Hyperactive child (ADHD): causes, signs, advice from psychologists. what should parents do? Hyperactive child: reasons. Illness in adulthood

In medical practice, hyperactivity is a complex behavioral disorder that does not require any medical intervention and manifests itself in early preschool age.

The disorder can affect a child's success in school, affect interpersonal relationships, and be noticeable by excessive mental and motor activity.

Signs of the disorder may show up differently in different children. In most children, the disorder is associated with spontaneous reactions that the child cannot suppress. The reactions affect the child’s mobility, speech and attention. They are considered signs of an unbalanced nervous system; among adults they are called excessive emotionality.

With hyperactivity, the child experiences difficulty concentrating, cannot sit still, and cannot wait in line. He shouts out answers before other children, reaches out his hand to be the first to answer a question, and shows disorganization, absent-mindedness and forgetfulness.

Due to overactivity, the child does poorly in school, is unable to carry out assignments efficiently, he moves a lot, talks a lot, and interrupts the conversations of peers and adults.

Signs and symptoms of the disorder usually begin to appear before the age of seven. They can be confused with another disorder - attention deficit disorder, as well as normal child behavior. Therefore, if parents notice one or more signs of a disorder in a child, this does not mean that the child is hyperactive. On the contrary, if the signs are present in all situations - at home, at school, during extracurricular activities and on walks - it’s time to get to know a psychologist and doctor better.

Causes of hyperactivity in a child

The root causes of hyperactivity can be:

Various infections;

Birth injuries, difficult births, early or late births;

Poisoning with heavy metals and chemicals hazardous to health;

Poor nutrition, poor daily routine.

Research shows that hyperactivity is more common in boys. It may be accompanied by sleep disturbances, enuresis, various speech disorders, and heart disorders. The disorder often occurs within the framework of attention deficit disorder.

Main signs of hyperactivity

You can recognize hyperactivity in a child by the following signs:

1. The child almost always has restless movements of the limbs. He cannot sit in a chair, he gets up, spins, fidgets, spins, fiddles with his clothes when he should be sitting quietly.

2. The child exhibits high motor activity for no reason. He runs aimlessly, jumps, climbs on chairs, sofas, armchairs, even in situations where this should not be done.

3. The child cannot concentrate on the game, do anything quietly and calmly. He screams, squeaks, and makes sudden unconscious movements.

4. In a conversation, the child is very unrestrained, cannot fully listen to the question, answers questions inappropriately, without thinking.

5. The child cannot stand and wait in line in any situation, and begins to get nervous and capricious.

6. The child interferes with other children, pesters others, interferes with someone else’s play, and interferes with his behavior.

7. At night and during the day, the child sleeps very restlessly, turns over from one side to the other, knocks down the sheet, throws off the blanket and at the same time loves the curled up position.

8. The child is unable to recognize other people's needs and desires.

9. The child is prone to emotional turmoil and cannot control emotions - both good and bad. A child may feel angry at inopportune times or throw tantrums for absolutely no reason.

10. The child shows interest in many things, but almost always has problems understanding things. For example, he begins to be interested in drawing, but leaves the drawing unfinished and switches to playing ball, while completely losing interest in drawing.

11. The child is unable to concentrate, even when addressed looking him in the face. He hears speech, but cannot repeat the conversation or what was said to him.

12. The child often makes mistakes due to inattention.

Symptoms and abnormalities are determined by specialists by observing and assessing the child and his actions.

Attention deficit and hyperactivity in a child

If others say that a child is hyperactive, this may mean that he also has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD can only be determined by a doctor based on the opinions of several specialists - a psychologist, psychotherapist and pediatrician. During the examination, the doctor will also try to find out signs of other disorders and diseases that are similar to ADHD and require different types of treatment.

If the doctor determines that the child has ADHD, he or she offers the parents help with the problem. Many children are prescribed medications to help control behavior. Currently, there are a huge number of medications that can completely cure this condition. Medicine can help children: focus attention, calm the nervous system, balance behavior, improve memory and attention.

The child will take some medications only before school, others every day as part of the treatment course. Medicines are offered to children in the form of sweet liquids, tablets, capsules and chewable candies. Only a doctor can prescribe treatment, after consultation with parents.

Children with ADHD need not only medicine, but also lifestyle changes. In this case, the therapist and psychologist can offer parents an individually developed plan for lifestyle changes, give recommendations on what will be useful and what should be avoided.

Children also benefit greatly from relaxation and behavioral therapy. In relaxation therapy, the doctor will teach the child to relax, calm down, do deep breathing exercises, and relax various muscle groups. Behavioral therapy can teach children how to set goals and achieve them.

If a child is hyperactive (that is, this is the diagnosis that has been made), not only relatives and the doctor must know about this, but also the teachers and the director of the school the student attends. The child will then be able to receive additional help with their studies if needed. The school can offer parents an individual learning plan, a quiet place in the classroom, and additional time to complete assignments.

In most cases, children with ADHD have a normal, happy childhood, and with the right approach, the disease is completely eliminated.

Positive effects in children with hyperactivity

In addition to the problems, attention deficit disorder has its positive aspects. Numerous studies have found that children with ADHD tend to be:

1. Very creative and imaginative. A child who dreams and has dozens of different thoughts in his head can in the future become a great master, solving complex problems and throwing out a fountain of ideas. Children with ADHD can be easily distracted, but unlike others, they see things that others do not.

2. Very flexible and resourceful. The child can simultaneously consider several options for solving a problem and is open to different ideas.

3. Enthusiasts. Children with ADHD are rarely boring. They are interested in a huge number of things and bright personalities. They attract others and have a huge number of friends.

4. Very energetic and unpredictable. When children are motivated by an idea, they work and complete tasks much faster than normal children. It can be difficult to distract them from solving a task if they are interested in it and if it is associated with an active lifestyle.

It's worth noting that ADHD has nothing to do with intelligence or talent. Many hyperactive children are highly intelligent and artistically gifted.

Psychologists around the world believe that if children show signs of hyperactivity due to a behavioral disorder, they should be eliminated, the sooner the better. This will avoid disappointments and difficulties that can arise from low self-esteem, as well as friction and stress accumulating in the family and others.

If a child has symptoms of hyperactivity that are similar to ADHD, do not neglect the help of a qualified doctor and psychologist. You can eliminate hyperactivity in time by applying simple publicly available measures.

Today there are a huge number of options for eliminating the disease. As therapeutic measures, a change in diet, a set of physical exercises, a change in the home environment, visiting children's clubs, and any other distractions that will reduce the problem to a minimum may be prescribed.

A hyperactive child requires a lot of strength and attention from adults. You must always listen to the child, help him finish the tasks he has begun, and teach him to be assiduous. Hyperactive children need effective parenting strategies that develop structure, systematicity and clear interaction with the outside world. They need rewards and encouragement, a lot of parental love, support and approval.

Psychologists advise:

1. Clearly organize the child’s daily routine and do not change it for a long time. In this situation, the child will be able to acquire the necessary reflexes, for example, going to bed after reading a fairy tale.

2. Create a calm, predictable environment for the child, without any irritants. This will minimize energy release events.

3. Organize an active physical regime for the child with attendance at sports sections and classes.

4. Do not limit the child in performing active actions when the situation allows it. This will allow you to use up excess energy.

5. A hyperactive child should not be punished, forced to sit still for a long time or do any tedious work.

Experience shows that eliminating hyperactivity problems in children is doable. The child should be allowed to expend excess energy outside the walls of educational institutions and awaken interest in learning and creativity.

Every child is active and inquisitive, but there are children whose activity is increased compared to their peers. Can such children be called hyperactive or is this a manifestation of the child’s character? And is a child’s hyperactive behavior normal or does it require treatment?

What is hyperactivity

This is the abbreviated name for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which is also abbreviated as ADHD. This is a very common brain disorder in childhood and is also present in many adults. According to statistics, 1-7% of children have hyperactivity syndrome. It is diagnosed 4 times more often in boys than in girls.

Early recognition of hyperactivity, which requires therapy, allows the child to develop normal behavior and better adapt to a group environment among other people. If a child's ADHD is left unattended, it persists into an older age. A teenager with such a disorder acquires school skills worse, is more prone to antisocial behavior, and is hostile and aggressive.

ADHD - a syndrome of excessive impulsivity, hyperactivity and stable inattention

Signs of ADHD

Not every active and easily excited child is classified as a child who has hyperactivity syndrome.

