Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition where children as well as adults have difficulty in paying attention or concentrating on one activity at a time.

Children with this disorder find it hard to follow directions, are easily bored, and are very impulsive. They also tend to act before they think. But it can be confusing and often parents fail to notice symptoms of ADHD since most children at some stage can be fidgety, or overtly active.

Children start showing signs of ADHD as they enter the structured environment of preschool. Experts say that those children only can be said to suffer from ADHD who have shown the symptoms at least for six months, and in several different settings.

Also the symptoms should have become apparent by the age of five. Here are the symptoms your child may show:

1. The child will have a problem with following directions, and finishing tasks. He or she will be inattentive and make careless mistakes

2. Usually such children are unable to organize a day’s tasks or even things around them. However, do not mistake a messy lifestyle with ADHD

3. Children will often lose things and be forgetful about activities that they normally do without a thought

4. Children with ADHD tend to be fidgety and unable to sit still even while doing something as mundane as watching television

5. They are unable to play quietly and usually talk excessively even in a situation that demands silence like a classroom or a place of worship

6. They are often impulsive in action, and unable to wait for their turn

7. These children are restless and show a tendency to daydream