Diagnosing ADD/ADHD

The terms ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder) have been used for twenty plus years. Unfortunately these terms often have little to do with actual symptoms.

ADD and ADHD is not a recent phenomenon before these terms were coined, these same symptoms were called hyperactivity or something else. Medical professionals have discussed them for hundreds of years. Both sexes have had these symptoms but there about three-quarters more cases of male versus female diagnosis. Many physicians, clincians and diagnosticians utilize the SNAP IV Rating Scale (link).

ADD and ADHD as well as many other health mental health impairments are subjective and any scale you find should only be used as a reference or guiding point. Individuals can only suffer from one the criterion or from many. Usually individuals with ADD and ADHD are above average IQ and can think VERY quickly but do not appear so because of variety of reasons including over activity, impulsivity, learning disabilities, learning styles, food allergies/sensitivities, nutritional deficiencies, incorrect medication use, incorrect peer and role modeling.

So what's the difference between ADD and ADHD? Hyperactivity or in need of constant stimulation. This stimulation can come in various forms, pencil sharpening, running, wriggling, excessive talking, some kind of movement.

ADD and ADHD children often have issues with impulsivity and distractibility which may result in poor social skills and lower academic success. Impulsivity is reacting or acting without thinking first. Distractibility is the inability to ignore the insignificant stimuli.

Individuals should be able to concentrate for 3 minutes for each year of life. An average ten year old should be able to concentrate for 30 minutes or more. A warning, hyperfocusing is a condition where the individual pays attention to a computer game, tv show, or some other highly interesting event. This is not concentrating.