To diagnose ADHD, you should identify the main symptoms of this disorder in your child, which include:

1. Attention deficit.
2. Impulsivity.
3. Hyperactivity.

Symptoms usually begin before age 7 years. Most often, parents notice them at 4 or 5 years old, and the most common age period for contacting a specialist is 8 years and older, when the child is faced with many tasks at school and around the house, where his concentration and independence are needed. Children who have not yet turned 3 years old are not diagnosed immediately. They are monitored for a period of time to ensure that they have ADHD.

Depending on the predominance of specific symptoms, two subtypes of the syndrome are distinguished: attention deficit and hyperactivity. A separate subtype of ADHD is distinguished, in which the child has symptoms of both attention deficit and hyperactivity.

Signs of hyperactivity are more common in children 4-5 years old

Manifestations of attention deficit:

1. The child cannot concentrate on objects for a long time. He often makes careless mistakes.
2. The child is unable to maintain attention for a long time, which is why he is not collected during the task and often does not complete the task to the end.
3. When a child is spoken to, it seems that he is not listening.
4. If you give a child a direct instruction, he does not follow it, or he starts to follow it and does not finish it.
5. It is difficult for a child to organize his activities. He frequently switches from one activity to another.
6. The child does not like tasks that require prolonged mental effort. He tries to avoid them.
7. A child often loses things that he needs.
8. The baby is easily distracted by extraneous noise.
9. In everyday activities, the child is noted to have increased forgetfulness.

Children with ADHD experience distraction

Hyperactive children have difficulty completing tasks that require mental effort.

Manifestations of impulsivity and hyperactivity:

1. The child often gets up from his seat.
2. When a child is excited, he moves his legs or arms intensely. In addition, the baby periodically squirms in the stool.
3. He gets up very quickly and runs often.
4. He finds it difficult to participate in quiet games.
5. His actions can be described as “whimsical.”
6. During classes, he may shout from his seat or make noise.
7. The child answers before he hears the full question.
8. He cannot wait his turn during a lesson or game.
9. The child constantly interferes with other people's activities or conversations.

To make a diagnosis, a child must have at least 6 of the signs listed above, and they must be present for a long time (at least six months).

How hyperactivity manifests itself at an early age

Hyperactivity syndrome is detected not only in schoolchildren, but also in preschool children and even infants.

In the youngest children, this problem manifests itself with the following symptoms:

• Faster physical development compared to peers. Babies with hyperactivity roll over, crawl, and walk much faster.
• The appearance of whims when the child is tired. Hyperactive children often get excited and become more active before bedtime.
• Less sleep duration. A child with ADHD sleeps much less than he should for his age.
• Difficulty falling asleep (many children need to be rocked to sleep) and very light sleep. A hyperactive child reacts to any rustle, and if he wakes up, it is very difficult for him to fall asleep again.
• A very violent reaction to loud sounds, new surroundings and unfamiliar faces. Because of such factors, children with hyperactivity become excited and begin to be more capricious.
• Quick switching of attention. Having offered the baby a new toy, the mother notices that the new object attracts the baby’s attention for only a short time.
• Strong attachment to mother and fear of strangers.

If your baby is often capricious, reacts violently to new surroundings, sleeps little and has difficulty falling asleep, these may be the first signs of ADHD.

ADHD or personality?

Increased activity of a child may be a manifestation of his innate temperament.

Unlike children with ADHD, a temperamental healthy child:

Causes of hyperactivity in children

Previously, the occurrence of ADHD was associated primarily with brain damage, for example, if the newborn suffered hypoxia while in the mother's womb or during childbirth. Nowadays, studies have confirmed the influence of genetic factors and disorders of intrauterine development of the baby on the appearance of hyperactivity syndrome. The development of ADHD is facilitated by too early childbirth, cesarean section, low birth weight, a long anhydrous period during childbirth, the use of forceps and similar factors.

ADHD can occur during difficult childbirth, impaired intrauterine development, or be inherited

What to do

If you suspect your child has hyperactivity syndrome, the first thing you need to do is go to a specialist. Many parents do not go to the doctor right away because they are hesitant to admit that their child has a problem and are afraid of being judged by their friends. By such actions they waste time, as a result of which hyperactivity becomes the cause of serious problems with the child’s social adaptation.

There are also parents who bring a completely healthy child to a psychologist or psychiatrist when they cannot or do not want to find an approach to him. This is often observed during crisis periods of development, for example, at 2 years or during a three-year crisis. At the same time, the baby does not have any hyperactivity.

If you discover some signs of hyperactivity in your child, contact a specialist without delaying this problem.

In all these cases, without the help of a specialist, it will not be possible to determine whether the child really needs medical help or whether he just has a bright temperament.

If a child is confirmed to have hyperactivity syndrome, the following methods will be used in his treatment:

1. Explanatory work with parents. The doctor must explain to mom and dad why the child developed hyperactivity, how this syndrome manifests itself, how to behave with the child and how to raise him correctly. Thanks to such educational work, parents stop blaming themselves or each other for the child’s behavior, and also understand how to behave with the baby.
2. Changing learning conditions. If hyperactivity is diagnosed in a student with poor academic performance, he is transferred to a specialized class. This helps to cope with delays in the development of school skills.
3. Drug therapy. Medications prescribed for ADHD are symptomatic and effective in 75-80% of cases. They help facilitate the social adaptation of children with hyperactivity and improve their intellectual development. As a rule, medications are prescribed for a long period, sometimes until adolescence.

ADHD is treated not only with medication, but also under the supervision of a psychiatrist

Komarovsky's opinion

The popular doctor has encountered many times in his practice with children diagnosed with ADHD. Komarovsky calls the main difference between such a medical diagnosis and hyperactivity as a character trait the fact that hyperactivity does not interfere with a healthy child’s development and communication with other members of society. If a child has a disease, without the help of parents and doctors he cannot become a full-fledged member of the team, study normally and communicate with peers.

To make sure whether the child is healthy or has ADHD, Komarovsky advises contacting a child psychologist or psychiatrist, since only a qualified specialist will not only easily identify hyperactivity in a child as a disease, but will also help parents understand how to raise a child with ADHD.

• When communicating with your baby, it is important to establish contact. If necessary, for this purpose you can touch the child on the shoulder, turn him towards you, remove the toy from his field of vision, turn off the TV.
• Parents must set specific and enforceable rules of behavior for their child, but it is important that they are followed at all times. In addition, each such rule must be understandable to the child.
• The space in which a hyperactive child lives must be completely safe.
• The routine should be followed at all times, even if parents have a day off. For hyperactive children, according to Komarovsky, it is very important to wake up, eat, walk, swim, go to bed and perform other usual daily activities at the same time.
• All complex tasks for hyperactive children must be broken down into parts that are understandable and easy to complete.
• The child should be constantly praised, noting and emphasizing all the baby’s positive actions.
• Find what the hyperactive child does best, and then create conditions so that the child can do such work and get satisfaction from it.
• Provide a child with hyperactivity with the opportunity to spend excess energy by directing it in the right direction (for example, walking the dog, attending sports clubs).
• When going to the store or visiting with your child, think about your actions in detail, for example, what to take with you or what to buy for your child.
• Parents should also take care of their own rest, since, as Komarovsky emphasizes, for a hyperactive child it is very important that mom and dad are calm, peaceful and adequate.

From the video below you can learn even more about hyperactive children.

You will learn about the role of parents and many important nuances by watching the video of clinical psychologist Veronica Stepanova.

or ADHD is the most common cause of behavior disorders and learning problems in preschool and school children.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a child– a developmental disorder manifested in behavioral disturbances. A child with ADHD is restless, displays “stupid” activity, cannot sit through classes at school or kindergarten, and will not do anything that is not interesting to him. He interrupts his elders, plays in class, minds his own business, and can crawl under the desk. At the same time, the child correctly perceives his surroundings. He hears and understands all the instructions of his elders, but cannot follow their instructions due to impulsiveness. Despite the fact that the child understands the task, he cannot complete what he started and is unable to plan and foresee the consequences of his actions. This is associated with a high risk of getting injured at home and getting lost.

Neurologists consider attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a child as a neurological disease. Its manifestations are not the result of improper upbringing, neglect or permissiveness, they are a consequence of the special functioning of the brain.

Prevalence. ADHD is found in 3-5% of children. Of these, 30% “outgrow” the disease after 14 years, another 40% adapt to it and learn to smooth out its manifestations. Among adults, this syndrome is found in only 1%.

Boys are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 3-5 times more often than girls. Moreover, in boys the syndrome is more often manifested by destructive behavior (disobedience and aggression), and in girls by inattention. According to some studies, fair-haired and blue-eyed Europeans are more susceptible to the disease. Interestingly, the incidence rate varies significantly from country to country. Thus, studies conducted in London and Tennessee found ADHD in 17% of children.

