Episode 1: Every Child with ADHD is Unique

Not every child with ADHD is the same—and understanding their unique traits is key to providing the right support. In this first episode of ADHD Connect, Dr. Tish Taylor explores the different ways ADHD presents in children and why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. She breaks down the diagnostic criteria, discusses variations in symptoms, and introduces her ADHD Individual Trait Tool, a free resource designed to help parents and educators identify a child’s specific challenges and strengths.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

✔ How ADHD symptoms vary from child to child
✔ The differences between inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, and combined presentations
✔ Why personalized strategies are essential for ADHD support
✔ How to use the ADHD Individual Trait Tool to better understand your child’s needs

Episode 1 Transcript:

Hello and welcome to the first-ever episode of the ADHD Connect podcast with me, Dr. Tish Taylor, where we discuss all things ADHD, especially related to children and adolescents. So today, for the first topic it we’re going to be talking about not every child is the same, even though you might have an ADHD diagnosis.

So I think something that is confusing is that once a person has an ADHD, ADHD diagnosis, we kind of think, oh, we have all the same treatments, and we’ll do we’ll have the same approach, but the presentations really can be different. Do we have, you know, really specific differences in medication, for example? No, but I want to talk more about, you know, how those presentations look different, and what does that mean for how we intervene or how we respond and help our children as best as we can. So let me start with, what is the diagnostic criteria?

So there’s so much information on the internet, of course, about what ADHD is, what it looks like, how it presents, what are those features and symptoms? But really, what you need to do if you want to think, does my child have ADHD is be specific about the diagnostic criteria, and the diagnostic criteria is born out of research. And you know, a whole group of very educated academicians and practitioners get together to study it over time and to say, what information do we have that that supports what we’re going to call this disorder.

What are those symptoms that we have seen over a long period of time and that are substantial to say, you know, this person should be diagnosed with this disorder, so at this time, what we have are two subtypes, which is inattentive presentation and hyperactive, impulsive presentation, and or you can or you can diagnose combined type, which simply means we’re seeing a robust number of both of these types or presentations. Now, within the criteria, how do you know what’s in the criteria, there are nine specific behaviors or features or symptoms, if you will, within each type. So in attentive presentation, hyperactive, impulsive presentation, there are nine and the threshold is six, right?

So if, if a child or teen is presenting with at least six of these to a persistent degree, to a significant level over time in more than one environment, we generally make the diagnosis, and in a later podcast, we’ll talk about, how do we evaluate that? But for purposes of today, I think it’s important to understand, if you just think about, there are nine to choose from, and you have to meet a threshold of six. That’s already, you know, making a different presentation, even within somebody who may have, you know, the same kind of subtype diagnosed. Now, there’s not big differences, but there can be subtle differences.

The other piece I think, to understand is that there are mild, moderate, severe presentations. And I have seen presentations where, you know, let me just say, you know, fidgetiness is to a more significant or severe degree, but distractibility not as much. Or I’ve seen where they’re both to a severe or degree, and, you know, anything in between. So no individual is exactly alike, and no person diagnosed with ADHD is exactly alike. Because of this, I developed what I call the trait tool, and so you can go to my website, Tish taylor.com, look in the ADHD store, and it’s a free resource to you, but I created what I call an individual trait tool, and I broke down many of the features we see when we see or diagnose ADHD. Now these are not synonymous exactly with the diagnostic criteria, because what I was trying to get at are those things that families, parents, teachers, and experience when they have a child or teen who has ADHD, and you know what they’re trying to work with or intervene with. And so those are the things I included in my trait tool. Now the other thing I want to point out is that you hear a lot of about executive functioning.

And executive functioning strongly overlaps with many of the ADHD symptoms that that we recognize, and so executive functioning does not have its own diagnosis. There is not an executive functioning disorder or executive dysfunction disorder right now. We do understand it in terms of the research and in the literature it’s written about, and we do understand it’s real, right? We experience it, for example, time management, that’s an executive functioning function, but it also has a strong relationship to some ADHD traits and qualities. So within my trait tool, I’ve kind of combined some of those specific ADHD symptoms, you would see, the diagnostic criteria, with some executive functioning symptoms.

And so, you know, as I thought about the large, large pool of people that I have seen over many years, these are a lot of the thing that things that tend to come up. So within my tool, what I do is I spell out what these individual traits or symptoms are, such as working memory, so short term memory, and then I give a, you know, a scale like a small, moderate, large degree, right? Is it, you know, in this for this person or with this child, is it are they experiencing working memory deficits to a large degree, to a modern degree, to a small degree, like, how does this affect them? And you can quickly go through this tool, and, you know, in a quick visual, see, okay, what are we dealing with, and what are those pieces that need more or less intervention, or more or less attention? And I think what it does is help define the profile and presentation for each child, and it really helps us zero in on huh. Here’s what we need to do. So if I know that initiating tasks, for example, is, you know, you know, very frequently, very often, this child has a struggle, like getting started. Once they get started, they’re better, but getting started is just, you know, really tough.

So if I know that’s a defining feature, or one of the more significant features of their presentation, I can be more specific and directed about what I’m going to do. I can also then say, Hey, I’m going to try one, you know, one, two and three, or A, B and C, types of intervention or strategies. See how they work. And so then, you know, does it help the task initiation be less of an issue for them? So that’s why I created it. And I think it really helps solidify, you know, even though we have one diagnosis, every person is their own individual. And you know, maybe in some individuals, a few of these pieces change over time, with more maturation or different interventions, or even if there’s medical intervention, some of these might change or appear less or more severe, also depending on the environment and the environmental cues, some of these things might improve or be exacerbated, and that would be important to know too.

So this tool can also be used in terms of progress monitoring, right? You could use this tool and say, Ah, here’s where I think this child is, and maybe a month later, if we’ve been trying different interventions, or two months later, we can look at this tool again and say, you know, where are we seeing improvement? It’s very easy, quick.

So like I said, you can print it off, download it off my site, the in the ADHD store, Tish taylor.com, and hopefully this will really clarify for you, you know, either a student or a child, or you know somebody you know very well, maybe even yourself. You could even use it for an adult, and there’s, I don’t see any reason why, but to help you understand what that presentation looks like, and to help you figure out, you know, what can we do that’s that is most effective for them.

So again, welcome to my ADHD Connect podcast, and hopefully this was a helpful topic for you.