Your child can’t sit still, forgets things and drifts off in class after a few minutes? These signs sometimes point to ADHD, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity. Here is what the disorder involves, how it is diagnosed and how you can support your child’s schooling day to day.
What is ADHD?
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It shows up as inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity that are stronger and longer lasting than in other children of the same age, to the point of disrupting life at school, at home or with friends.
The psychiatrists’ reference manual, the DSM-5, estimates that it affects about 5% of children. It is neither a lack of willpower nor the result of overly permissive parenting: your child does not choose to be distracted.
People speak of ADD when inattention dominates, and of ADHD when hyperactivity is present. The DSM-5 describes three presentations:
- Predominantly inattentive: little or no hyperactivity, but great difficulty concentrating and getting organised. This is ADD, often spotted later because it is less visible.
- Predominantly hyperactive and impulsive: the child is constantly on the move and acts before thinking, without a marked attention problem.
- Combined presentation: both at once.
The presentation can change with age. In teenagers, visible restlessness often decreases, while difficulties with attention and organisation remain.
Attention disorder: signs to watch for
Some behaviours may catch your attention. On its own, none of them is enough: all children fidget, forget or get impatient at times. What matters is how intense, how long lasting and how frequent they are, in several settings.
Attention
- difficulty staying focused on a task or a game, quickly bored;
- careless mistakes, instructions misread or forgotten;
- seems not to listen when spoken to;
- difficulty getting organised and finishing what was started;
- belongings, homework or exercise books often lost or forgotten.
Hyperactivity and impulsivity
- difficulty staying put: the child squirms, gets up, runs or climbs;
- difficulty staying calm at the table, in class or while waiting;
- talks a lot, blurts out answers before the question is finished;
- often interrupts other people’s conversations or games;
- takes risks without weighing the consequences.
These difficulties often come with changing moods and a low tolerance for frustration. The child then receives a lot of negative remarks, which can weigh on their self-confidence and their wish to go to school (see also My child doesn’t like school).
How is it diagnosed?
Only a health professional can diagnose ADHD. In Belgium, this is usually a paediatrician, a paediatric neurologist or a child psychiatrist, often relying on a neuropsychological assessment.
According to the DSM-5 criteria, several conditions must be met:
- several symptoms (for a child, at least six out of nine in one of the two categories) present for at least six months;
- symptoms that appeared before the age of 12;
- difficulties visible in at least two settings, for example at home and at school;
- a real impact on schooling or social life;
- signs that are not better explained by another cause (anxiety, sleep disorder, sight or hearing problems…).
If you have doubts, talk first to your GP, your child’s form teacher or the school’s PMS centre (psycho-medical-social centre). They can point you in the right direction. ADHD sometimes comes with another learning disorder (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia), which the assessment can also detect.
Treatment, with or without medication, is solely a matter for the doctor. The tips below are about organising schoolwork and do not replace medical follow-up.
How to support your child’s schooling
A child with ADHD can do perfectly well at school. Above all, they need a clear framework, tasks broken into small parts and plenty of encouragement.
At home, during homework
- A quiet space: a clear table, with screens and sources of noise kept away during work.
- Short, precise goals: break homework into small steps rather than one big block, with a short break between each.
- The right to move: standing up, walking while reciting a lesson or handling a small object often helps the child stay focused.
- Varied exercises: alternating reading, writing and speaking keeps attention going.
- Extra time: staying focused takes more effort for your child than for others; allow some leeway.
- Visual cues: a visible schedule, a school bag checklist, a timer they can see.
How you respond
- Pick your battles: correcting every outburst wears everyone out and leads to more conflict.
- Praise your child as soon as the expected behaviour is there. This positive reinforcement means a lot to a child who is often told off.
- Teach them to stop and think before acting, for example by rereading the instructions out loud.
- Give one short instruction at a time, making sure your child is looking at you.
With the school
Share the diagnosis with the school and work out together what helps your child: a seat near the board, written instructions, extra time in tests. In the French-speaking education system (Wallonia-Brussels Federation), a 2017 decree entitles pupils in mainstream education whose specific needs are confirmed by a diagnosis to reasonable accommodations, agreed with the school, the parents and the PMS centre.
One-to-one support to regain confidence
In private lessons, a coach works one to one with your child, at their own pace. The coach can adapt the length of exercises, vary the materials and help your child build a study method that suits the way they work: planning, breaking down, checking.
For younger children, regular homework help also eases evening tension at home. At My Sherpa, an educational adviser listens to your situation and chooses the right coach for your child. Lessons take place at home, anywhere in Belgium, or online.
The coach complements the follow-up provided by health professionals and the school. Every child learns in their own way: understanding how yours works is often the first step (see also 8 forms of intelligence and their impact on schooling).