Types of ADHD

• Attention deficit and hyperactivity are expressed equally;
• Attention deficit predominates, and impulsivity and hyperactivity are minor;
• Hyperactivity and impulsiveness predominate, attention is slightly impaired.

• dependence on alcohol, drugs, psychotropic drugs;
• difficulties with assimilation of information that disrupt the learning process;
• high anxiety, which replaces physical activity;
• Tics – repeated muscle twitching.
• headaches;
• antisocial changes - a tendency to hooliganism, theft.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a child, causes

1. Factors that disrupt the formation of the nervous system in the fetus which can lead to oxygen starvation or hemorrhage in the brain tissue:

• environmental pollution, high content of harmful substances in air, water, food;
• taking medications by a woman during pregnancy;
• exposure to alcohol, drugs, nicotine;
• infections suffered by the mother during pregnancy;
• Rh factor conflict – immunological incompatibility;
• risk of miscarriage ;
• fetal asphyxia;
• umbilical cord entanglement;
• complicated or rapid labor leading to injury to the head or spine of the fetus.

1. Factors that disrupt brain function in infancy

• diseases accompanied by a temperature above 39-40 degrees;
• taking certain medications that have a neurotoxic effect;
• bronchial asthma, pneumonia;
• severe kidney disease;
• heart failure, heart disease.

1. Genetic factors. According to this theory, 80% of cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are associated with disorders in the gene that regulates the release of dopamine and the functioning of dopamine receptors. The result is a disruption in the transmission of bioelectrical impulses between brain cells. Moreover, the disease manifests itself if, in addition to genetic abnormalities, there are unfavorable environmental factors.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a child, symptoms

Signs of ADHD at an early age

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a child, symptoms which most clearly manifests itself at 5-12 years of age, can be recognized at an earlier age.

• They begin to hold their heads up, sit, crawl, and walk early.
• They experience problems falling asleep and sleep less than normal.
• If they get tired, do not engage in a calm activity, do not fall asleep on their own, but become hysterical.
• Very sensitive to loud sounds, bright lights, strangers, and changes in environment. These factors cause them to cry loudly.
• They throw away toys before they even have time to look at them.

Main symptoms

1. Attention disorder

• R The child has difficulty concentrating on one subject or activity. He does not pay attention to details, unable to distinguish the main from the secondary. The child tries to do all the things at the same time: he colors all the details without completing them, reads the text, skipping over a line. This happens because he does not know how to plan. When doing tasks together, explain: “First we’ll do one thing, then the other.”
• The child tries to avoid routine tasks under any pretext., lessons, creativity. This could be a quiet protest when the child runs away and hides, or a hysteria with screaming and tears.
• The cyclical nature of attention is pronounced. A preschooler can do one thing for 3-5 minutes, a child of primary school age for up to 10 minutes. Then, over the same period, the nervous system restores the resource. Often at this time it seems that the child does not hear the speech addressed to him. Then the cycle repeats.
• Attention can only be concentrated if you are left alone with the child. The child is more attentive and obedient if the room is quiet and there are no irritants, toys, or other people.

1. Hyperactivity

• The child makes a large number of inappropriate movements, most of which he doesn't notice. A distinctive feature of motor activity in ADHD is its aimlessness. This could be spinning the hands and feet, running, jumping, or tapping on the table or floor. The child runs, not walks. Climbing on furniture . Breaks toys.
• Talks too loudly and fast. He answers without listening to the question. Shouts out the answer, interrupting the person answering. He speaks in unfinished sentences, jumping from one thought to another. Swallows the endings of words and sentences. Constantly asks again. His statements are often thoughtless, they provoke and offend others.
• Facial expressions are very expressive. The face expresses emotions that quickly appear and disappear - anger, surprise, joy. Sometimes he grimaces for no apparent reason.

1. Impulsiveness

• Guided solely by his own desires and carries them out immediately. Acts on the first impulse, without thinking through the consequences and without planning. There are no situations for a child in which he must sit still. During classes in kindergarten or at school, he jumps up and runs to the window, into the corridor, makes noise, shouts from his seat. Takes the thing he likes from his peers.
• Cannot follow instructions, especially those consisting of several points. The child constantly has new desires (impulses), which prevent him from finishing the job he has started (doing homework, collecting toys).
• Unable to wait or endure. He must immediately get or do what he wants. If this does not happen, he makes a scandal, switches to other things, or performs aimless actions. This is clearly noticeable in class or while waiting for your turn.
• Mood swings happen every few minutes. The child goes from laughing to crying. Hot temper is especially common in children with ADHD. When angry, the child throws objects, can start a fight or ruin the offender’s things. He will do it right away, without thinking or hatching a plan for revenge.
• The child does not feel danger. He can do things that are dangerous to health and life: climb to a height, walk through abandoned buildings, go out on thin ice because he wanted to do it. This property leads to high rates of injury in children with ADHD.

Additional symptoms

• Difficulties in learning with a normal level of intelligence. The child may have difficulty writing and reading. At the same time, he does not perceive individual letters and sounds or does not fully master this skill. The inability to learn arithmetic can be an independent disorder or accompany problems with reading and writing.
• Communication disorders. A child with ADHD may be obsessive towards peers and unfamiliar adults. He may be too emotional or even aggressive, which makes it difficult to communicate and establish friendly contacts.
• Lag in emotional development. The child behaves excessively capriciously and emotionally. He does not tolerate criticism, failures, and behaves unbalanced and “childish.” A pattern has been established that with ADHD there is a 30% lag in emotional development. For example, a 10-year-old child behaves like a 7-year-old, although he is intellectually developed no worse than his peers.
• Negative self-esteem. A child hears a huge number of comments per day. If at the same time he is also compared with his peers: “Look how well Masha behaves!” this makes the situation worse. Criticism and complaints convince the child that he is worse than others, bad, stupid, restless. This makes the child unhappy, distant, aggressive, and instills hatred towards others.

Positive qualities of children with ADHD

• Active, active;
• Easily read the mood of the interlocutor;
• Willing to sacrifice themselves for the people they like;
• Not vindictive, unable to harbor a grudge;
• They are fearless and do not have most childhood fears.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a child, diagnosis

1. Collection of information - interview with the child, conversation with parents, diagnostic questionnaires.
2. Neuropsychological examination.
3. Pediatrician consultation.

1. Collection of information

Diagnostic questionnaire is a list of questions compiled in such a way as to collect the maximum amount of information about the behavior and mental state of the child. It usually takes the form of a multiple-choice test. To identify ADHD, the following are used:

• Vanderbilt Adolescent ADHD Diagnostic Questionnaire. There are versions for parents and teachers.
• Parental Symptom Questionnaire for ADHD Manifestations;
• Conners Structured Questionnaire.

• Adaptation disorder. Expressed as non-compliance with characteristics that are normal for this age;
• Attention impairment, when the child cannot focus his attention on one object;
• Impulsivity and hyperactivity;
• Development of first symptoms before the age of 7 years;
• Adaptation disorder manifests itself in various situations (in kindergarten, school, at home), while the child’s intellectual development corresponds to his age;
• These symptoms persist for 6 months or more.

Signs of inattention

• Doesn't pay attention to details. In his work he makes a large number of mistakes due to negligence and frivolity.
• Easily distracted.
• Has difficulty concentrating when playing and completing tasks.
• Does not listen to speech addressed to him.
• Unable to complete assignments or do homework. Cannot follow instructions.
• Experiences difficulties in performing independent work. Needs guidance and supervision from an adult.
• Resists completing tasks that require prolonged mental effort: homework, tasks from a teacher or psychologist. Avoids such work for various reasons and shows dissatisfaction.
• Often loses things.
• In everyday activities, he shows forgetfulness and absent-mindedness.

Signs of impulsivity and hyperactivity

• Makes a large number of unnecessary movements. Cannot sit quietly in a chair. Spins, makes movements, feet, hands, head.
• Cannot sit or remain still in situations where this is necessary - in class, at a concert, in transport.
• Shows rash motor activity in situations where this is unacceptable. He gets up, runs, spins, takes things without asking, tries to climb somewhere.
• Can't play calmly.
• Excessively mobile.
• Too talkative.
• He answers without listening to the end of the question. Doesn't think before giving an answer.
• Impatient. Has difficulty waiting his turn.
• Disturbs others, pesters people. Interferes with play or conversation.

