"But ADHD symptoms are just things everyone does." Have you heard this? If you haven't, keep listening. I'm sure you will soon, probably from someone who means well. And it is true that not everyone who is overly hyperactive, inattentive or impulsive has ADHD.

It's also true that some people with these symptoms most certainly do have ADHD. So how do you tell when it's really ADHD?

Diagnosis of ADHD requires that the ADHD behavior be inconsistent with a person's age.

Suspected ADHD behaviors must also begin before age seven and continue for at least six months.

But the main thing required for an ADHD diagnosis, if all other factors are present, is that the behaviors must create a real handicap in at least two areas of a person's life. For a child this could include in the schoolroom, on the playground, at home, in the community (for instance in church), or in social settings.

What does all this mean? It means that yes, it's possible that someone with ADHD "symptoms" doesn't have ADHD. It also means that there are specific diagnostic criteria for determining whether ADHD is present.

The specialist who asseses your child for ADHD will consider whether these possible ADHD behaviors are excessive, long-term and pervasive--whether they are more common in your child than in other, non-ADHD children of the same age, whether they are a continuous problem and not a situational response, and whetehr they occur in more than one setting.

The answers to all of these questions and the pattern of behavior your child exhibits will be compared to ADHD diagnostic criteria in the DSM-IV-TR, a diagnostic manual for psychiatric disorders.

Angie Dixon is a writer and ADHD mom of an ADHD son, Jack. For a free report on helping your ADHD son, see Angie's site "That's My Son!" at http://www.Raising-the-ADHD-boy.com