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It is not particularly useful to think about it as an ‘it’. Just as children range from short to tall, skinny to fat, so they also range from placid to hyperactive.

Since there is such a wide range, at what point do you start to say there is something ‘wrong’ with the child?

There are only two ways we can define “wrong”.

Either there is a clear, biological, problem that is qualitatively different from normal. Not just a matter or degree, but of something being broken or disordered (like asthmas is different from just being short of breath).

Or the degree of “abnormality” is so great that it causes problems of its own accord. Thus being too tall causes problems (hitting heads on door frames, joint and back problems, possibly). Being too fat causes problems
(diabetes, heart problems, etc). And being too active causes problems (people don’t like the things you do!)

So, let’s look at these two types of definition. First, is there any evidence of something biological being “broken”?

That is a difficult question. There is evidence that hyperactive children have different brains than placid children. Just as there is evidence that tall people have longer bones than short people. There is even evidence that taxi drivers have different brains to non-taxi drivers. But that still does not answer the question as to whether there is something “broken”, or if it is again, just a matter of degree.

In the old days ADHD used to be called “minimal brain dysfunction” because people assumed there must be something wrong with the brain that they just hadn’t yet been able to identify. Many scientists still believe that.

Either way, it is actually pretty irrelevant, as we shall see when it comes to deciding what to do about it.

The second question is whether being hyperactive causes problems beyond that of placid children. The short answer is “yes”. And typically, the more “hyper” you are, the more trouble you get into.

So, at the extreme end of the scale, the kids that are really climbing the walls, it is pretty easy to say that they have a “disorder” and to give it a name such as ADHD.

But where is the line between normal behavior in children and ADHD? Come to that, where is the line between normal and fat, between normal and too tall (or too short). And does it depend on whether you live among the 7ft Masai warriors, or the 4ft pygmies?

The line is, of course, arbitrary. We put the line where it seems to be “about right”. Usually there is some statistical reason for it – e.g. being more hyper than 95% of the population. But it also depends a lot on what
society is happy, or not, to consider as “normal” childish behavior.

And on that we, as a society, have probably become less tolerant in the last couple of decades. We now want all our children to sit still and pay attention in class, whereas in past decades, if they didn’t get on with school, then they didn’t go!

Now, if your behavioral child is getting into problems at school or home, you usually want to know why? One of the questions you might ask yourself, and others, is “is there something wrong with my child”.

For more information please visit http://www.behaviorchildren.org/

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