The 3 types of ADHD

A student of yours been diagnosed with ADHD and does not match the vision you had of the student? You,ve been told you that it is ADHD with a predominance of attention deficit and you had no idea that there was more than one type of ADHD? Calm down, it's totally normal.

Although we find more and more cases of this pathology among our students, there is still some lack of knowledge among teachers. As teachers, we tend to more easily identify ADHD with a predominance of impulsivity-hyperactivity, because they are students who interrupt our class and talk excessively. However, it costs us a little more to identify ADHD cases with a predominance of attention deficit disorder (ADHD / I), which are students who have difficulty paying sufficient attention to the details or simply do not seem to listen. Therefore, there are times when a student with ADHD is diagnosed with ADHD because he is a "quiet" student and we identify ADHD with "nervous" students who would be ADHD / H-I students. That is why it is vital to know the symptoms that the students manifest with the different types of ADHD. The essential characteristic common to all diagnoses is a persistent pattern of inattention and / or hyperactivity-impulsivity, more frequent and severe than that observed in subjects of a similar level of development. But not all cases of ADHD are the same and most experts agree on distinguishing three types:

Type with predominance of attention deficit. (ADHD / I)

Type with predominance of impulsivity-hyperactivity. (ADHD / H-I)

Combined type, where predominance of both inattention and impulsivity-hyperactivity symptoms.

A) Attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder, with predominance of attention deficit (ADHD / I) The central deficit seems to be the slowness in the processing of the information, by a state of alert and inconsistent vigilance, in particular when the information is Presented by auditory pathway. Regarding social behavior, children with ADHD-I are more passive, have limited social knowledge, but do not show problems of emotional control. The symptoms manifested by these students are:

• They do not maintain the same degree of commitment in the tasks that other children do.
• They have difficulty paying close attention to detail.
• They seem not to listen.
• They have difficulty organizing tasks and often do not finish them.
• They avoid sustained mental effort.
• They lose objects.
• They are distracted by irrelevant stimuli.
• They are forgetful.

 B) Attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder with predominantly hyperactive / impulsive (ADHD / H-I) is more common in preschool children, possibly being the evolutionary precursor of the combined subtype. The main symptoms in this type of student are impulsiveness and hyperactivity:

 Impulsiveness:

• They respond in a hurried way to the questions.
• They have difficulty keeping their turn.
• They interrupt others.

Hyperactivity:

• They talk too much.
• They constantly move hands and feet.
• They leave the seat in the class.
• They run or jump in inappropriate situations.
• They have difficulty playing quietly.
• They act as if they are driven by an engine.

C) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, combined type (ADHD / C) In these students, the central problems occur in inhibitory control, which, in turn, negatively affect the management of attentional resources. It is the subtype that presents greater severity, being affected both behavior and learning; There are problems of performance accompanied by repetition of course or in need of daily help to do their homework.