Is this ADHD, immaturity or ordinary childhood behaviour?

The short answer

One behaviour cannot distinguish ADHD from immaturity or ordinary variation. Look at the pattern over time: whether attention, activity or impulsivity difficulties are frequent, more marked than expected for the child’s developmental level, present in more than one important setting and affecting learning, relationships, safety, confidence or family life. Being young for a school year can influence how behaviour is perceived, but it does not prove that an ADHD diagnosis is wrong. Parents do not need to settle the explanation before asking for support. Record concrete examples, compare demands and discuss persistent impairment with school and the GP.

• All children can forget, interrupt, avoid effort and struggle with waiting.
• ADHD assessment considers frequency, persistence, developmental expectations, settings and functional impact.
• Compare a child with appropriate developmental expectations, not only with the most settled children in a class.
• Relative age within a school year can affect recognition, but birth month cannot diagnose or exclude ADHD.
• Sleep, anxiety, learning, language, health, stress and other developmental differences can produce overlapping behaviour.
• Support can respond to the difficulty while the explanation is still being explored.