People with ADD can pay super attention, but when they’re not interested their mind goes somewhere else.” Hallowell says, is not a deficit of attention but “an abundance of attention, a wandering of attention, and the problem is to regulate it. Screen sucking is more like “stupor.” But what connects them is they are both different modes of intense attention. Hallowell would call Andy’s tendency to lose himself in a television screen not hyperfocus, or flow, but “screen sucking.” Flow is “optimal,” he says. Hallowell says, and it is when “you’re doing something that really matters to you that is challenging.” It’s also, he says, “when you operate at your best.” This certainly seems to describe Mark’s engagement with mathematics.īut focusing intently isn’t always a good thing. Mark is a professor of applied mathematics, and hopes that Andy, too, will find a passion to match his focus.Įdward Hallowell, MD, clinical psychiatrist and the founder of the Hallowell Centers in New York City and Sudbury, Mass., prefers a different term than hyperfocus: “flow.” The concept of flow comes from the research of psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Dr. On the other hand, he considers hyperfocus a blessing-or at least a core component of his, and his son’s, identity. They both take stimulant medication to address the impulsivity and distractedness that has been impairing for both of them. He calls this ability “ hyperfocus.”īoth father and son now have diagnoses of ADHD. But once he got to college and could give his attention over to things that interested him, especially math, he could work effectively for hours at a time. He recalls being really irritated by the rapid change in subjects in elementary and high school, being “dragged from one subject to the next.” He wasn’t very good at math then, and otherwise school was so easy he rarely had to really apply himself. Then Mark started thinking about his own past, and some telling similarities emerged. How could his 5-year-old be so single-minded for three hours at a stretch if he had an attention disorder? But there was also Andy’s ability to focus intensely on certain activities, like fishing or watching a movie. Sure, he was unusually active, and his pre-school teachers complained that he fluttered around the room like a butterfly when other kids were engaged in activities. Mark had trouble believing his son could have ADHD.

Hyperfocus can be a strength and drive kids to follow their passions. If you can hook their attention to something they’re interested in and channel it in a positive direction, they can do outstanding things. And kids with ADHD don’t get the same payoff from doing something just because it’s important.īut hyperfocus can be great for building self-esteem in kids with ADHD. They might whine, drag their feet or throw a tantrum. That also means that when kids with ADHD are into an activity they really like, it can be hard to get them to switch away from it. When kids love doing something, they can get carried away and lose track of time. For kids with ADHD, that’s even more true. And we all know it’s harder to focus on something boring. Anyone can get really caught up in an activity they find very pleasurable or rewarding. It’s about not being able to control where your attention goes. That’s because ADHD isn’t really about not having enough attention. But “hyperfocus,” which means paying intense attention to one interesting activity, can actually be a feature of ADHD. That can be because they’ve seen their child focus for hours when something really interests them.

Some parents can’t believe their child has ADHD.

Hyperfocus adhd gifted