Girls with ADHD

During our latest segment on the Brett and Sierra Show (CW Channel 5), Brett Harris asked me about the difference in ADHD between boys and girls. Sierra even said she always thought ADHD is just found in boys.

Not so; although when the symptoms were known as Minimal Brain Dysfunction, the concept was related only to boys.

Watch HERE

However, since the late-1980’s, when professionals and researchers began using the term Attention Deficit, they realized girls can also be persons with ADHD, and the gender differences became quite apparent.

In answer to Brett’s question, girls tend to be less hyperactive and less aggressive than boys, and they tend to cause fewer distractions and problems in the elementary school setting.

Many girls now grown to be women say similar things; the pattern in school could have been identified in their younger years, but parents and professionals did not recognize it, or even think to look for it. In elementary school, the complacent but inattentive girl tends to work harder to please her parents and teachers. In younger girls, the symptoms may not even be evident before the girl reaches seven or eight years of age.

My youngest daughter, Baby Sis, was the kind of little girl who was hyper at home, but less so at school. Her elementary-school days were miserable for her in many ways. It took additional effort for her to maintain a focus, concentration, and block out distracting noise. We thought she probably was a child with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), but we didn’t have her professionally diagnosed at that time. Her Dad did not want her taking medication for it.

I didn’t have time on the segment to further say that ADHD in girls and women really raises its head when girls progress into middle school and high school. They lag behind in social skills, and they experience more social rejection. 

Baby Sis experienced social rejection from about third grade upward into high school. My heart hurts when I remember how sad and defensive her little face looked when she exited school most days. “They don’t like me,” she often said. I automatically knew to look for cognitive fatigue when she got home, and even when she was a teen, I often put her down for a short nap before she did anything else.

In middle school the girl with ADHD may demonstrate increased disorganization, forgetfulness, and frustration. Middle school intensifies the demands of basic academic performance and homework gets more demanding. Social cues become more mysterious. Complexities in the social realm lead to more and more pressures that set hurdles for self-esteem and growth in self-confidence.

I recommend that teachers and parents do not merely associate these symptoms with puberty and hormonal changes.  It may be ADHD.

Middle school and high school present excellent backdrops for a girl with ADHD to get coaching on how to move past the challenges linked with school and social pressures.   

We invite you to visit this link and find our offer for an online mini course. After you complete the course, contact us and learn how we can help the person with ADHD or his/her family. McNay & Voth ADHD Services provides the style of coaching a girl should have as she transitions into adulthood and college years.