from one activity to another, has difficulty organizing work, needs a lot of supervision, frequently calls out in class, has difficulty awaiting turn in games or group situations).
ADHD, in terms of clinical features, differs only from ADD in that hyperactive behavior is also present. Here hyperactivity would involve such behaviors as the child running about or climbing excessively; also there would be difficulty sitting still or excessive fidgeting as well as difficulty staying seated. Further, hyperactivity could involve the child moving about excessively during sleep, and, in general, always being "on the go".
As might be expected from the foregoing description of the two disorders, one of the reasons that there can be difficulty separating ADD from ADHD is that there is a good deal of similarity in symptoms. Indeed, at very young ages, research indicates that the overlap may be almost total. For example, in a study conducted by Ornoy, Uriel and Tennenbaum (1993), the authors found that a sample of children at ages 2-4 years (N=42) with the same "soft" neurological signs (e.g. inattention, speech delay, impulsivity) were, by the time they reached 7-14 years, diagnosed as having either ADD or ADHD.
Another similarity between ADD and ADHD is the fact that at least as yet, it is impossible to distinguish between them in terms of perinatal risk. This can be seen in a study conducted by Mulkins (1993) who investigated perinatal risk factors, using the Maternal Perinatal Scale in differentiating between normal, ADHD and ADD children.
According to Mulkins (1993), the results of the study did not support the use of maternal perinatal information in the differential diagnosis of ADHD, ADD, and normal children. When using maternal perinatal information in the classification of ADHD, ADD and normal children only 52 percent of the children were correctly classified.
However, Mulkins (1993) did report that the pre...