1. Neuropsychological assessment for ADHD

1. Pediatrician consultation

• Minimal brain dysfunction(MMD) – mild neurological disorders that cause disturbances in motor functions, speech, and behavior;
• Increased intracranial pressure(ICP) - increased pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is located in the ventricles of the brain, around it and in the spinal canal.
• Perinatal CNS damage– damage to the nervous system that occurs during pregnancy, childbirth or in the first days of life.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a child, treatment

1. Medication treatment for ADHD

1. Physiotherapy and massage for ADHD

• Physiotherapy, aimed at strengthening the muscles of the neck and shoulder girdle. Must be performed daily.
• Neck massage courses of 10 procedures 2-3 times a year.
• Physiotherapy. Infrared irradiation (warming) of spasming muscles is used using infrared rays. Paraffin heating is also used. 15-20 procedures 2 times a year. These procedures go well with massage of the collar area.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a child, behavior correction

1. Biofeedback therapy (biofeedback method)

Biofeedback therapy

The human brain generates electrical impulses. They are divided depending on the frequency of vibrations per second and the amplitude of vibrations. The main ones are: alpha, beta, gamma, delta and theta waves. In ADHD, the activity of beta waves (beta rhythm), which are associated with focusing attention, memory, and information processing, is reduced. At the same time, the activity of theta waves (theta rhythm) increases, which indicate emotional stress, fatigue, aggressiveness and imbalance. There is a version that the theta rhythm promotes the rapid assimilation of information and the development of creative potential.

The goal of biofeedback therapy is to normalize the bioelectrical oscillations of the brain - to stimulate the beta rhythm and reduce the theta rhythm to normal. For this purpose, a specially developed software and hardware complex “BOS-LAB” is used.
Sensors are attached to certain places on the child's body. On the monitor, the child sees how his biorhythms behave and tries to change them at will. Also, biorhythms change during computer exercises. If the task is done correctly, a sound signal is heard or a picture appears, which are an element of feedback. The procedure is painless, interesting and well tolerated by the child.
The effect of the procedure is increased attention, decreased impulsivity and hyperactivity. Academic performance and relationships with others improve.

The course consists of 15-25 sessions. Progress is noticeable after 3-4 procedures. The effectiveness of treatment reaches 95%. The effect lasts for a long time, for 10 years or more. In some patients, biofeedback therapy completely eliminates the manifestations of the disease. Has no side effects.

1. Psychotherapeutic techniques

The effectiveness of psychotherapy is significant, but progress may take from 2 months to several years. The result can be improved by combining various psychotherapeutic techniques, pedagogical measures of parents and teachers, physiotherapeutic methods and adherence to a daily routine.

1. Cognitive-behavioral methods

• Skills in managing anger and expressing your emotions in an acceptable manner. What do you feel? What do you want? Now say it politely. What we can do?
• Constructive conflict resolution. The child is taught to negotiate, look for compromise, avoid quarrels or get out of them in a civilized manner. (If you don’t want to share, offer another toy. If you are not accepted into the game, come up with an interesting activity and offer it to others). It is important to teach a child to speak calmly, listen to the interlocutor, and clearly formulate what he wants.
• Adequate ways of communicating with the teacher and with peers. As a rule, the child knows the rules of behavior, but does not comply with them due to impulsiveness. Under the guidance of a psychologist, the child improves communication skills through play.
• Correct methods of behavior in public places - in kindergarten, in class, in a store, at a doctor’s appointment, etc. are mastered in the form of “theater”.

1. Play therapy

• Games to develop attention. Find 5 differences in the picture. Identify the smell. Identify the object by touch with your eyes closed. Broken phone.
• Games to develop perseverance and combat disinhibition. Hide and seek. Silent. Sort items by color/size/shape.
• Games to control motor activity. Throwing the ball at a given pace, which gradually increases. Siamese twins, when children in a pair, hugging each other around the waist, must perform tasks - clap their hands, run.
• Games to relieve muscle tension and emotional tension. Aimed at the physical and emotional relaxation of the child. “Humpty Dumpty” for alternate relaxation of different muscle groups.
• Games to develop memory and overcome impulsiveness."Speak!" - the presenter asks simple questions. But he can answer them only after the command “Speak!”, before which he pauses for a few seconds.
• Computer games, which simultaneously develop perseverance, attention and restraint.

1. Art therapy

By interpreting the results of a child’s work, the psychologist gets an idea of ​​his inner world, mental conflicts and problems.

• Drawing colored pencils, finger paints or watercolors. Sheets of paper of different sizes are used. The child can choose the subject of the drawing himself or the psychologist can suggest a topic - “At school”, “My family”.
• Sand therapy. You need a sandbox with clean, moistened sand and a set of various molds, including human figures, vehicles, houses, etc. The child decides for himself what exactly he wants to reproduce. Often he plays out plots that unconsciously bother him, but he cannot convey this to adults.
• Modeling from clay or plasticine. The child makes figures from plasticine on a given topic - funny animals, my friend, my pet. Activities promote the development of fine motor skills and brain functions.
• Listening to music and playing musical instruments. Rhythmic dance music is recommended for girls, and marching music for boys. Music relieves emotional stress, increases perseverance and attention.

1. Family therapy and work with teachers.

1. Pedagogical measures

Proper parenting is the main way to combat the symptoms of ADHD. Whether the child will “outgrow” this problem and how successful he or she will be in adulthood depends on the behavior of the parents.

• Be patient, maintain self-control. Avoid criticism. The peculiarities in the child’s behavior are not his fault and not yours. Insults and physical violence are unacceptable.
• Communicate expressively with your child. Showing emotions in facial expressions and voice will help keep his attention. For the same reason, it is important to look into the child's eyes.
• Use physical contact. Hold hands, stroke, hug, use elements of massage when communicating with your child. It has a calming effect and helps you concentrate.
• Ensure clear control over task completion. The child does not have sufficient willpower to complete what he started; he is very tempted to stop halfway. Knowing that an adult will supervise the completion of a task will help him complete the task. Will ensure discipline and self-control in the future.
• Set feasible tasks for your child. If he doesn't cope with the task you set for him, then next time make it easier. If yesterday he didn’t have the patience to put away all the toys, then today you just ask him to put the blocks in a box.
• Give your child a task in the form of short instructions.. Give one task at a time: “Brush your teeth.” When this is completed, ask to wash your face.
• Take breaks of a few minutes between each activity. I collected my toys, rested for 5 minutes, and went to wash myself.
• Do not forbid your child to be physically active during classes. If he waves his legs, twirls various objects in his hands, and shifts around the table, this improves his thought process. If you limit this small activity, the child’s brain will fall into a stupor and will not be able to perceive information.
• Praise for every success. Do this one on one and with your family. The child has low self-esteem. He often hears how bad he is. Therefore, praise is vital for him. It encourages the child to be disciplined, to put even more effort and perseverance in completing tasks. It's good if the praise is visual. These could be chips, tokens, stickers, cards that the child can count at the end of the day. Change the “rewards” from time to time. Withdrawal of a reward is an effective method of punishment. It must follow immediately after the offense.
• Be consistent in your demands. If you can’t watch TV for a long time, then don’t make an exception when you have guests or your mother is tired.
• Warn your child what will happen next. It is difficult for him to interrupt activities that are interesting. Therefore, 5-10 minutes before the end of the game, warn him that he will soon finish playing and will collect his toys.
• Learn to plan. Together, make a list of things you need to do today, and then cross off what you do.
• Create a daily routine and stick to it. This will teach the child to plan, manage his time and anticipate what will happen in the near future. This develops the functioning of the frontal lobes and creates a feeling of security.
• Encourage your child to play sports. Martial arts, swimming, athletics, and cycling will be especially useful. They will direct the child’s activity in the right useful direction. Team sports (soccer, volleyball) can be challenging. Traumatic sports (judo, boxing) can increase the level of aggressiveness.
• Try different types of activities. The more you offer your child, the higher the chance that he will find his own hobby, which will help him become more diligent and attentive. This will build his self-esteem and improve his relationships with peers.
• Protect from prolonged viewing TV and sitting at the computer. The approximate norm is 10 minutes for every year of life. So a 6-year-old child should not watch TV for more than an hour.

Children with ADHD often have high IQ levels and are called “indigo children.” If a child becomes interested in something specific during adolescence, he will direct all his energy to it and bring it to perfection. If this hobby develops into a profession, then success is guaranteed. This is proven by the fact that most major businessmen and prominent scientists suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in childhood.

Every child is active and inquisitive, but there are children whose activity is increased compared to their peers. Can such children be called hyperactive or is this a manifestation of the child’s character? And is a child’s hyperactive behavior normal or does it require treatment?

What is hyperactivity

This is the abbreviated name for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which is also abbreviated as ADHD. This is a very common brain disorder in childhood and is also present in many adults. According to statistics, 1-7% of children have hyperactivity syndrome. It is diagnosed 4 times more often in boys than in girls.

