Attention deficit means it s hard for you to concentrate. Hyperactivity means you are more active than other kids/ young people your age.

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1 ADHD ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Attention deficit means it s hard for you to concentrate. Hyperactivity means you are more active than other kids/ young people your age. Hyperactive children and young people may fidget a lot, find it hard to sit still and get up from their chair when they re meant to be sitting down. Children and young people with ADHD are often easily distracted. This means that any little thing going on outside or somewhere else in the room seems much more important than the task you re meant to be doing. Sometimes noises can sound really loud. People without ADHD can block things out and focus, but people with ADHD find this really hard. Having ADHD can make people impulsive. This means that they think of something then do it straight away without thinking too much about the consequences (what might happen). This can get you into a lot of trouble with teachers, parents and other kids. ADHD can often give children and young people problems with Relationships with friends- o Sometimes being impulsive makes you fight/ fall out with friends more easily. o Other kids may get a bit fed up if you re very hyperactive as you can be a bit in their face. Planning and organisation- This can be really hard for people with ADHD- because they can t focus and often find forward planning really difficult. Even if you are really clever ADHD can cause a lot of problems in school and at home. It can be really hard to work hard and get good marks, even if you really want to. Often kids with ADHD feel that they are always in trouble no matter how hard they try. There are things that can help, read on to find out how!

2 Ways to help yourself if you have ADHD 1) Plan your day Plan your day beforehand. This will make it easier to remember what you have to do. Make a timetable- it might look something like this: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 0900 Maths Maths Literacy History Geography Literacy Science Literacy Maths Literacy P.E. Science Music Literacy Maths Art PHSE P.E. RE Piano lesson Remember PE KIT!!! Remember PE KIT!!! Remember piano music IT Do it in bright colours/ with little pictures- whatever helps you to remember. Once you ve made a timetable, ask your Mum or teacher to make lots of copies then stick them in your bedroom, on the fridge, on the back of the front door, in your homework diary, on your locker- anywhere where you ll remember to look at it! Then use it. For younger children, or really distractable older children, visual timetables might help to break down smaller everyday tasks- like this...

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4 2) Give yourself rewards Having ADHD is hard- you need to give yourself some encouragement! Set yourself some targets and reward yourself if you manage them. Your mum or dad might help with this by letting you have some privileges- e.g. watching your favourite T.V. programme, time on a Playstation/ computer, a pizza at the weekend. Try REALLY hard to set yourself targets YOU can achieve: Concentrating and working hard in class for 10 minutes Remembering to hand in your homework Finishing your homework in 20 minutes Playing football without hitting/ knocking anyone over YOU can set the targets because YOU know what you need to work on. Your parents might like to give you some ideas though. Take it in small steps. When you manage a small thing ask for a reward! Next time, move on to something bigger. 3) Get lots of physical exercise People with ADHD have lots of energy. Use it! You may be a brilliant footballer/ gymnast/ runner and not know it yet. You ll never find out until you try. Ways to try new sports are: Join a sports club at school Find out about local sports clubs near where you live. Ask to have swimming lessons- if your parents will let you... Martial Arts like taekwondo can be really good for using energy, getting you fit and helping you learn to control yourself

5 Other ways to get exercise: If you re lucky enough to have a dog taking it for a walk or a run is really good exercise So is riding your bike/ playing tag/ climbing up climbing frames/ ballet /trampolining/ playing football in break times- whatever you enjoy doing. It s all good exercise. 4) Talk to your parents or teachers If you think you might have ADHD tell somebody! Your parents or teachers might be worried about you too. Your GP (family doctor) or school nurse can refer you to a children s doctor for an assessment. Being assessed for ADHD doesn t involve needles/ injections/ anything nasty at all. 5) Tell someone if you can t sleep Children and young people with ADHD sometimes have real problems getting to sleep. That makes them tired and grumpy the next day and can sometimes make it even harder to concentrate. Children s doctors can help with this- but only if you or your parents tell them about it! 6) Think about starting ADHD medication There is medicine that can help with ADHD. This is only started by children s doctors (community paediatricians or psychiatrists) who know about ADHD and the problems it can cause. Your doctor would talk and listen carefully to you and your parents before they started any medication. They would ask a lot about how ADHD affects you and decide whether medicine would help.

6 Taking medication for ADHD is a big decision and you should ask all you can about it. In some children and young people it can really help a lot. If you do start it you would need to visit the ADHD specialist every few months to check you are taking the right amount and to be weighed. What s good about ADHD People with ADHD are often funny, brave, creative and full of ideas. They are good at making people laugh. They are enthusiastic and fun to be with. They are full of energy and often love to try new things. You may be some of these things- or you may not. You may be having problems- or you may not. Everybody s different and nobody is just the same as you! There will be some great things about you- things that your friends know about, and your mum or dad. There may be some things that you are finding hard. BUT remember- there are always things you can do to help!