Early Breakfast withAbongile Nzelenzele

There are existing stereotypes and assumptions about what Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is.

Does every child really need to be on scheduled medication in order to learn or is there something else going on?

Aubrey Masango spoke to Transformational parenting coach Mia Von Scha about the symptoms associated with the condition, what these could mean and how parents can begin to find the necessary help.

What I found is that all children focus somewhere and we have got find that area because what we have to understand with ADHD is if you look at any of us is we all have ADHD in certain subjects and we all have attention surplus in things that interest us.

— Mia Von Scha, Transformational parenting coach

90 percent of the time we can actually sort of the problem by finding out what the children are genuinely interested in and helping them link the classes that they have to do to the things that are important to them.

— Mia Von Scha, Transformational parenting coach

Von Scha explains how ADHD is frequently misdiagnosed and suggests parents seek alternatives before placing their children on medication.

A lot of the time what you seeing is dietary problems, these kids are eating high sugar, high carbohydrate diets and then even just eliminating that can make a massive difference. Then there is also sometimes food allergies and the kids are just reacting to the food allergy.

— Mia Von Scha, Transformational parenting coach

There are other earning disabilities, such as dyslexia.. often time the child is just frustrated because of another learning disability. All sorts of other disorders like seizures disorders and problems with the brain, but you are more likely to pick those up

— Mia Von Scha, Transformational parenting coach

Click on the link below to listen to the full audio...

This article first appeared on 702 : ADHD: commonly misunderstood symptoms