Signs and symptoms of A.D.H.D.
Have you heard of A.D.H.D.? It is a disorder that is afflicting at least five percent of the world’s population and the jewel is not exempted. A.D.H.D. is normally detected at childhood through a pattern of inattention and hyperactivity. Healthy Living this week looks at the signs and symptoms of this condition that can persist through adulthood.
Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
Tareek Joseph would appear to be an energetic ten year old boy. In 2005, Tareek was diagnosed with A.D.H.D.: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. His mother, Vilma Joseph, never suspected a developmental disorder but noticed from a very early age that something was different about her child.
Vilma Joseph, Mother of A.D.H.D. Child
“When Tareek was in preschool I noticed that he could not sit in his class, I notice that he had to walk around the classroom and I also noticed that by walking around the classroom he would retain all the information. And then when he went to Holy Redeemer then I really found out that he really need assist he cannot sit as a regular child and do his work and at home it was the same thing.”
It was then in 2005, that Tareek’s teachers had recommended that he be assessed. Although hesitant, Vilma obliged.
Vilma Joseph
“They assessed Tareek and they found that Tareek have A.D.H.D. they wanted him to go on medication and I didn’t want him to go on medication. So Tareek went back to school and regular school hours and play yard and he get himself in trouble. The principal ask me to please assess him again. They assess him again and they still wanted me to put him on medication and I said no.”
According to pediatrician Dr. Cecilio Eck, this response is typical of parents.
Dr. Cecilio Eck, Pediatrican
“A lot of times parents when you break it to them they would say I don’t know what’s going on I need to get a second opinion.”
Dr. Eck provided the second opinion for Vilma and prompted her to begin to treating him for the developmental disorder: A.D.H.D., A commonly misunderstood and unrecognized disorder in children.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
“A.D.D./A.D.H.D. is a developmental or behavioural disorder that occurs in kids. People stress the difference between the two but basically what it is a child who growing up who has problems with attention or focusing and there are kids who have problems with hyperactivity and there a kids who have both. And so it separated into three types, the attention deficit type, A.D.D.; the children who have hyperactivity alone, and then the combined attention deficit and hyperactivity type.”
The exact cause of the disorder is still unknown. Although, it has been attributed to chemical imbalances in the brain and genetics as research has shown that up to half the kids that are diagnosed has one parent that has A.D.D. or symptoms of it while growing up.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
“What we do know is that. The kids should be diagnosed prior to age seven as A.D.D. or symptoms of it. And secondly the signs need to be exhibited in more than one place so at school and at home. The diagnostic for A.D.D. would include. For attention deficit a problem with focusing these guys cannot focus. They become easily distracted. Hyperactivity part, they can’t sit still these are the guys can’t keep still and fidget and looking around. And then you figure something must be wrong with him. And the third component includes impulsivity. A child who answers the question before it is completed a child who seems to interrupt you when you have a conversation they’d come and blurt out something to you strangely.”
It was behavior of this sort that Tareek displayed in school prior to his treatment.
Vilma Joseph
“Dr. Eck started to put him on the medication Ritalin. It will help my child and me in the future and he also explained to me if he does not go on medication when he has to sit an exam, PSE or something he will not sit and do t like regular students so I have to help him.”
According to Dr. Eck the medication is used to control the hyperactivity and impulse behavior as well as increase the attention span but it is not the sole recommended treatment. Tareek, for example, only uses his medication on school days. Instead he pushes for a child centered approach.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
“A child centered approach which means we need to look at the entire family. We need to explain to them what the condition is and to the child if he can understand. More important is this getting the public aware that there is a condition such as A.D.D./A.D.H.D., getting the teachers to understand how to deal with the children, to allow them to reach their maximum potential at school. As the child gets older with the child centered approach with help at school with parental support with medication to calm them down so they can focus most kids when they entire adolescents can learn to cope with the illness can learn to adapt without the use of medication. Learn to choose career choices where they can adapt.”
Vilma Joseph
“I don’t try to single Tareek out only at home when he’s with my nieces and nephew I try to make him just be a regular kid. I try not to explain to Tareek that he has A.D.H.D. cause I don’t want him to use it as an excuse so I can get away with this and I can get away with that. I try not to single him out.”
The outlook for children with A.D.D. is not necessarily grim. The intervention and diagnosis is key. There is currently no developmental pediatrician in Belize so the pediatricians have become the front line persons in the diagnosis. Friends of Pediatrics brings in a specialist once or twice a year to fully assess the children.
Dr. Cecilio Eck
“Parents who have kids who have a special need especially of A.D.D./A.D.H.D. they’ll need to understand they will spend more time with this child will need to spend more time with homework. This one child will take a magnificent amount of your time.”
Vilma Jones
“I want him to succeed in life and people don’t see him as a bad person and see him as intelligent and somebody that will do great things for us in Belize”