Early recognition of hyperactivity, which requires therapy, allows the child to develop normal behavior and better adapt to a group environment among other people. If a child's ADHD is left unattended, it persists into an older age. A teenager with such a disorder acquires school skills worse, is more prone to antisocial behavior, and is hostile and aggressive.

ADHD - a syndrome of excessive impulsivity, hyperactivity and stable inattention. Signs of ADHD

Not every active and easily excited child is classified as a child who has hyperactivity syndrome.

To diagnose ADHD, you should identify the main symptoms of this disorder in your child, which include:

1. Attention deficit.
2. Impulsivity.
3. Hyperactivity.

Symptoms usually begin before age 7 years. Most often, parents notice them at 4 or 5 years old, and the most common age period for contacting a specialist is 8 years and older, when the child is faced with many tasks at school and around the house, where his concentration and independence are needed. Children who have not yet turned 3 years old are not diagnosed immediately. They are monitored for a period of time to ensure that they have ADHD.

Depending on the predominance of specific symptoms, two subtypes of the syndrome are distinguished: attention deficit and hyperactivity. A separate subtype of ADHD is distinguished, in which the child has symptoms of both attention deficit and hyperactivity.

Signs of hyperactivity are more common in children 4-5 years old

Manifestations of attention deficit:

1. The child cannot concentrate on objects for a long time. He often makes careless mistakes.
2. The child is unable to maintain attention for a long time, which is why he is not collected during the task and often does not complete the task to the end.
3. When a child is spoken to, it seems that he is not listening.
4. If you give a child a direct instruction, he does not follow it, or he starts to follow it and does not finish it.
5. It is difficult for a child to organize his activities. He frequently switches from one activity to another.
6. The child does not like tasks that require prolonged mental effort. He tries to avoid them.
7. A child often loses things that he needs.
8. The baby is easily distracted by extraneous noise.
9. In everyday activities, the child is noted to have increased forgetfulness.

Manifestations of impulsivity and hyperactivity:

1. The child often gets up from his seat.
2. When a child is excited, he moves his legs or arms intensely. In addition, the baby periodically squirms in the stool.
3. He gets up very quickly and runs often.
4. He finds it difficult to participate in quiet games.
5. His actions can be described as “whimsical.”
6. During classes, he may shout from his seat or make noise.
7. The child answers before he hears the full question.
8. He cannot wait his turn during a lesson or game.
9. The child constantly interferes with other people's activities or conversations.

To make a diagnosis, a child must have at least 6 of the signs listed above, and they must be present for a long time (at least six months).

Childhood hyperactivity manifests itself in the inability to sit still. How does hyperactivity manifest at an early age?

Hyperactivity syndrome is detected not only in schoolchildren, but also in preschool children and even infants.

In the youngest children, this problem manifests itself with the following symptoms:

• Faster physical development compared to peers. Babies with hyperactivity roll over, crawl, and walk much faster.
• The appearance of whims when the child is tired. Hyperactive children often get excited and become more active before bedtime.
• Less sleep duration. A child with ADHD sleeps much less than he should for his age.
• Difficulty falling asleep (many children need to be rocked to sleep) and very light sleep. A hyperactive child reacts to any rustle, and if he wakes up, it is very difficult for him to fall asleep again.
• A very violent reaction to loud sounds, new surroundings and unfamiliar faces. Because of such factors, children with hyperactivity become excited and begin to be more capricious.
• Quick switching of attention. Having offered the baby a new toy, the mother notices that the new object attracts the baby’s attention for only a short time.
• Strong attachment to mother and fear of strangers.

If your baby is often capricious, reacts violently to new surroundings, sleeps little and has difficulty falling asleep, these could be the first signs of ADHD ADHD or character?

Increased activity of a child may be a manifestation of his innate temperament.

Unlike children with ADHD, a temperamental healthy child:

Causes of hyperactivity in children

Previously, the occurrence of ADHD was associated primarily with brain damage, for example, if the newborn suffered hypoxia while in the mother's womb or during childbirth. Nowadays, studies have confirmed the influence of genetic factors and disorders of intrauterine development of the baby on the appearance of hyperactivity syndrome. The development of ADHD is facilitated by too early childbirth, cesarean section, low birth weight, a long anhydrous period during childbirth, the use of forceps and similar factors.

ADHD can occur during difficult childbirth, impaired intrauterine development, or be inherited. What to do

If you suspect your child has hyperactivity syndrome, the first thing you need to do is go to a specialist. Many parents do not go to the doctor right away because they are hesitant to admit that their child has a problem and are afraid of being judged by their friends. By such actions they waste time, as a result of which hyperactivity becomes the cause of serious problems with the child’s social adaptation.

There are also parents who bring a completely healthy child to a psychologist or psychiatrist when they cannot or do not want to find an approach to him. This is often observed during crisis periods of development, for example, at 2 years or during a three-year crisis. At the same time, the baby does not have any hyperactivity.

If you discover some signs of hyperactivity in your child, contact a specialist without delaying this problem.

In all these cases, without the help of a specialist, it will not be possible to determine whether the child really needs medical help or whether he just has a bright temperament.

If a child is confirmed to have hyperactivity syndrome, the following methods will be used in his treatment:

1. Explanatory work with parents. The doctor must explain to mom and dad why the child developed hyperactivity, how this syndrome manifests itself, how to behave with the child and how to raise him correctly. Thanks to such educational work, parents stop blaming themselves or each other for the child’s behavior, and also understand how to behave with the baby.
2. Changing learning conditions. If hyperactivity is diagnosed in a student with poor academic performance, he is transferred to a specialized class. This helps to cope with delays in the development of school skills.
3. Drug therapy. Medications prescribed for ADHD are symptomatic and effective in 75-80% of cases. They help facilitate the social adaptation of children with hyperactivity and improve their intellectual development. As a rule, medications are prescribed for a long period, sometimes until adolescence.

Treatment of ADHD is carried out not only with medication, but also under the supervision of a psychiatrist. Opinion of Komarovsky

The popular doctor has encountered many times in his practice with children diagnosed with ADHD. Komarovsky calls the main difference between such a medical diagnosis and hyperactivity as a character trait the fact that hyperactivity does not interfere with a healthy child’s development and communication with other members of society. If a child has a disease, without the help of parents and doctors he cannot become a full-fledged member of the team, study normally and communicate with peers.

To make sure whether the child is healthy or has ADHD, Komarovsky advises contacting a child psychologist or psychiatrist, since only a qualified specialist will not only easily identify hyperactivity in a child as a disease, but will also help parents understand how to raise a child with ADHD.

• When communicating with your baby, it is important to establish contact. If necessary, for this purpose you can touch the child on the shoulder, turn him towards you, remove the toy from his field of vision, turn off the TV.
• Parents must set specific and enforceable rules of behavior for their child, but it is important that they are followed at all times. In addition, each such rule must be understandable to the child.
• The space in which a hyperactive child lives must be completely safe.
• The routine should be followed at all times, even if parents have a day off. For hyperactive children, according to Komarovsky, it is very important to wake up, eat, walk, swim, go to bed and perform other usual daily activities at the same time.
• All complex tasks for hyperactive children must be broken down into parts that are understandable and easy to complete.
• The child should be constantly praised, noting and emphasizing all the baby’s positive actions.
• Find what the hyperactive child does best, and then create conditions so that the child can do such work and get satisfaction from it.
• Provide a child with hyperactivity with the opportunity to spend excess energy by directing it in the right direction (for example, walking the dog, attending sports clubs).
• When going to the store or visiting with your child, think about your actions in detail, for example, what to take with you or what to buy for your child.
• Parents should also take care of their own rest, since, as Komarovsky emphasizes, for a hyperactive child it is very important that mom and dad are calm, peaceful and adequate.

From the video below you can learn even more about hyperactive children.

You will learn about the role of parents and many important nuances by watching the video of clinical psychologist Veronica Stepanova.

Childhood hyperactivity is a condition in which the child’s activity and excitability significantly exceeds the norm. This causes a lot of trouble for parents, educators and teachers. And the child himself suffers from difficulties in communicating with peers and adults, which is fraught with the further formation of negative psychological characteristics of the individual.

How to identify and treat hyperactivity, what specialists should you contact to make a diagnosis, how to properly communicate with your child? All this is necessary to know in order to raise a healthy baby.

What is hyperactivity?

This is a neurological-behavioral disorder, which in the medical literature is often called hyperactive child syndrome.

It is characterized by the following violations:

• impulsive behavior;
• significantly increased speech and motor activity;
• attention deficit.

The disease leads to poor relationships with parents, peers, and poor performance at school. According to statistics, this disorder occurs in 4% of schoolchildren; in boys it is diagnosed 5-6 times more often.

