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Understanding Attention Deficit Disorder
Part One
By Dr. William Sears
good or bad, just a term to describe how your child individually thinks and acts. The four features of ADD are selective attention, distractibility, impulsivity and sometimes hyperactivity, in which case it would be known as ADHD. Let's discuss these big four features.
1. Selective attention. This means a child goes from one extreme to another, showing the ability to intensely concentrate, or "hyperfocus," on something he enjoys doing, something he is good at or feels is relevant or interesting, yet becomes inattentive and tunes out things he finds routine or boring. While all children have difficulty concentrating on boring tasks, the child with ADD finds it nearly impossible. These children focus inappropriately. For example, send a child on an errand to his room to get something and he may get sidetracked watching a bug on the wall and forget why he was going upstairs in the first place. Or a child may focus on a bird playing in the tree outside rather than what the teacher is saying in the classroom. Again, this is more of a difference than a disability. The key to managing your child with ADD is to turn the possible liability into an asset. For example, because of the ability to hyperfocus (become extremely attentive to something that holds his interest), try to match the child with ADD to the task. For example, when I coach Little League baseball, I put the ADD child as pitcher, catcher or at first base where they have to pay attention. Never put a child with ADD in the outfield where he doesn't have to focus and can watch the birds and airplanes and truly be "out in left field." Veteran hockey team managers have long realized the value of positioning the child with ADD as a goalie because of their ability to hyperfocus.
2. Distractibility. Children with ADD have the inability to block out competing stimuli. T
