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Today was a very good day for Grant,” Kay McNeil, a teacher at Mary Paxton Keeley Elementary School, said on Wednesday, May 5, 2004. “We’ve been working on his not hitting other kids. For a week and a half, he hasn’t hit anyone.”

Seven-year-old Grant Lanham was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when he was three. He has been taking medication for it ever since.

Nowadays so many children have been diagnosed with ADHD that there is public concern about potential widespread over-diagnosis. However, Grant’s parents think he cannot function in school without taking his medicine.

When Grant was first diagnosed with ADHD, the Lanhams already knew what to do. Jordan, Grant’s older brother, was given the same diagnosis eight years ago after a teacher told the Lanhams that their son could not sit still in his seat at school. At that time, the boys’ father, Geoff, realized he had suffered the same difficulties during his own childhood. Four years ago, Geoff Lanham was also diagnosed with ADHD, a hereditary disease.

“When Grant was about three years old, he was twice as bad as Jordan and he would run into the street after you said to him to stop and wait for an adult. He was constantly moving and on the go,” said Grant’s mother, Pam Lanham.

Grant visits his doctor every three months to make sure his medication is working the way it should, and to make sure he is gaining weight properly, because his medication suppresses his appetite. The Lanhams say medication helps Grant keep himself more in control.

Although children with ADHD have problems concentrating on tasks at school because of their hyperactivity, many are smart and surprisingly creative. Sometimes Grant spends hours reading books or building Legos at home. He likes science and math, and surprised his teacher and parents with verbiage unusual for seven-year-olds.

“His mind is always looking at things in different ways,” Pam Lanham said. “I wish we could channel all of Grant’s energy into something constructive.”

One problem for children with ADHD seems almost counterintuitive: an excess of attention, or hyper-focusing. It is hard for Grant to shift his attention from one thing to another. He is a happy boy at home because he is usually free to indulge in whatever he is interested in whenever he feels the interest. However, if Grant is interrupted, he gets frustrated and yells.

Grant also has some problems with group socializing. At school, Grant not only lacks concentration in class and excessive focusing, he also shows aggressive behavior on account of his impulsivity.

“Children with ADHD cannot function with other children sociably,” McNeil said.

Grant sometimes gets frustrated and pushes other children when they do something he doesn’t like.

“ADHD children have a very short fuse and get angry very quickly and they don’t realize they are angry,” Geoff Lanham said.

One day, Grant kicked the father of one of his classmates at school. After Grant threw a fork at a girl in lunchtime, he had his lunch at the principal’s office — alone.

“He doesn’t have any friends,” Pam Lanham said. “That’s probably the hardest part of the whole thing.”

STORY INDEX

ORGANIZATIONS >

Children & Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
URL: www.chadd.org

Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health
URL: www.ffcmh.org  

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
URL: www.aacap.org

Fight for Kids
URL: www.fightforkids.org

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In The Fray Contributor