Introduction
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a nervous system illness. Neurological disorders are based on prerequisites of a neurological nature that appear in early childhood, usually before school entry, and are detrimental to personal, social, academic, and/or professional growth. They are usually associated with difficulties in acquiring, maintaining, or applying special skills or sets of information. At the moment, it is known that this phenomenon does not always go away with growing up, and a large part of people also suffer from it in adolescence and adulthood. Awareness about ADHD is essential to the activities of people who work with children because it helps to communicate better with the child.
Symptoms and Signs of the Disease
The onset of the disease is different for everyone, and it is difficult to identify a specific time frame for its onset. The disease often begins before four years and invariably before 12 years of age (Tabibi et al., 2022). The peak age of diagnosis is 8–10 years, but in patients with the predominantly inattentive type, the syndrome may not be diagnosed until adolescence. Inattention typically occurs when a child performs tasks requiring vigilance, rapid reaction, visual perception, sustained concentration, and sustained and focused verbal processing.
One of the disease’s main symptoms is impulsivity, which refers to hasty actions with negative potential, for example, in children who run across the street without looking, in adolescents and adults who suddenly quit school or work without thinking about the consequences. Hyperactivity, another symptom, involves excessive physical activity. Children, especially younger children, may have trouble persevering in situations where this is expected, such as school or church. Older patients may simply be fussy, restless, or talkative—sometimes to the point that others feel exhausted looking at them.
The organic nature of the disorder prevents the development of thinking, learning skills, the ability to reason and express one’s thoughts consistently, motivation for school, and adaptation to social requirements. Children with predominantly inattentive ADHD tend to accept hands-on learning and struggle in passive learning situations requiring continuous work and task completion (Cabarcas-Mena et al., 2021). The following psychological features characterize children with ADHD: poor social skills and relationships with peers, sleep disturbances, anxiety, dysphoria, depression, and mood swings.
Ways to Treat the Disease
In school-aged children, behavioral therapy is less effective than therapy with stimulant drugs, and preschool children respond better to behavioral or combination therapy. Although drug therapy does not correct underlying neurophysiological differences in patients with ADHD, drugs are effective in relieving ADHD symptoms and allowing patients to participate in activities previously inaccessible to them due to poor attention and impulsivity (Cabarcas-Mena et al., 2021). Drugs often interrupt the cycle of inappropriate behavior by increasing behavioral and learning activity, motivation, and self-esteem.
The most commonly used stimulant drugs include methylphenidate or amphetamine salts. The response varies greatly, and the dose depends on the severity of the disorder and the child’s response to the drug. Dosage is adjusted in frequency and amount until an optimal balance between response and side effects is achieved.
Many modern drugs have a practical effect on the symptoms of ADHD. Methylphenidate is usually started at 0.3 mg/kg PO once/day and increased weekly, typically to 2–3 times/day or every 4 hours, and many physicians tend to prescribe the drug in the morning and afternoon (Chen et al., 2022). If the response to therapy is inadequate, but the patient tolerates the drug, the dose may be increased. Most children achieve the optimal balance between benefits and side effects at initial doses. The dextrorotatory isomer of methylphenidate is the active moiety and is given at half the dose.
When the optimal dosage for methylphenidate is reached, they switch to equivalent doses of the same drug in sustained-release forms to avoid the need to administer the drug at school. Extended-release formulations include sustained-release wax matrix tablets, biphasic capsules containing the equivalent of 2 doses, osmotic release tablets, and transdermal patches that provide up to 12 hours of action (Chen et al., 2022). Learning ability is increasingly enhanced at low doses, but improvement in behavior often requires higher doses.
Behavior Correction
It is crucial for every child to hear praise and know that he is appreciated, and children with ADHD, due to their behavior, are less likely than others to receive positive feedback. The caretaker should find the child’s strengths: the desire to help others, interest in creative subjects, or, conversely, the exact sciences. With the help of strengths, it is possible to build high-quality communication with a child because children with ADHD learn not from punishment but from encouragement.
Reduction of psychological tension in the family and school and the creation of a favorable environment for the child also leads to the correction of ADHD. They recommend a sparing mode of teaching in the classroom with a minimum number of children and a shortened duration of classes (Young & Smith, 2017). With the help of behavior modification methods, it is impossible to completely cure ADHD, but it is possible to reduce the symptoms and raise the child correctly.
Conclusion
ADHD is a problem requiring increased attention because such children’s behavior is significantly different. Because of this, it is necessary to be able to establish communication and conduct a dialogue. Treatment of the disease at the moment exists both medically and psychologically. However, it is essential to note that each patient is unique and requires a separate development of a teaching methodology. An important aspect of dealing with these children is giving them enough attention and praise. Behavior modification in conjunction with treatment can positively affect the course of the disease and eliminate it.
References
Cabarcas-Mena, Y. P., Marrugo, A. G., & Contreras-Ortiz, S. H. (2021). Classification of Cognitive Evoked Potentials for ADHD Detection in Children using Recurrence Plots and CNNs. In 2021 XXIII Symposium on Image, Signal Processing and Artificial Vision (STSIVA) (pp. 1-6). IEEE. Web.
Chen, S., Qian, A., Tao, J., Zhou, R., Fu, C., Yang, C., Lin, Q., Zhou, J., Li, J., Huang, X. & Wang, M. (2022). Different effects of the DRD4 genotype on intrinsic brain network connectivity strength in drug-naive children with ADHD and healthy controls. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 16(1), 464-475. Web.
Tabibi, Z., Schwebel, D. C., & Zolfaghari, H. (2022). Road-crossing behavior in complex traffic situations: A comparison of children with and without ADHD. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 53(6), 1186-1193. Web.
Young, S. & Smith, J. (2017). Helping children with ADHD: A CBT guide for practitioners, parents and teachers. John Wiley and Sons.
