Assessments

Arranging an Assessment

If your child is referred for an ADHD assessment, it will be dealt with by a team that will be made up of different professionals who are neurodevelopment specialists. One person in the team should be your child's case coordinator, which means they will be in charge of:

• Making sure your family know what will happen and when
• Answering your questions
• Getting information or support for your family
• Collecting information to help the assessment
• Talking to you about how information about your child is shared
  
  

During the Assessment

During the assessment, the neurodevelopment team will talk to you about your child and their development growing up. They could ask questions about:

• What your child's strengths are and what they find difficult
• Worries you have as parents or carers
• Home life, school life and how your child interacts in other situations
• Your child's focus, organisation, communication and activity levels

The team might complete activities with your child that include:

• Games
• Puzzles
• Fun movement activities
• Drawing
• Writing

After an Assessment

The neurodevelopment team should meet with you as soon as possible after the assessment to explain whether they think your child or young person has ADHD and why. You should receive a written report saying what they found in the assessment and send a copy of this to your child's GP. If you agree, they will share a copy with other adults who work with your child, such as their teacher or social worker. 

Find out more about the assessment process here