Bad Kid or ADHD?

The child can't be still, his grades are decreasing, and he won't listen in class. While some family members, friends, and teachers might consider him a menace, modern science may diagnose him with having ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder).

According to Psych Central, 3 percent to 5 percent of U.S. children (approximately 2.5 million) have ADHD. The number of African American children with ADHD is guesstimated to be the same amount in white children, but with the lack of healthcare, skepticism of Ritalin and other medicine, lack of diagnosis and scientific research for Black children with ADHD, and the belief that a "good whooping" will solve everything, some African American children with ADHD are suffering while others have improved conduct after being treated.

Gwendolyn Young, 49 and grandmother of two boys with ADHD, said, "My grandsons are a lot calmer when they're on medication, especially one who is not as mean-spirited and less antsy. You can talk to him, and he doesn't get flustered as easily. But both of them are really quiet and kinda despondent when they first take the medicine. But if I had to choose between them being quiet or being evil, I'll choose quiet. Trying to deal with a child with ADHD is...when they're in rare form, it's a challenge."

The challenge of ADHD, formerly known as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) until 1994, involves hyperactivity-impulsivity type, inattention type and combined type. Hyperactivity type involves fidgeting and squirming, leaving one's seat, running or climbing. Inattention type is having a short attention span, unable to listen well or comprehend small details, being forgetful, or poor organizational skills and study skills for the child's age group. Impulsivity type is interrupting others when they're talking, blurts out answers before they're called or acts sporadically.