The Significance of ADD/ADHD

teendoc — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:30:22 +0000

Have you ever tried to learn something like rollerblading, skateboarding or maybe chess, and discovered you were awful. Not just sort of bad, but awful. You probably walked away and never looked back. Good riddance! After all, who wants to do something every day that reminds them how much they suck!
This is what happens to teens that were never diagnosed or treated for Attention Deficit Disorder or ADD. School becomes an awful place. They are made to feel small and even stupid by the constant criticism by teachers, counselors and even parents and family. “I know if you just put your mind to it, you would get your grades up,” “Why can’t you get your school work together?”
Your teen knew something was different about them. They knew something was off in grade one, two or three, but there isn’t always an easy way to tell someone that, and they could be wrong. What if they only needed to study harder, do extra work, or get glasses? What if they are stupid? Once this question creeps in, it is hard to convince your teen otherwise. But if you have a teen that is skipping school, avoiding homework, or creating situations that would get them expelled from school, you have a teen that already believes their difficulty in school has to do with their ability.
The diagnosis of ADD, which is associated with learning problems, is a miracle for these teens. ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder describes teens who have a host of issues related to learning that make it difficult to succeed in school. Since teens rarely have a problem with hyperactivity, the diagnosis of ADD, with the focus on attention predominates. The complete list of diagnostic criteria are here. These teens finally realize that they have a chemical problem in their brain that prevented them from taking the information in clearly and what’s more retain it. They didn’t know they could do well in school. This improves their self-esteem one hundred fold. Things start to come together for them. They actually consider college.
If your teen is struggling with school, consider that something might be going on outside of their control:

Ask the school to do a learning evaluation to discern any learning problems.
You can have your doctor or mental health worker complete a scale to determine a diagnosis of ADD
You can schedule a physical to determine any medical causes for the learning problems. There actually are medical problems or syndromes that have learning problems as part of the diagnostic criteria.

If you have been trying to motivate your teen to do better in school for more than a semester, you might want to solicit the help of your pediatrician, mental health worker and the school and determine if there is something else causing your teen’s lack of enthusiasm about school. The boost in your teen’s self-esteem is worth it.

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The Significance of ADD/ADHD