Does your child have ADHD? How to learn the signs and the best ways to treat it
- The condition is a common developmental behavioural disorder affecting between 5 per cent and 11 per cent of school-age children
- Symptoms include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity
Kathy Nichols is well informed about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, better known as ADHD. She had to be. She raised four children with the condition.
Born in the US, Nichols arrived in Hong Kong in 1990 with her husband and children aged 15, 12, seven and two. All four were diagnosed in the US.
“My seven year old was overactive – he moved all the time,” says Nichols over coffee at a Central cafe. “When he was at nursery school [in the US] he was not able to sit still. The teachers assured me it was normal. ‘Don’t worry, little boys are often a little antsy.’ Of course he didn’t settle.”
Nichols said it was 1988, a time when ADHD diagnosis was in its infancy and when the effects of Ritalin – a stimulant used to treat ADHD – were only just surfacing. Ritalin affects parts of the brain and central nervous system and has been a highly effective treatment for ADHD.
“I was anxious about giving medication to my children,” Nichols says. She soon changed her mind. “[My son’s] life changed the day he started with the medication. He came through the back door and he had the biggest smile on his face and said, ‘I didn’t get in trouble today and I learned so much.’ Of course I welled up.”