The difference between hyperactivity and activity

Hyperactivity syndrome differs from the active state in that the baby’s behavior creates problems for the parents, those around him and himself.

It is necessary to contact a pediatrician, neurologist or child psychologist in the following cases: motor disinhibition and lack of attention appear constantly, behavior makes it difficult to communicate with people, school performance is low. You also need to consult a doctor if your child shows aggression towards others.

Causes

The causes of hyperactivity can be different:

• premature or complicated birth;
• intrauterine infections;
• the influence of harmful factors at work during a woman’s pregnancy;
• bad ecology;
• stress and physical overload of a woman during pregnancy;
• hereditary predisposition;
• unbalanced diet during pregnancy;
• immaturity of the central nervous system of the newborn;
• disturbances in the exchange of dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the infant’s central nervous system;
• excessive demands from parents and teachers on the child;
• disorders of purine metabolism in a baby.

Provoking factors

This condition can be caused by late toxicosis or the use of medications during pregnancy without the consent of a doctor. Possible exposure to alcohol, drugs, smoking during pregnancy. Read more about the effect of smoking on pregnancy →

Conflict relationships in the family and family violence can contribute to the appearance of hyperactivity. Low academic performance, due to which the child is subject to criticism from teachers and punishment from parents, is another predisposing factor.

Symptoms

Signs of hyperactivity are similar at any age:

• anxiety;
• restlessness;
• delayed speech development;
• irritability and tearfulness;
• poor sleep;
• stubbornness;
• inattention;
• impulsiveness.

In newborns

Hyperactivity in infants under one year of age is indicated by restlessness and increased physical activity in the crib; the brightest toys arouse short-term interest in them. When examined, such children often exhibit stigmata of disembryogenesis, including epicanthal folds, abnormal structure of the auricles and their low location, gothic palate, cleft lip, and cleft palate.

In children aged 2-3 years

Parents most often begin to notice manifestations of this condition from the age of 2 or even earlier. The child is characterized by increased capriciousness.

Already at the age of 2, mom and dad see that it is difficult to interest the baby in something, he is distracted from the game, spins in his chair, and is in constant motion. Usually such a child is very restless and noisy, but sometimes a 2-year-old baby surprises with his silence and lack of desire to come into contact with parents or peers.

Child psychologists believe that sometimes such behavior precedes the appearance of motor and speech disinhibition. At two years old, parents may observe signs of aggression in the child and a reluctance to obey adults, ignoring their requests and demands.

From the age of 3, manifestations of egoistic traits become noticeable. The child strives to dominate his peers in group games, provokes conflict situations, and disturbs everyone.

In preschoolers

Preschooler hyperactivity often manifests itself as impulsive behavior. Such children interfere in the conversations and affairs of adults and do not know how to play group games. Especially painful for parents are the hysterics and whims of a 5-6-year-old child in crowded places, his violent expression of emotions in the most inappropriate environment.

Preschool children show restlessness, they do not pay attention to comments made, interrupt, and shout down their peers. It is completely useless to reprimand and scold a 5-6 year old for hyperactivity; he simply ignores information and does not learn the rules of behavior well. Any activity captivates him for a short time, he is easily distracted.

Varieties

Behavioral disorder, which often has a neurological background, can occur in different ways.

Attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity

This disorder is characterized by the following behavioral features:

• listened to the task, but could not repeat it, immediately forgetting the meaning of what was said;
• cannot concentrate and complete an assignment, although he understands what his task is;
• does not listen to the interlocutor;
• does not respond to comments.

Hyperactivity without attention deficit disorder

This disorder is characterized by the following symptoms: fussiness, verbosity, increased motor activity, and the desire to be in the center of events. Also characterized by frivolity of behavior, a tendency to take risks and adventures, which often creates life-threatening situations.

Hyperactivity with attention deficit disorder

It is referred to in the medical literature as ADHD. We can talk about such a syndrome if the child has the following behavioral characteristics:

• cannot concentrate on completing a specific task;
• abandons the work he started without finishing it;
• selective attention, unstable;
• negligence, inattention in everything;
• does not pay attention to addressed speech, ignores offers of help in completing a task if it causes him difficulties.

Impaired attention and hyperactivity at any age make it difficult to organize your work, complete a task accurately and correctly, without being distracted by external interference. In everyday life, hyperactivity and attention deficit lead to forgetfulness and frequent loss of belongings.

Attention disorder with hyperactivity is fraught with difficulties when following even the simplest instructions. Such children are often in a hurry and commit rash acts that can harm themselves or others.

Possible consequences

At any age, this behavioral disorder interferes with social contacts. Due to hyperactivity, preschool children attending kindergarten have difficulty participating in group games with peers and communicating with them and teachers. Therefore, visiting kindergarten becomes a daily psychological trauma, which can adversely affect the further development of the individual.

Schoolchildren's academic performance suffers; going to school only brings negative emotions. The desire to study, to learn new things disappears, teachers and classmates are annoying, contact with them has only a negative connotation. The child withdraws into himself or becomes aggressive.

A child's impulsive behavior sometimes poses a threat to his health. This is especially true for children who break toys, have conflicts, and fight with other children and adults.

If you do not seek help from a specialist, a person may develop a psychopathic personality type with age. Hyperactivity in adults usually begins in childhood. One in five children with this disorder continue to have symptoms into adulthood.

The following features of hyperactivity are often observed:

• tendency to aggression towards others (including parents);
• suicidal tendencies;
• inability to participate in dialogue and make a constructive joint decision;
• lack of skills in planning and organizing one’s own work;
• forgetfulness, frequent loss of necessary things;
• refusal to solve problems that require mental effort;
• fussiness, verbosity, irritability;
• fatigue, tearfulness.

Diagnostics

The child's attention deficit and hyperactivity become noticeable to parents from an early age, but the diagnosis is made by a neurologist or psychologist. Usually, hyperactivity in a 3-year-old child, if it occurs, is no longer in doubt.

Diagnosing hyperactivity is a multi-step process. Anamnesis data is collected and analyzed (the course of pregnancy, childbirth, the dynamics of physical and psychomotor development, illnesses suffered by the child). The specialist is interested in the opinion of the parents themselves about the child’s development, assessment of his behavior at 2 years old, at 5 years old.

The doctor needs to find out how the adaptation to kindergarten went. During the reception, parents should not pull the child back or make comments to him. It is important for the doctor to see his natural behavior. If the child has reached the age of 5, a child psychologist will conduct tests to determine attentiveness.

The final diagnosis is made by a neurologist and child psychologist after receiving the results of electroencephalography and MRI of the brain. These examinations are necessary to exclude neurological diseases, which may result in impaired attention and hyperactivity.

Laboratory methods are also important:

• determining the presence of lead in the blood to exclude intoxication;
• biochemical blood test for thyroid hormones;
• Complete blood count to rule out anemia.

Special methods can be used: consultations with an ophthalmologist and audiologist, psychological testing.

Treatment

If a diagnosis of hyperactivity is made, complex therapy is necessary. It includes medical and pedagogical activities.

Educational work

Specialists in child neurology and psychology will explain to parents how to deal with their child’s hyperactivity. Kindergarten teachers and school teachers also need to have relevant knowledge. They must teach parents how to behave correctly with their children and help them overcome difficulties in communicating with them. Specialists will help the student master relaxation and self-control techniques.

Changes in terms and conditions

You need to praise and encourage your child for any successes and good deeds. Emphasize positive character traits and support any positive endeavors. You can keep a diary with your child to record all his achievements. In a calm and friendly tone, talk about the rules of behavior and communication with others.

From the age of 2, the baby must get used to the daily routine, sleep, eat and play at certain times.

From the age of 5, it is advisable for him to have his own living space: a separate room or a corner fenced off from the common area. There should be a calm environment in the house; quarrels between parents and scandals are unacceptable. It is advisable to transfer the student to a class with fewer students.

To reduce hyperactivity at 2-3 years old, children need a sports corner (wall bars, children's parallel bars, rings, rope). Exercise and games will help relieve stress and expend energy.

What parents should not do:

• constantly pull back and scold, especially in front of strangers;
• humiliate the child with mocking or rude remarks;
• constantly speak strictly to the child, give instructions in a commanding tone;
• prohibit something without explaining to the child the reason for your decision;
• give too difficult tasks;
• demand exemplary behavior and only excellent grades at school;
• carry out household chores that were assigned to the child if he did not complete them;
• accustom to the idea that the main task is not to change behavior, but to receive a reward for obedience;
• use methods of physical coercion in case of disobedience. Read more about the impact of physical punishment on children →

Drug therapy

Drug treatment of hyperactivity syndrome in children plays only a supporting role. It is prescribed when there is no effect from behavioral therapy and special training.

