One day, you were suddenly called to school, and the teacher said seriously, "Your child can't sit still, can't calm down, and can't concentrate." In class, he looked around and was absent-minded. Take him to the hospital for a checkup to see if there is ADHD. "
What is your mood after listening to the teacher's description and seeing his expression of disgust and impatience? What will you do next?
Many parents will panic after hearing this, blaming their children for being disobedient and ignorant, and rushing to take their children to the hospital for examination. Parents still have a lot of grievances and unwillingness in their hearts: why are other children so good and so worry-free? Why does misfortune come to our family? It's all my fault that I didn't do well. ...
The child is active, is it really "ADHD"?
If the child is active, must he be trained to be "quiet"?
Not exactly.
The medical term for ADHD is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The diagnosis of ADHD is not a simple observation by the teacher.
Children's "hyperactivity" is just one of the behaviors that teachers and parents see-children can't sit still, can't stop, and keep making small moves. In addition, "attention deficit" also has an important performance-unable to concentrate, distracted and so on.
According to media reports, Luo Yonghao was diagnosed with ADHD in the Sixth Hospital of Beijing Medical University a few years ago. At a logical thinking reading meeting, he described in detail the process of going to the hospital to see a doctor, saying that his long-term medication contained trace stimulants.
He said that not all ADHD patients can't sit still, and a large number of patients are quieter than the average person, but their minds are in a mess and they can't concentrate.
The same is true of ADHD in children, which may be mainly ADHD or attention deficit, and some of them are a mixture of the two symptoms, or have impulsive behavior. But there is a misunderstanding that parents and teachers are generally prone to make:
Children with ADHD do have hyperactivity, impulsiveness or attention problems, but these problems do not necessarily lead to ADHD.
Therefore, ADHD is not necessarily a disease.
In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders compiled by the American Psychiatric Association, very clear diagnostic criteria are listed, which are summarized as follows:
1. is an obstacle to the beginning of childhood, so the symptoms must be found before 12 years old and last for at least 6 months.
2. Children must meet at least 6 different behavioral symptoms, and older adolescents and adults (17 years old and above) have at least 5 symptoms. (See DSM-5 for the symptom description of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. )
3. Symptoms will obviously have a destructive negative impact on children's academic, social or work ability.
4. And eliminate other obstacles, such as schizophrenia and anxiety.
Symptoms are persistent enough and frequent enough to affect the normal life of individuals.
Many people also have a curiosity: why do children with sound limbs get ADHD?
The answer is that children with ADHD have different brains.
According to the research of cognitive neuroscience, the blood flow in the frontal lobe and prefrontal lobe of ADHD children is obviously reduced, and the prefrontal lobe and striatum of the brain are not sufficiently activated when doing behavior control tasks. These brain regions are related to attention, working memory, response inhibition and planning, which are the core cognitive deficits related to ADHD in children.
Therefore, children with ADHD do not deliberately oppose their parents and teachers, nor are they disobedient and ignorant, but have brain function lesions.
In addition, environmental factors, such as the mother's drinking during pregnancy, the history of infection and exposure to toxins, the birth weight below 1.35 kg, and genetic factors, such as parents suffering from ADHD, may increase the risk of children's illness.
1. Observe carefully and find the characteristics of children.
For parents, it is more important not to always look at their children's "problems" with a magnifying glass like detectives or doctors, but to try to find out the "exceptions" that do not meet these problems:
When the teacher says the child can't be quiet, when can he be quiet for a while?
When the teacher sees him looking around in class and wants to leave the classroom, when can he stay focused?
When his desk is messy, where and what kind of things can be arranged better?
……
Many times, you will be surprised to find how different and brand-new children are.
You may find that children only wriggle around in class, but don't move when they concentrate on playing with their favorite toys. In other words, the child is just inattentive and absent-minded in math class or Chinese class, but he can concentrate on his favorite class.
Slowly, you are approaching a more real and diverse child:
It turns out that when he likes class, the teacher speaks softly;
It turns out that he cares about his shoes and cleans them very clean;
It turns out that he prefers science to liberal arts, and prefers to explore the mysteries of mathematics by himself.
It turns out that he is interested in sports, especially sprinting;
It turned out that when the teacher criticized him, his inner tension led to more actions. ...
Another possibility is that you have tried your best to explore his characteristics, but you still find these symptoms stubborn, so it is not too late to take your child to see a doctor in time and then ask a doctor for a professional diagnosis.
2. Don't label children easily.
Don't label your child easily without a professional doctor's diagnosis. Because this will not only help solve the problem, but also make children feel inferior, negative and even laughed at by their peers.
Parents should not only "label" their children, but also find and prevent others around them from "labeling" their children in time. Parents should protect children's self-esteem.
Tell the story of a famous British dancer, Gillian Lynn. When I was a child, I was a "problem student" who made my teacher have a headache.
The teacher said that she had ADHD and forced her mother to take her to the doctor.
The doctor gave her a 20-minute test and let Gillian listen to music alone in the clinic on the grounds that she wanted to talk to your mother alone for a while. They watched Gillian dance to the music. The doctor said to Gillian's mother, "Your daughter is not ill. You should send her to dance school. "
Gillian said: "The dance school is great, with a soul that only thinks in motion."
I'm glad that the doctor pointed out a bright way for Gillian to become a famous ballet dancer and choreographer.
3. Take more children to exercise
Many parents may have questions. The child is already active, let him exercise more.
Yes, you heard me right.
A group of researchers in the United States invited 2 1 children diagnosed with ADHD to do an experiment: they divided these children (ranging from 7 years old to 12 years old) into two groups:
The first group 10 children participated in the physical exercise program; Children in the other group 1 1 did not participate.
The first group lasted 10 week, three days a week, and exercised for 45 minutes at noon. Professionals take the children to prepare, play football and do exercises. , and reached the middle and advanced exercise intensity.
The results show that the children in the exercise group have a high level of processing visual and auditory information, and their attention is not easy to be distracted and lasts for a long time. In addition, parents' reports show that children in the exercise group have also improved their behavior.
For children, the experimental conclusion is also valid.
Picasso famously said that every child is born an artist. But the question is how to keep this talent when you grow up.
Active is a child's nature. It is against children's nature to demand absolute consistency.
Children are always breaking adults' idealized expectations of a "good boy" and a "good student" in their own way, telling adults and the world:
Who are they? What kind of people do they want to be? How do they expect to live their lives well?