Melissa : Hello, I’m Misses Leboissetier, I’m a developmental psychologist, I help children and their families. Can you tell me what brought you here?
Marie : Hi, I’m Misses Rousse. I’m Henry’s mom. He’s eight and has just been diagnosed with ADHD. I’m here today to get more information about his disorder and understand how it can feel better.
Melissa : Can you explain me what you’ve observed in Henry’s behavior ?
Marie : Yes, in general it’s complicated for him to concentrate, he’s not often attentive and has difficulty completing complex tasks. It’s difficult for him to stay in place,wait his turn and he frequently acts impulsively.
Melissa : Indeed, what you describe to me is part of the criteria of ADHD pathology. It’s an Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity. There are warning signs as early as ¾ years old. This disorder is frequently diagnosed for boys and rarely for girls. There are three types of ADHD : the one with inattention, one with hyperactivity and impulsivity. And of course there is mixed form.
Marie : So… in view of your description, Henry would have more of a mixed form of the disease.
Melissa : That’s right. Moreover, the hereditary part is very important, it is estimated between 70 and 80 percent. In addition, this disorder can persist into adolescence in 40 to 70 % of cases. At adulthood it affects half of the children who were concerned.
Marie : Oh yes, I understand, so he can have long-term impacts. In fact, I didn’t tell you, but my father was diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago and explained me that he had changed the way he behaved between his adolescence and now.
Melissa : Indeed, the manifestations of ADHD do not appear in the same way in everyone and may diminish over time.
Marie : I’m coming to see you today because I worry about Henry’s schooling. It’s difficult for him to listen instructions, he has a lack of attention. He sometimes also interfere with the progress of the class by making noise, speaking inappropriately or making involuntary movements. He also has a tendency to lose his books easily. He’s not very carefull.
Melissa : Indeed, concerning school, children with ADHD often have difficulty to learn because they cannot maintain their attention. Educate teachers about this disorder appears to be essential to create adjustments. It decrease the incidence of inattention and hyperactivity in the classroom. In addition to the impacts in the academic area, the child with ADHD may have generally lower self-esteem than other children. Indeed, they feel guilty for not being able to do what they’re expecting. Finally, there are impacts in the social and family domain. How Henry behave in social relationships?
Marie : The daily life with him is not always easy, the relationship that Henry has with his sibling is quite complicated. My husband and I noticed that he had a strong intolerance to frustration and he is very often awkward. Unfortunately, it doesn’t just impact the family side. He is often rejected by other children, he look aggressive and very impulsive boy to others, which may result of the loss of friends because conflicts are very frequent.
Melissa : Thank you for those details. There are solutions that we can propose to help him in his relationships. For example, encouraging positive social interactions, implementing a self-evaluation form for his behavior, or implementing a reward system.
Marie : I understand, I will apply your advice. What also bothers us, as parents is the glance of other people. My friends think that Henry is a capricious child, who does a lot of stupid things. It make me feel guilty about the way we educate him even if i know we’re not. They don’t understand why my husband and I don’t blame him. What should I do?
Melissa : Don’t change the way you’re doing, punishment will only generate frustration and increase hyperactivity. Your son is aware of his trouble, but he’s unable to control himself, which create frustration. More, it will remind him that he doesn’t fit to your expectation and it can generate sadness.
Marie : I understand, I’ll try to inform my friends about it! I also have the case of several people who think that Henry is deficient. Those people see that Henry is not good at school and has disruptive behaviour in class.
Melissa : Unfortunately, this disorder is still little known and many people have these kinds of ideas. However, there is no correlation between ADHD and a child’s intelligence. The school difficulties experienced by children with ADHD. Most often related to attitudinal problems or attention lack, but not to an intelligence deficit.
Marie : Thank you for those clarification. Can you give me some advice to help Henry feel better ? I just know that the management of ADHD is multimodal and multidisciplinary, depending on the age and the symptoms presented by the person.
Melissa : We have several options without medicine treatments such as cognitive-behavioral therapies to reduce the symptoms. It will improve his life quality and the way people feel around him. We also have cognitive remediation to rehabilitate attentional functions and working on long and short time memory. And finally, as a last resort, there are medicine such as ritalin for example. This is a psychostimulant that will increase attentional capacity and decrease impulsivity, the child will be easily able to follow in class and being concentrate.
Marie : Thanks a lot for all this information and advice you gave me. I will talk to my husband about all those facts and solutions! I will be able to explain my son’s disorder better now. I will contact you if we need more advice from you.
Melissa : Don’t hesitate to ask if you need more informations, have a nice day !
Marie : You too, thanks again !
By Melissa LEBOISSETIER (M2) & Marie ROUSSE (M1)