Hyperactivity
People who are Hyperactive:
have a Disinhibition Disorder;
the Hyperkinetic Syndrome;
and/or Hyperkinesis.
Their problems may include
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder with Hyperactivity.
What is Hyperactivity?
Bright students who are hyperactive often are experiencing attentional difficulty that is unnoticed. If their performance remains at least average, no one realizes the attentional problems may have prevented them from achieving at an advanced level.)
Hyperactive students are students who move around more than is usual. This is a very subjective assessment. Physicians typically provide parents and teachers with a checklist of behaviors when attempting to determine whether or not a student is hyperactive. Hyperactive students are seen as fidgety and restless, unable to sit still and having a high degree of physical activity which has no purpose.
We feel all Hyperactive students have attention problems, but not all specialists agree with this. While Hyperactive students are moving about, they are missing things. Perhaps they don't miss enough to fail, but they miss enough to perform below their own intellectual ability. It is often very difficult to separate problems of attention in a person who is Hyperactive. It is not difficult to tell if the student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.) is Hyperactive, but it is hard to distinguish whether the Hyperactive student is experiencing a problem with attention. We are committed to the view that all Hyperactive students are having some simultaneous difficulty with attention, and you should consult that section (on attention), too. We've written this section with that view.
Hyperactive students seem to be difficult to control. Their mood shifts rapidly, and they often seem to have a low frustration tolerance. Read this section and the one about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.) and decide for yourself whether or not both chapters are relevant to the student about whom you have concern.
"The term 'hyperactive' has become widely used and widely misunderstood. Much controversy surrounds it. The correct medical terminology is 'hyperkinetic syndrome.' Hyperactivity is often used interchangeably with the term 'hyperkinesis.' Hyperkinesis describes a condition in which the individual displays a high degree of physical activity which has no purpose plus a significantly impaired attention span. The person is unable to control motion and/or attention. Many physicians have described hyperkinesis as a treatable illness characterized by involuntary behavior and learning problems in a child whose brain maturation is delayed. These physicians feel that the marked tendency of a number of these identified children to improve as they grow older supports this contention."
Identifying Hyperactivity
This disability impacts on input, output, integration, memory, and most other aspects of learning.
Stimulant medication is often prescribed for children and adults who are hyperactive. The use of a stimulant for an individual who is already, seemingly, overstimulated seems strange. Amphetamines are among the most frequently prescribed stimulants. If you are interested in the medications used for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.) with and without Hyperactivity, please refer to the texts listed in Appendix II.
It has been thought that stimulant medications were useful only with children. In recent years the use of stimulant medication for adults who have attention problems and/or Hyperactivity has become more common. The positive impact stimulant medications can produce for children and for adults with Information Processing Dysfunctions often extends beyond academic situations. Social and career related behaviors can also improve dramatically.
Teenagers and adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder seem especially vulnerable to addiction to alcohol and street drugs. Consider the Hyperactive person or the person with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder might be attempting to self-medicate with these substances. These attempts may have more to do with improving cognitive function than with achieving the "highs" usually associated with chemical addiction. Consultation with a physician who has experience with children or adults who are Hyperactive or who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is worthwhile; in this way, some may avoid addiction.
Biofeedback, relaxation or meditation techniques, and hypnosis are all employed to cope with the problems of Hyperactivity.
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