Children with Attention Deficit Disorder - Inattentive Type

No one thought Caroline had a problem. Her teacher knew that she day-dreamed a lot in class, but when she asked her to pay attention, she would smile very sweetly and say "Yes Miss Wilson, I will". She was absolutely no problem. She managed to get B's and C's but also comments that she could do better if she paid more attention. The other children liked her; outside of class she told them funny stories. Everybody just thought that being spacey and dreamy was her style. That was Caroline.

Her parents had no real problems. She was quiet and smiling; she read a lot. She was Daddy's little girl. She did what she was asked to do- well mostly. Her room was a chaotic mess and when she was asked to clean it up, she somehow never did. When Daddy asked about paying attention in school, Caroline admitted that sometimes she was a bit confused and lost, but that was Caroline.

The doctor did have a problem. Caroline liked her doctor; he listened so nicely that sometimes she told him how she felt in school: confused and lost. She was afraid to ask questions for fear she would be laughed at. The doctor talked to her mother and asked to see her school reports.

Caroline's mother, in fact, did feel that there was something amiss, but as she had no idea what it could be, she was afraid to talk about it for fear that people would say it was her imagination and that she was causing the problem. She told the doctor that Caroline's Grandmother had said, when she was a baby, that she was like a light bulb that was not screwed in properly. Sometimes she was there and then she wasn't.

After several interviews and some tests, the doctor diagnosed ADHD, Attention Deficit Disorder- Inattentive type, without Hyperactivity (ADHD).

The doctor explained that Grandmother's light bulb analogy was very fitting. The attention system is a four step process which is driven by electrical impulses. When the current is faulty or inconsistent, Caroline can't capture, store and retrieve information from the outside world.

Medication helped Caroline's brain to maintain a steady flow of current to her light bulb. She also started a regular program of exercise and made some changes to her diet.

Caroline grew up to be a successful screen writer producing one imaginative and witty scenario after another.