ADHD Awareness Month: How to spot the signs of ADHD as an Early Years professional

October is ADHD Awareness Month, a common disorder that can impact focus, impulse control and emotional response. It is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental condition in children.

Around 5% to 8% of the UK population are living with ADHD, meaning that around 500,000 school children are affected.

However, population data would suggest that the number of children who are actually medically diagnosed with ADHD, is only between 1% and 3%.

So what can Early Years professionals do to be more aware of this condition and spot the signs of ADHD? According to the ADHD Foundation, the things to look out for are:

• Children with ADHD are often very anxious
• Children with ADHD can be very forgetful
• Children with ADHD find it difficult to sustain concentration
• Children with ADHD have what is known as poor executive functioning skills – that is the ability to organise their thoughts and regulate their emotions to plan and organise ‘how’ they do their school work, resulting in difficulty with ‘task initiation’ – so they procrastinate and become frustrated and overwhelmed as they cannot ‘order’ their thinking in a linear, sequential way. On the plus side this can also be the engine of creativity!
• Children with ADHD can be easily distracted, find it difficult to stay on task or become confused and frustrated by too much information or stimulation
• Some children with ADHD can be hyperactive – always on the go with seemingly boundless energy, and no matter how tired they are, they still have difficulty sleeping
• Some children with ADHD can be impulsive, so they may say and do things that they know are not appropriate, but their brain has failed to consider the consequences of their words or actions. (This is not the same as intentional inappropriate behaviour)

It’s important to be aware of these signs and how to spot them, but it’s also important to gain a better understanding of these conditions as a whole.

The ADHD Foundation works to stop the misconceptions that surround the condition, and state:

“It is estimated that one in five human beings are neurodiverse – that is to say one in five have either dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism spectrum, ADHD, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. They are naturally occurring differences in human neurology.

“Your child is not sick or ‘disordered’, nor are they mentally ill – they are different. Yes, these differences can be very impairing, but with the right support, early intervention and informed and loving parents, your child can thrive. They just need a little bit of understanding and extra help to understand themselves and manage the challenges while playing to their strengths.”

More information can be found here: https://www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/information/schools/