When you notice that your child seems to frequently be inattentive, you'll often feel concerned that something might be wrong. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a condition that affects many children to varying degrees, and one common trait that ADHD sufferers experience is a high degree of inattention. If you believe that your child has ADHD because of his or her inattention, and especially if you're noticing other ADHD symptoms, it's a good idea to seek out a medical professional for an ADHD evaluation.
Evaluation is the first step toward getting your child the treatment that he or she needs. You should also give some thought to whether any other issues may likely be to blame for your child's inattention. Here are some things that could be affecting him or her.
Stress In The Home
A child may struggle with inattention because he or she is constantly dealing with stress in the home. For example, if you and your spouse frequently fight with one another, your child may have trouble focusing because he or she is thinking about these events and feeling upset. In a similar way, if a parent has a problem with drugs or alcohol, this can add a lot of chaos to the household and affect your children in different ways. Your child may have trouble staying on a particular task for more than a few minutes, but it could be because of stress.
School Workload
As children age, they'll get busier at school — and you may begin to see signs of inattention come out that you associate with ADHD. For example, the student could start to work on a history project and then, just a few minutes later is working on some math problems. You might be baffled by this apparent high degree of inattention, but it could simply be because your child feels overwhelmed at school. For example, he or she might have begun to work on a history assignment and then felt panicked about needing to also devote time to his or her math problems.
Too Much Stimulation
Children can struggle with inattention because of too much stimulation around them. Consider the environment in which your child does his or her homework. If there's a large TV on the wall, a computer playing video clips, a radio on, and a smartphone loaded with enticing applications sitting nearby, the child's inattention will be easy to understand.
Every few minutes, one of these electronic devices will draw the child's attention. If you can identify a potential reason for the child's inattention, you should seek to change it. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't continue to wonder whether ADHD might be a factor, though. A proper evaluation will provide the clarity that you and your child need.
For more information and assistance, contact a professional like Michele Campione, M.D.