The ADD School Age Child

What specific behaviors indicate that a school age child might have ADD?

Efficient attention is required for success in all areas of life. As an ever-present filter between the individual’s external and internal worlds, it screens all incoming and outgoing information to and from the brain. In this way, attention has a profound influence on how an individual experiences events and behaves in all life spheres: school, job, home, and neighborhood. It interacts with other skills and abilities to shape the quality of social interactions, school/job performance, and independent functioning. Therefore, behaviors that suggest attentional difficulty can appear in any area of a person’s life. The following behaviors identify some of the more common red flags that might signal ADD in school age children ages six to twelve years old.

The ADD School Age Child (Six to Twelve Years)

Quitting activities before they are completed
Interrupting conversations; not taking turns when talking
Talking off topic
Failing to make eye contact
Jumping from one play activity to another
Requiring constant supervision to complete chores, routines, (e.g., dressing, bathing, etc.), and independent seatwork
Seeming to be sleepy, drowsy, or restless during learning situations
Rushing through things; doing sloppy work
Losing one’s place during reading; skipping, omitting, or reversing letters and words during reading and writing
Making careless errors on simple tasks; guessing at answers
Failing to check over schoolwork
Failing to finish work; being disorganized
Relying on parents for studying and organizing schoolwork
Forgetting and losing things; not remembering assignments
Talking out in class
Saying, doing, and writing things without thinking first
Failing to respond to discipline
Getting in fights
Having friends who are either much older or much younger
Looking disheveled: zipper down, shirt tail out
Seeming to be “spacey” or “out of it” at times
Walking into walls, doors, and furniture
Being accident-prone; spilling and dropping things

If your response to this list is “Oh, boy. I know a kid like that. Now what?”, go to ADDBasics.org and download Dr. Liden’s free guide, ADD Basics 101. In 10 clear steps, Dr. Liden will guide you to an accurate, trustworthy diagnosis and outline what you should look for in an effective treatment plan.

Maybe you already have a child identified with ADD/ADHD who is struggling in school. Dr. Liden’s book, Accommodations for Success, is an amazing resource to help you understand your child better and get her the individualized help she needs to soar at school.