“A very close relative of mine have a child with ADHD. It took them a little while to notice that there was indeed a problem with their child as they thought his actions were just normal or typical. But when things got overboard and are already out of control, his mom took the initiative to visit a doctor. My point is, it is important to note such disorder as early as possible so that parents would know how to respond and take care of the kids.”
What is ADHD?
In 1844, Dr Heinrich Hoffman, a German general practitioner who founded a mental hospital, wrote poems in a book he designed as a present for his then three-year-old son. Symptoms of attention deficiency and hyperactivity were portrayed in “The Story of Fidgety Philip”:
“Let me see if Philip can
Be a little gentleman
Let me see if he is able
To sit still for once at table
Thus Papa bade Phil behave
And Mamma looked very grave
But fidgety Phil
He won’t sit still”
Additional symptoms of inattention were depicted in “The Story of Johnny Look-in-the-Air” which described how Johnny lost things and was easily distracted by external stimuli. ADHD was described then the same way the Institute of Mental Health’s (IMH) website describes it today. Watch the video in the link to understand how frustrating it can be for parents. Its symptoms are characterised by three main areas; namely inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. It is not caused by low intelligence. In fact many of them have very good thinking and reasoning abilities.
In his book “Attention Difference Disorder”, Dr. Kenny Handelman, attempts to convince his readers that what is known as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) – with ADHD as the hyperactive variety – is not necessarily a deficit. It is just that people with ADD/ADHD can …
Read more: singaporemotherhood.com/articles/2015/02/adhd-what-you-need-to-know/