1.2 The different types of ADHD

What are the different presentations of ADHD?

Although people with ADHD are unique individuals, they generally fit into one of three predominant presentations.

Dr Sarah Watson talks about "the three presentations of ADHD" (5.0 mins)

This is provided for educational purposes only. ADHD NZ does not provide medical advice, assessment, diagnosis, or treatment. A GP can recommend a suitable healthcare professional.

Dr Sarah Watson

Clinical Director; Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologist B.A., M.A. (Hons), DClinPsych, MNZCCP

Bio: Sarah is a Clinical Psychologist who specialises in working with children, adolescents and their families.

Transcript: download the transcript here for your future reference.

The three presentations of ADHD are:

Each presentation subtype has particular characteristics. Click on each heading or "+" to find out more.

ADHD - Predominantly Inattentive presentation

This presentation tends to be more prevalent in:

women, girls, and genders other than male
those who have encountered a head injury to the frontal lobe, and
those who also have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The main characteristics include an underdeveloped control of attention, focus and concentration.

Less common characteristics include impulsivity, behavioural and emotional hyperactivity and executive dysfunction.

ADHD - Predominantly Hyperactive and Impulsive presentation

As the most well-known presentation of ADHD, this is often noticed in childhood as hyperactivity (with high levels of movement such as running or climbing) and impulsive actions and often leads to trouble with authority and peers.

In adolescents and adults, as the brain matures, so too does the control level, and the hyperactivity reduces from high levels of movement to minor restlessness and fidgeting.The main characteristics include:

lack of control of behaviour
higher than usual activity, and
acting on impulses without thinking first

Inattentiveness and executive dysfunction are also present, though generally to a lesser extent.

ADHD - Combined presentation

The main characteristics, present in equal measure, including less control of behaviour, attention, activity, and impulses.

The areas of the executive function that are affected, commonly result in the following the behaviours:

Inattentive behaviour:

difficulties maintaining attention/focus (particularly when bored),
gets lost switching between tasks,
daydreams or is off task,
difficulty keeping track,
makes silly mistakes, and/or
easily distracted.

Hyperactive behaviour:

fidgeting,
restlessness,
talks excessively,
constant activity,
difficulty sitting still, and/or
trouble switching off/sleeping.

Impulsive behaviour:

accident-prone as not thinking before doing,
later regrets statements or actions made,
blurts out answers/ secrets,
acting without thinking,
interrupting people, and/or
rushes into things.

Emotional impulsivity:

hard to calm down,
self-soothing is difficult,
easily upset, angry or afraid,
easily frustrated or annoyed,
big, raw and sudden emotions, and/or
once it’s over, they’re calm, and it’s as though nothing happened.

Severity of symptoms

Each person is affected by ADHD symptoms to varying degrees. It is now expected that several symptoms of ADHD need to be present in more than one setting. In addition the severity of symptoms can change over time. Designating the severity of ADHD ranges from:

Mild:

few symptoms beyond the required number for diagnosis are present, and
symptoms result in minor impairment that’s barely noticeable in social, school or work settings.

Moderate:

some symptoms or functional impairment are present, and
symptoms can result in impairment that ranges between mild and severe in social, school or work settings.

Severe:

many symptoms are present, and,
these symptoms can result in noticeable impairment in social, school or work settings.

You are 33% of the way through eLearning module: 1. Understanding learners with ADHD

Help us support the ADHD community

ADHD New Zealand receives no government funding for our operations. We rely on our community to help us continue to provide support, tools and advocacy for New Zealanders. If you are able, please consider donating. Your use of our website is governed by our disclaimer and privacy policy and licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Make a donation

1.2 The different types of ADHD​​​​​​​