Interesting fact on inattention

This is interesting. My own child was wildly hyperactive at age 3-5, then became much more dreamy, inattentive and mentally impulsive as he got older. His hyperactivity at almost 12 now is expressed through subtle fidgeting and squirming but he remains inattentive and implusive in the sense of being easily distracted and prone to jump from thought to thought rather than focusing on the topic at hand.

Andrea

Yes, I attended a seminar recently given by a Devlopmental Pediatrician for the teachers in our district. The research shows that hyperactivity and impulsivity decrease over time, while inattentiveness will remain constant throughout their lifetime. This explains why, for years, it was thought that children outgrow ADHD in their teens since most children are diagnosed due to implusivity or hyperactivity issues. The children who are primarily inattentive tend to be overlooked and not diagnosed until later and therefore the children they were following in previous years were either primarily hyperactive or combined. The research also showed that most adults being diagnosed for the first time were diagnosed due to symptoms of inattentiveness. It shows we all still have a lot to learn about the brain!!!!

I was speaking to a friend whose daughter is a competitive gymnast. She said that she was extremely focuses on and off the balance beam. I thought about how sports require such attention and focus that it must in some way help to improve the area of the brain that controls attention. In order to perform difficult motor activities one must be focused. It all seems to be related.

I really see attention like all aspects of the brain as on a contiuum. Tiger Woods has perfect attention. A child with severe ADHD would be at the very bottom of the scale. The rest of us are somewhere in between. The older I get the further I seem to fall.

I never was inattentive till menopause!

I’m not inattentive, but boy is the memory going!

Funny thing, my friends now complain about being forgetful, walking into a room and saying, “Hmm, Now what did I come in here for?”

Me, heck I just say welcome to my world! I’ve been like that all my life. Lost things, forgot things, unorganized (at home only) - just thought I was “kind of dumb”. Now realize I probably had/have ADD. Sometimes I think about swiping one of my dd’s Concertas to see if it would help. :-0

do you drink coffee? I ‘ve read that undiagnosed adults often self medicate with coffee. Honestly, I’ve been tempted to give my son some cafe au lait (he loves the taste of my decaf..) just to see what would happen.

I discovered late that no, it wasn’t that I was a “night person” — but if I were staying up late, I’d drink tea to “stay awake” and I seemed so much more productive from 11p.m.-4 a.m. Liberating to realize that I could drink the tea in the morning instead and have the same increase in productivity & focus (and without it, put tires on backwards…)

I would give the caffeine a trial run. Like Ritalin it wears off and goes away.

Just because I’m distractible doesn’t mean I

I self medicate with coffee. I definitely have a bit of the ADD. I was the quiet inattentive type when I was younger. Since seeing it in my son I see a long line of it in my family.

I also must say that when I was in a very structured job atmosphere I was more attentive. I must say I was pretty on the ball back in those days. Being a stay at home mom is a life without structure. It is the worst environment for those of us who are prone to inattention.
I have also thought about putting a mountain dew in the old lunch box.

That’s interesting because I never drank coffee till my 40’s. Now I have to drink two or three mugs a day - it never occurred to me I might be self-medicating.

I tutor a 12 year old child whose mom swears his attention is improved when he drinks coffee.

I “live” on tea! Perhaps I’m self-medicating?

Hummmm….Now, if only I could get my son to drink tea…or maybe coffee.

I’ve always drank about 4 cups in the a.m. I’m also the one who drinks 2 cups at night and in 30 min I’m asleep and my husband is up all night!

I have cut down on the caffeine - and actually, I think I’m MORE forgetful than before. Don’t think a doctor’s going to give me any meds at this stage in my life tho.