Understanding ADHD
A reliable foundation for understanding ADHD in children and young people, without reducing it to hyperactivity or poor concentration.
What you can find here
- How can ADHD affect children at different ages?
- Could a quiet, anxious or high-achieving child have ADHD?
- Why can my child focus for hours on one thing but not start homework?
- Is this ADHD, immaturity, stress or ordinary childhood behaviour?
- Why can ADHD-related difficulties differ between home and school?
Begin with the main Library article
Main Library article
Understanding ADHD in children: a parent's guide
A clear guide to how ADHD can affect attention, activity, impulses and everyday life, including assessment, support and what parents can observe.
More from the Library
Why is ADHD so often missed in girls?
Why girls with ADHD may be recognised later, what can be overlooked, and how to describe concerns without relying on stereotypes.
Written December 2025
Why does my child only get going at the last minute? ADHD, motivation and reward
Why distant deadlines may not create enough traction for a child with ADHD, and how to bring feedback, purpose and the first step closer.
Written December 2025
Why does my child have no sense of time?
What people mean by ADHD time blindness, what the research can and cannot show, and how to make passing time easier to use.
Written December 2025
Why does my child forget what I asked halfway through?
How working memory can affect instructions in children with ADHD, and how to move the next step out of memory and into view.
Written December 2025
Why can my child never sit still? Activity levels from toddler to teenager
How ordinary movement and ADHD-related hyperactivity can look at different ages, from early childhood to the teenage years.
Written December 2025
Why does my child act before they think?
What impulsivity can look like in children with ADHD and how to create a usable pause before words, choices or unsafe actions.
Written December 2025
Why can my child focus for hours on one thing and not start their homework?
Why intense focus can coexist with difficulty starting homework, and how to make the first step easier without blaming or bribing.
Written December 2025
Is this ADHD, immaturity or ordinary childhood behaviour?
How to look beyond one difficult behaviour and decide when attention, activity or impulsivity patterns deserve closer assessment.
Written December 2025
Could a quiet, dreamy or anxious child have ADHD?
How inattentive ADHD can be missed when a child is quiet, compliant or anxious, and what parents and schools can observe.
Written December 2025
Quick answers from the Blog
Why is my child so different at school and at home?
Why attention, activity and impulsivity can look different across home and school, and how to compare the demands and support in each setting.
Written December 2025
What are the strengths that often come with ADHD?
A careful way to recognise an individual child’s strengths without promising that ADHD gives everyone the same talents.
Written December 2025
Is ADHD caused by screens, sugar or parenting?
What current evidence says about ADHD, screens, sugar and parenting, with practical ways to respond without blame or sweeping claims.
Written December 2025