10 Traits of Kids with ADHD

Tips For Parents With ADHD Children

Most people associate children and teens with ADHD with hyperactivity, or the inability to sit still. However, there are many traits in kids with ADHD that you probably wouldn’t recognize and might surprise you. Symptoms manifest differently in different children, depending on severity, age, treatments and more. Once you learn the most common traits associated with ADHD, you’ll be able to better understand the condition and generate more understanding for the children and teens with ADHD.

Here are 10 typical traits of kids with ADHD and potential signs your teen has ADHD

Trait #1. Poor time management skills

Children and teens with ADHD have a difficult time with gauging how long a task will take or how to divide up tasks so they can get done. Their brains function differently from other people and it’s harder for them to mentally organize their time. Often, checklists and reminders work well to help children and teens with ADHD to build time management skills that stick.

Trait #2. Disorganized

The same hindrances in time management also affect a child or teen with ADHD’s ability to organize physically, from books and toys to work files and accounts.

Trait #2. Difficulty establishing learning habits

Because ADHD affects neurotransmitters, it makes it more difficult for those with ADHD to imprint the things they need to learn. It may take a child with ADHD up to 20 times longer to learn something that a more typical student

Trait #3. Impulsive communication

Children and teens with ADHD are often creative and impulsive, which makes it harder for them to engage in steady one-on-one communication. They may be so vocal that they shut others out, or constantly interrupt when another is talking.

Trait #4. Inattention

Inattention is when a child or teen has difficulty paying attention to details in school or during work. It includes careless mistakes, inability to keep focused on the task, procrastination and forgetfulness. At the school level, it often means missed assignments and low test grades due to mistakes.

Trait #5. Impatience

Those with ADHD struggle with waiting, such as waiting in line, waiting for a turn or waiting for someone to return, like a parent or teacher. Impatience can often transition into the child or teen’s inability to sit still and they feel like they need to do something else to occupy the time.

Trait #6. Impulsiveness

Impulsive behavior is closely tied to impatience and often includes blurting out answers, interrupting speakers, inability to share (like a toy or the swing) and telling others the punch line of a joke or the end of a story before it is revealed.

Trait #7. Easily Distracted

Even if a child or teen with ADHD is wholly focused on a task, it doesn’t take much for them to move on to something else. When they are distracted, it makes it that much more difficult for them to return to the first task and finish it.

Trait #8. Frustration

Because so much of ADHD includes a struggle to fit into social situations and failing, children and teens often face rejection, and therefore frustration. Frustrated children and teens can be rude and sarcastic, and might include tantrums in younger children and moodiness in teens.

Trait #9. Hyperactivity

This is the main trait that people associate with ADHD, but it may not look like what people envision. Hyperactivity in children and teens doesn’t mean tantrums and running around all the time. Generally, it means having difficulty playing quietly, talking too much, fidgeting, frequently leaving the desk or table, and overall restlessness.

Trait #10. Secondary conditions

Children and teens with ADHD are more likely to experience anxiety and depression, which are secondary conditions that need professional intervention in order to make sure they don’t add to the challenges the child or teen faces.

Request Free Admissions Information

Step 1 of 3 - Your Contact Info

Written by Natalie

26 Feb, 2014

Recent Posts

A Therapeutic Boarding School Is The Way To Go, Not A Boot Camp

A Therapeutic Boarding School Is The Way To Go, Not A Boot Camp

There are many troubled teen programs to consider when parents are looking for help for their struggling son or daughter. Often, the decision for many parents come down between a therapeutic boarding school or a boot camp. So, if you are caught between these choices,...

Suicide in the Media and Tragic Effects on Teenagers

Suicide in the Media and Tragic Effects on Teenagers

13 Reasons Why In 2017 Netflix aired a TV show called 13 Reasons Why (written as TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY), about a 17-year-old girl who recorded a series of tapes in which she explains why she committed suicide. The show focuses on problems typically faced by today’s...

The Pivotal Role Fathers Play in a Teen’s Life

The Pivotal Role Fathers Play in a Teen’s Life

Teens may not want to admit this, Dad, but they need you. Anyone who takes the role of a father – not just a birth father, but also an adoptive father, step-father, or father-figure - plays a pivotal role in a teen’s life. On Father’s Day, this June 16th, let’s take a...

Dance as a Tool to Help Struggling Teens

Dance as a Tool to Help Struggling Teens

Sometimes we forget how hard it is to be a young teenager. The push and pull in their world to fit in can be crippling. The sad truth is, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death of 12-year olds around the world. Think about that for a moment. Just as a child is...

International Day of Families: A Day Just To Focus On Being A Family

International Day of Families: A Day Just To Focus On Being A Family

The United Nations General Assembly established May 15th as the International Day of Families in 1993. The purpose was to celebrate the role of families in society and develop awareness of issues that affect families all around the world. The UN considers the family...

You May Also Like…

No Results Found

The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *