Difference Between ADHD and Gifted

ADHD Vs Gifted

Many parents make some questions regarding the mental status of their child or children most especially if they notice something quite unusual in the behavior of their kids. One of the most common questions raised is whether their child is an ADHD patient or a gifted child.

Yes it is a fact that many have come to confuse gifted from ADHD, much more because a child can be both at the same time. This is really confusing for the common parent who does not have any background with psychiatry and the concept on normal child growth and development. But to sum up, below are some of the most noticeable behaviors present in the two types of kids.

The behaviors that are suggestive of ADHD are:

1. Cannot keep or sustain attention in most instances

2. The child is not persistent on doing specific tasks that do not have any instant consequences (positive or negative)

3. Impulsive and cannot delay gratification

4. Cannot follow simple orders to adjust his or her social behaviors in some contexts

5. Even if most children are normally active, ADHD patients are just more active to the point of being restless (hyperactive).

6. Cannot adhere to the most basic rules or regulations

For the second category, which are the behaviors suggestive of giftedness, the specific example behaviors are:

1. May have poor attention and easily gets bored; sometimes daydreams

2. Do not like to do tasks that seem to be irrelevant to them

3. There are some judgment lags following intellect development

4. Increased intensity can end up to some power resistance with authorities

5. Very active to the point of needing only a little amount of sleep

As mentioned, a child can both be an ADHD patient or a gifted child. Hence, the stated behaviors may be shared or manifested in one child, even if not all behaviors falling under one category are present.

The parents’ role is to look deep into the situation on hand and analyze how the child reacts or behaves in that particular situation. In class, separating the ADHD child from the gifted one would mean that although both can experience some inattentiveness, the gifted child’s lack of focus is more on him becoming bored with the task, the lesson or even the teacher. Because they also seem to be very ‘fast,’ they actually finish some basic tasks much faster than the majority of their classmates which forces them to wait for long hours until their classmates are finish. As a result, gifted children may turn violent because they react to situations that do not challenge their innate ‘gifted’ ability. They may even disrupt the rest of the class for this matter.

1. Gifted children are mostly very active while ADHD children are mostly hyperactive.

2. Gifted children are inattentive because of the curriculum or non-challenging tasks unlike ADHD children who become inattentive even with very basic tasks.

3. Gifted children have more intense and focused concentrations even if it takes long periods of time whereas ADHD children easily lose focus on most things.

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