Myth: ADHD is caused by bad parenting.

Fact: ADHD is a neurobehavioural disorder. Most substantiated causes of ADHD relate to neurobiology and genetics. More and more evidence shows that ADHD does not stem from home environments but from biological causes.

Myth: ADHD is not a medical condition.

Fact: ADHD is a biological brain based condition officially recognized by leading medical experts and institutions, including Health Canada and the Canadian Psychiatric Association.

Myth: Children who have ADHD will eventually grow out of it.

Fact: Eighty per cent of children who have ADHD will continue to have enough symptoms to qualify for diagnosis as an adolescent and over 60 per cent of adults will maintain core symptoms of ADHD. If not effectively treated, ADHD may lead to impairments in life activities and behaviour, academic and vocational difficulties and emotional and social problems.

Myth: ADHD only affects boys.

Fact: Approximately eight to 10 per cent of males and three to four per cent of females under the age of 18 have ADHD. Girls often show different, less easily recognized symptoms than boys; instead of being hyperactive, they are quiet and often appear to be daydreaming so they can be harder to diagnose.

Myth: All children with ADHD are hyperactive.

Fact: Hyperactivity does not have to be present to make a diagnosis of ADHD. There are three main types of symptoms: inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Children do not need to show all three types of behaviour to be diagnosed with ADHD.

More information is available online at adhd.ca.

Credit: www.newscanada.com

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