Читать книгу New hope for ADHD in children and adults - Helena Bester - Страница 34

According to most researchers, the following physical characteristics are generally manifested in ADHD sufferers:

•picky or greedy eating habits

•allergies (the genes carrying allergies and ADHD are close to each other on the same chromosome, according to Professor André Venter of the University of the Free State)

•sleeping problems

•co-ordination problems (appear clumsy, have poor balance and bad handwriting)

I won’t say much about the physical characteristics because I have not observed any clear patterns in the children I have worked with over the years. For example, I have come across fewer ADHD sufferers with sleeping problems than those who fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow.

Some ADHD sufferers are fussy eaters and others are not. Many forget to eat if they are not reminded. When they do get hungry they are then usually totally famished and have to eat immediately.

As for co-ordination – well, most teenage ADHD sufferers I have dealt with are mad about skate-boarding. I’ve tried it myself and you need to be very co-ordinated to stay upright! But I agree that in general ADHD sufferers have fine motor skills problems. This correlates with my experience of their dreadfully scrappy handwriting. But their writing does improve significantly when they are on medication, and many draw beautifully. In such cases (and I suspect this is true in most cases) the bad handwriting is not a result of poor co-ordination, but something else.