Behavioural difficulties may manifest themselves at home and / or at school for a variety of reasons. They may be the result of bad parenting and social problems beyond the child's control, they may result from frustration caused by other learning difficulties or they may be symptoms of a particular disorder.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have received a great deal of publicity in the media of late, but it would be wrong to blame all children's misbehaviour on these medical conditions. Frequently poor behaviour in school is simply attention-seeking behaviour and such children are best managed by behaviour management/modification programmes drawn up by the school's Special Needs Department and monitored by the child's teachers and parents and overseen by the Educational Psychologist. These programmes usually rely on a set of rules being drawn up and agreed on by the child, parents and school, with agreed penalties for infringement and rewards for good behaviour. The phrase "catch them being good" is frequently used.
ADD / ADHD are definite neurological conditions and as such require professional diagnosis. A child with ADD or ADHD will not usually respond to standard behaviour modification programmes (although the impact and severity of behaviour exhibited may be lessened) and usually requires specialist help after diagnosis is confirmed. Treatment with drugs remains controversial but the controlled use of Ritalin and allied drugs has been known to bring marked improvement in behaviour in individuals with medically-diagnosed ADHD; it is not however, the magic solution for all cases and much research remains to be done.
Famous People with ADD or ADHD : a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD is not the end of the world. True, a large number of untreated cases end up in police custody as adults, but if extremes of childhood behaviour can be managed and the individual learns some degree of self-control, they can go on to become extremely successful. Well-known people known or believed to have ADD or ADHD include :
Performers
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Artists and Writers
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Politicians & Military
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Inventors and Scientists
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Sportsmen
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Entrepreneurs
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