Orchid Vale Primary School

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a group of behavioural symptoms that include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. According to age and setting, the behaviours associated with ADHD are often described as ‘disruptive’ but it is important to remember the positives too. Not all children have all the symptoms.

Hyperactive-impulsive-inattentive children (combination type) make up the majority of ADHD cases. Other symptoms include lack of co-ordination, organisation and social skills, learning difficulties, autism, conduct disorder, anxiety, depression and neurological problems such as tics, Tourette Syndrome and epilepsy. Positive strengths can be a combination of positive attributes for ADHD.

Inattentive children can appear overly forgetful, distracted, disorganised, unable to listen or concentrate, slow to start tasks or finish them. Positive strengths mean that children are often creative, intelligent, determined and good at problem-solving.