ADDvance Support Group: Diagnostic Criteria for ADHD

1. Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity persisting at least 6 months and inconsistent with the developmental level of the child:

Inattentive

· Often fails to give close attention to details, makes careless mistakes

· Often has trouble sustaining attention in tasks/activities

· Often does not seem to listen

· Often does not follow through on instructions

· Often has trouble organising tasks

· Often avoids/dislikes tasks requiring sustained mental effort

· Often loses important things

· Often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli

· Often forgetful in routine activities

Hyperactive-impulsive

· Often squirms and fidgets

· Often can’t stay seated

· Often runs/climbs excessively

· Often has difficulty remaining quiet during play or leisure activities

· Often blurts out answers before questions are finished

· Often “on the go,” acts as if “driven by a motor”

· Often talks excessively

· Often has difficulty awaiting turn in play/activity

· Often interrupts/intrudes on others

2. Onset of symptoms that cause impairment present before age 7.

3. Presence of symptoms in two or more settings (e.g. home, school, work).

4. Evidence for significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.

5. Symptoms that do not occur exclusively during a course of pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder and re not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g. mood, anxiety, dissociative, or personality disorder).

SUBTYPES OF THE DISORDER
Most children exhibit one or more of the subtypes:

Combined Type: multiple symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity
Predominantly Inattentive Type: multiple symptoms of inattention with few, if any, of hyperactivity-impulsivity
Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type: multiple symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity with few, if any, of inattention

RISK FACTORS

Heredity - at least one first-degree relative who also has ADHD and one-third of all fathers who had ADHD in their youth have children with ADHD
Gender - ADHD is more common in boys than in girls (3:1)
Prenatal and early postnatal health - maternal drug, alcohol, and cigarette use; exposure of the foetus to toxins, including lead and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, prenatal trauma
Learning disabilities, communication disorders, and tic disorders such as Tourette's syndrome
Possible Nutritional factors allergies or intolerances to food, food colouring, or additives, diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates.