The Inattentive Child

The inattentive child seems to flit through life, never landing in one place for long. Her parents complain that she is "spacey." She forgets to tie her shoes, bring home her homework, pick up her toys. Her teachers say she doesn't pay attention in school. They point out that she can't follow instructions or concentrate. She may make one or two scribbles on her schoolwork and then giggle and whisper with other children. At home, she wanders around, perpetually touching and picking up things. At the dinner table, she can't sit still - she bangs her knife against her plate, eats one bite, and is off. She is constantly on the go, running around, pushing other kids, throwing toys. She may be absent-minded; you ask her why she forgot to bring her homework home for the fifth day in a row, and she says, "I was going to. I had the book in my hand. But I put it down to look at this cool game that Amy brought in and ..."

An inattentive child may have trouble finding the words to describe things. Asked about her day, she shrugs. "It was fine, I guess," she says finally. She constantly changes the subject when she talks. It's difficult to have a conversation with her because she skips from one topic to another.

Parents of school-age children worry, and rightly so, that children who are unable to pay attention for even short periods will suffer in school. But attentional problems aren't confined to school-age children. They are very common among children of all ages. In fact, we can now even observe these problems among infants and preschoolers. Babies may be unable to focus in on their father's face or on one toy; their attention shifts rapidly. Some toddlers are unable to focus on what someone is saying to them or follow simple directions.

The term "attentional problems" is being used more and more frequently in schools. Many children who are having difficulty in school are labeled as having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). In some cases, children believed to suffer ADD are being medicated without adequate medical, developmental, and mental health evaluations to determine whether they actually have an attentional difficulty or some other challenges, and whether medication is needed.

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