The drug Atomoxetine is used to eliminate the symptoms of ADHD, but its use is only possible as prescribed by a doctor; there are undesirable effects. Results appear after about 4 months of regular use.

If the baby is diagnosed with this, he may also be prescribed psychostimulants. They are used in the morning. In severe cases, tricyclic antidepressants are used under medical supervision.

Games with hyperactive children

Even with board and quiet games, the hyperactivity of a 5-year-old child is noticeable. He constantly attracts the attention of adults with erratic and aimless body movements. Parents need to spend more time with their baby and communicate with him. Cooperative games are very useful.

It is effective to alternate calm board games - lotto, putting together puzzles, checkers, with outdoor games - badminton, football. Summer provides many opportunities to help a child with hyperactivity.

During this period, you should strive to provide your child with country holidays, long hikes, and teach swimming. During walks, talk more with your child, tell him about plants, birds, and natural phenomena.

Nutrition

Parents need to make adjustments to their diet. The diagnosis made by specialists implies the need to adhere to meal times. The diet should be balanced, the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates should correspond to the age norm.

It is advisable to exclude fried, spicy and smoked foods, and carbonated drinks. Eat less sweets, especially chocolate, increase the amount of vegetables and fruits you consume.

Hyperactivity at school age

Increased hyperactivity in school-age children forces parents to seek medical help. After all, school makes completely different demands on a growing person than preschool institutions. He must remember a lot, gain new knowledge, and solve complex problems. The child is required to be attentive, persevering, and able to concentrate.

Study problems

Attention deficit and hyperactivity are noticed by teachers. The child is distracted during the lesson, physically active, does not respond to comments, and interferes with the lesson. The hyperactivity of younger schoolchildren at 6-7 years old leads to the fact that children do not learn the material well and do their homework carelessly. Therefore, they constantly receive criticism for poor performance and bad behavior.

Teaching children with hyperactivity often becomes a serious problem. A real struggle begins between such a child and the teacher, since the student does not want to comply with the teacher’s demands, and the teacher fights for discipline in the class.

Problems with classmates

It is difficult to adapt to a group of children; it is difficult to find a common language with peers. The student begins to withdraw into himself and becomes secretive. In group games or discussions, he stubbornly defends his point of view, without listening to the opinions of others. At the same time, he often behaves rudely and aggressively, especially if people do not agree with his opinion.

Correction of hyperactivity is necessary for the child’s successful adaptation to the children’s group, good learning ability and further socialization. It is important to examine the baby at an early age and provide timely professional treatment. But in any case, parents must realize that most of all the child needs understanding and support.

Useful video about raising hyperactive children

Partner news

Symptoms of hyperactivity in a child

Already from the age of 3 years, the child demonstrates miracles of activity - opening and closing cabinets, running around the house, scattering things and grabbing everything that aroused interest. This is because the possibilities of mastering the world around us have expanded with the development of walking. But should every such activity cause concern for parents?

At the end of the article, we have prepared for you a checklist “Logic and thinking games for children under 5 years old.” Download it and find out the most interesting intellectual games for children from 2 to 5 years old!

Experts believe that hyperactivity in a 3-year-old child can be suspected when:

• delayed speech development;
• increased stubbornness, uncontrollability, lack of response to prohibitions;
• chaotic movements, “motor clumsiness”;
• excessive motor activity (sitting on a chair, the child spins, jumps up, constantly moves his arms and legs);
• inattention, lack of perseverance, forgetfulness;
• frequent transition from one unfinished task to another;
• hot temper, hysteria, instability, tendency to conflicts with peers;
• headaches, appearance of phobias (fears);
• bad dream.

If a child has more than 6 of these signs, it is worth contacting a psychotherapist or pediatric neurologist for professional diagnosis.

Hyperactivity in children 5 years old can be caused not only by mental disorders. The following factors should also suggest that there is a problem:

1. Unfavorable course of pregnancy (stress, smoking, hypoxia, poor maternal nutrition)
2. Unfavorable labor (rapid or, on the contrary, prolonged, labor after stimulation, prematurity - up to 38 weeks)
3. The presence of neurological diseases in a child, conflicts in the family, excessive severity towards the child, poor nutrition, lead poisoning.

Hyperactive child. What to do?

Treatment of hyperactivity in children 3, 4, 5 and 6 years old is carried out with medicinal and non-medicinal means. In any case, at this age, when a diagnosis is made, therapy is prescribed only by a doctor.

The main methods for correcting hyperactivity in a child 5 years old and younger are:

• sessions with a psychologist and speech therapist. Specialists will help reduce anxiety, develop speech, memory, attention, and also choose activities in which the child will feel confident.
• ban on participation in competitive games. A hyperactive child of 3, 4, 5 or 6 years old may be recommended swimming, cycling and other static exercises;
• relaxation sessions in order to normalize the functioning of the central nervous system;
• behavioral correction. Within reason, prohibitions and refusals are minimized. Such kids have a high threshold for negative emotions, so it is better to create positive emotions for them and do not forget to praise them for their successes;
• family psychotherapy. Establishing a calm atmosphere in the family;
• drug therapy. This method is most often used in particularly advanced cases when other methods do not help or help little.

What should parents of a hyperactive child aged 3, 4, 5 and 6 do?

If the methods listed above need to be entrusted to specialists, then parents can use the following methods on their own to help a child aged 3-6 years cope with the problem.

• Use a positive parenting model. Praise your child more often, encourage even the smallest successes. Bans are permissible only in cases where the safety of the child is at stake. Find an area of ​​activity in which your child can successfully demonstrate his abilities and feel important.
• Create a daily routine for your baby. It is necessary to write down instructions in it - wash the dishes, make the bed, take out the trash, help mom with cleaning, etc. The mode should also indicate a clear time for watching cartoons and games. Don't let your child get overstimulated. The baby should also go to bed at the same time. Moreover, the main thing is to follow all these rules, otherwise they will simply be devalued. Let the baby learn order and measured actions; this is especially important at primary school age.
• Make requests to your child calmly, without orders or shouting. Learn to control yourself even when your nerves are at their limit, because you are a role model. Also teach your child to think about the consequences of his actions. Let him learn the rules of behavior and begin to follow them.
• Spend more time with your baby. After all, defiant behavior is often associated precisely with the desire to attract the attention of parents who are too busy with work or housework.

If a child’s hyperactivity appeared at the age of 3 years, then by the age of 5 and 6 years it can be quite successfully dealt with with the support of parents and timely therapy.

Do you need a baby monitor or is a radio sufficient? We invite you to check out the TEST.TV video review: everything for children.

Every mother needs to know the signs of hyperactivity in children under 3 years of age. Contrary to popular belief, hyperactivity is not just the inability to sit still, inattention, excessive noise and mobility of the baby. This is a diagnosis that should be made to you by the treating neurologist who knows your child and has been observing him for some time.

The brain generates nerve impulses too quickly. These processes prevent the little person from concentrating on something, switching from active games to quiet rest, and falling asleep. Hyperactivity may begin in a child not at the “difficult” three years, but much earlier. Some symptoms can be recognized as early as infancy. And the sooner you do this, the better it will be for you and your child.

Here are some distinctive characteristics of children suffering from hyperactivity:

• The child develops physically faster than his peers. Such babies sit down early, stand up, begin to walk and crawl. They often fall off the sofas and drive their parents crazy, while their peers are still lying peacefully in their cradles. In itself, this sign does not mean anything; if there is real hyperactivity, it will manifest itself in some other way.
• These children cannot simply fall asleep or rest if they are very tired. Instead of sitting down, the hyperactive baby will begin to “cut” circles around the apartment screaming at breakneck speed, and then... Putting a child with this diagnosis to sleep is difficult even in infancy; often the mother has to rock and carry her child in her arms for a long time before sleep finally comes.
• From the very beginning of life, hyperactive children sleep less than others. Newborns spend most of the day sleeping, but not those who are hyperactive. These babies can stay awake for 5 hours, cry for a long time, but not fall asleep.

