Neki shares his experiences as an Occupational Therapist (^) 3-minute stories
26/08/2024
https://www.sensorytalksntips.com/pos-ta-koritsia-me-depu-parousiazoun-diaphoretika-sumptomata-se-skhese-me-ta-depu-agoria/?ref=neki-talks-about-ot-newsletter
Girls, especially in primary school ages, are difficult to be identified and so remain underdiagnosed because of differences in the expression of the disorder among them and the boys. The girls at this age (and even younger) appear to be highly anxious, very sensitive under criticism and pressure, have low self-esteem and hyperactive but not in a “boy” manner, rather than in a more day-dreaming and wasting-time-for-no-obvious-reason manner.
Whilst the ADHD boys in primary school experience more externalizing symptoms (e.g., hyperactivity which is externalised and is often accompanied by impulsivity, anger, and provocative behaviours) and are almost always picked and referred for an ADHD assessment by classroom staff because of disruptive behaviours, the girls appear to be the always-good-students that in reality, this presentation might be the outcome of tones of emotional and somatic effort to mask directly observative symptoms until puberty.
When Fryda’s mum came for our weekly OT session, she revealed her news to me that took me by surprise. She has started the process of getting an ADHD diagnosis for herself. Emily is a 43 years old physician and mother of two children, one of these having a