• Another manifestation of ADHD is light sleep. The child wakes up from every rustle, shudders from any minor noise. It is very difficult to put him back to sleep; you have to rock him to sleep for a long time and carry him in your arms
• A change of scenery, guests, new faces - all this is a real test for a hyperactive child. It is difficult for him to withstand such an active lifestyle of his mother, he can fall into hysterics from a large number of impressions, it takes a long time to recover and come to his senses after a day full of emotions. From stormy delight he turns into a long cry, then falls asleep, exhausted from tears. The more people in the room, the more tired the child becomes.
• A symptom of ADHD, that is, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a strong attachment to mom. The baby is afraid of other adults, does not make contact, and hides behind his mother. Such children are jealous of their mother towards strangers and turn every conflict into hysterics.
• A girl or boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder cannot do one thing for a long time. Any toy quickly gets boring, the baby either picks up one thing and throws it away, then picks up another and also throws it away.
• Frequent mood swings are an important symptom of ADHD. One moment the child was laughing, and now he is screaming and destroying everything out of anger. If this happens often, it is worth taking him to a neurologist for examination.
• Not only impulsivity and irritability signal problems of the nervous system. If a child often floats off somewhere in his dreams, gets lost in thought and doesn’t hear anyone talking to him and doesn’t pay attention to what’s happening around him, this is also a reason to ask a neurologist a question.
• ADHD is often accompanied by a child's depressed mood and fears. You may notice that your baby has become withdrawn and looks sad and tired. He seemed to have lost interest in games and hobbies. Fears can make a child overly touchy and anxious.
• Hyperactive children often jerk their arms and legs, fidget in their chair when they should sit quietly. While standing in line to play, they may jump up and down with anticipation. If you play a quiz with such a kid, there is a chance that he will shout out the answer even before you say the full question.
• Losing things, mistakes due to inattention, switching to things that are not relevant are the eternal companions of patients diagnosed with ADHD.

All these signs do not mean that your child necessarily has a diagnosis of hyperactivity. It should be diagnosed by a neurologist. Similar behavior occurs in healthy children and is a consequence of their healthy temperament. In order not to cause premature panic and not to heal a healthy child, you need to approach the issue of diagnosis very responsibly and not judge by a few symptoms “by eye”.

A healthy child can also run, jump and stand on his head, but he will not fall into hysterics, but will come to sit quietly and watch cartoons. Another difference is that a healthy child can be easily distracted from hysterics with a toy, a song, or a bird outside the window. Good long sleep and falling asleep quickly are also a sign of a healthy nervous system.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not really a disease. With the correct approach and behavior of adults, the child will “outgrow” this condition, and in the future this brain feature will not cause him problems.

The reasons for a child's hyperactivity may be hidden during the mother's pregnancy. If she suffered from toxicosis and high blood pressure throughout her pregnancy, and the child suffered from intrauterine hypoxia, then the risk is 3 times higher than usual that the child will be born with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Stress, hard work or smoking during pregnancy can also affect the health of the nervous system of the unborn baby. In addition to perinatal factors, the course of labor may also affect the brain. At risk are births by cesarean section, prolonged labor with fetal hypoxia, a long anhydrous period and the use of forceps, and also, conversely, very rapid labor.

The doctor asks the mother about her family history, whether there were people in the family with this diagnosis, and asks her to characterize the baby. It is important to tell the neurologist about anything that causes suspicion, be it poor sleep or severe excitability. There are certain diagnostic criteria approved by the American Psychiatric Organization, and it is with them that the neurologist will correlate the parents’ stories.

In addition to conversation, there are hardware diagnostic methods, such as an electroencephalographic study or a study using magnetic resonance imaging. These are completely painless methods that can give a complete picture of the state of the child’s nervous system.

How to raise a child with hyperactivity

If you are the mother of a hyperactive child, try not to overload his psyche with unnecessary vivid impressions and noise. Carefully consider visits and family holidays, visits to parks and cultural events. You should not turn on the TV in the background or watch cartoons for a long time. After watching cartoons, children often get very tired without realizing it.

Some tips for dealing with hyperactive children:

• Clearly formulate your requests and requirements. Do not speak in long sentences and flowery language, and do not load the request to remove the toys with additional morality and meaning. A child with hyperactivity has poorly developed logical and abstract thinking, and it will be difficult for him to understand you.
• Formulate prohibitions correctly. Try to limit the use of negatives and the word “no”; instead of “don’t run around the club” say “run along the sidewalk”. Any prohibition must have a reason; explain it clearly and briefly to your child. Offer an alternative. For example, you can’t hit a cat, but you can pet it. You cannot pour water from a mug onto the floor, but you can pour it into the bathtub.
• Don't forget about consistency. There is no need to give your child several tasks at once. “Put away the toys, wash your hands and go eat,” he most likely will not understand. At some stage he will get distracted, forget what was required of him, and start playing. Voice each request separately, first about toys, when the toys are put away, it’s time to wash your hands, and only then invite them to the table.
• Help you navigate through time. Instead of dragging your child home from a walk right away, warn him in advance that it will be time to go home soon - 20 minutes before the required time, for example. Remind again after 10 minutes, and again after five. By the time of training camp, the child will already be mentally prepared for the fact that he needs to switch from the game. The same applies to “it’s time to go to bed” and “it’s time to turn off the cartoons.”
• Provide choice. Invite your child to choose from two toys, items of clothing, or two or three dishes. This arrangement of the usual “get dressed” and “go eat” gives the child the feeling that he himself can make some decisions, which means that his mother trusts him.

If you clearly see that the child is overexcited and cannot cope with emotions, take him to a quiet place, for example, to another room, and offer him water. Hugs and pats on the head will help. The child should feel that the mother is calm and that she loves him. Before going to bed, following rituals, a bath with an extract of hop cones or pine needles, and reading a book helps a lot. You can give a light massage, sing a quiet song. It is not recommended to watch cartoons before bed, maximum one short cartoon lasting 10-15 minutes.

Rules for parents

Keep a clear daily routine. This is essential for a child with ADHD. , sleep and bathing - everything should happen at the same time. This will help your beloved child tune in in advance and give him a feeling of calm and solid ground under his feet. In your diet, you should limit the consumption of food additives and dyes, the consumption of chocolate and large amounts of sugar and salt.

In the baby's room there should not be many bright distracting pictures, a large number of scattered toys lying on the floor and scattering his attention. For a very young child, give toys one or two at a time, remove them as soon as he loses interest. A 2-year-old can already take part in cleaning himself.

Every time the child managed to control himself, overcame hysteria and was able to calm down in time, praise and encourage him. Positive reinforcement will help him regulate his behavior. Your relationship should be trusting. Believe me, it’s already hard for him, there’s no need to aggravate the matter with swearing and quarrels.

Permissiveness creates intuitive fear in children and leads to neuroses. Clearly define for yourself what exactly is not allowed and why, do not deviate from the accepted framework. It is important here not to overdo it with prohibitions. You can mark your child’s successes with stars, and when they accumulate 5 or 10, reward the baby with a cute present.

Remember, the baby does not behave this way to spite you; it is difficult for him to cope with himself. He attracts attention to himself by asking for your help. Be your child’s ally in conflicts on the playground, do not listen to relatives who say that you don’t need to pick up the child and calm him down, and to advisers with the eternal “let him yell.” In difficult times, a little person needs a loving and calm mother nearby, her support and understanding.

Drug therapy for ADHD

A child with ADHD may benefit from taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement and enriching their diet with omega-3 fatty acids. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are especially important; they are often deficient in the blood of those suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The combination of magnesium and vitamin B6 is very beneficial for the functioning of the nervous system. Patients experience a decrease in aggressiveness and improvement in attention after. In some cases, your doctor may prescribe mild sedatives such as valerian and motherwort.

Russian doctors often prescribe nootropic drugs (piracetam, glycine, phenibut, pantogam) to improve metabolic processes in the brain and increase cortical tone in patients with ADHD. Clinically, their effectiveness has not been proven, but neurologists often note in practice an improvement in the condition of children with hyperactivity and a decrease in the severity of symptoms of attention deficit disorder.

Diet for treating hyperactivity

Many parents note an improvement in their children's condition when following a gluten-free diet. Others benefit from a diet that eliminates sucrose and starch. For patients with hyperactivity, everything that is good for brain tissue is useful: large amounts of protein from meat, nuts and legumes, carbohydrates from vegetables and fruits, fatty fish, olive oil. Eliminate sweets and snacks with preservatives, flavor enhancers, and dyes from your child’s diet.

Experts advise mothers and fathers to find those foods to which the baby may have an individual intolerance. To do this, rotate foods and keep a food diary. Eliminate one product at a time from your child’s diet and monitor his condition.

If your child goes to kindergarten, talk to the teacher and tell them about the problem. Hyperactive children need special approach and attention. Teachers working with a child must know his diagnosis and characteristics. The same goes for relatives and family friends who often visit your home. Hyperactivity is a diagnosis that your baby will definitely outgrow if you find out about it in time and provide your child with the right care and assistance. There is nothing terrible about it, mostly adults who suffered from ADHD in childhood forget about their condition and live the same way as all healthy men and women. There is a chance that within a year or two of proper treatment you will get rid of any manifestations of hyperactivity.