Theoretical and epidemiological aspects of attention deficit and overactivity in deaf children

(DSM-IV), and hyperkinetic syndrome (ICD-10) are com-mon and disabling. However, a number of factors in deaf chil-dren's development make the assessment of these disorders in deaf children problematic The prevalence of ADHD and hyperkinetic disorder does not appear to be higher than ex-pected in children with inherited deafness alone but does ap-pear to be higher in children with acquired deafness and/or additional impairments. Data from a re-analysis of an earlier epidemiological study of psychiatric disorder in deaf children and adolescents suggests that these disorders are commoner than expected in deaf children and share the features of ADHD and hyperkinetic disorder seen in hearing children. Disorders of overactivity and inattention in children are common and can be disabling (Sandberg, 1996). Their etiology is likely to be multifactorial (Sandberg, 1996); biological, psychological, and social factors all playing important parts in their genesis. Other disor-ders, such as mood and anxiety disorders, can present with similar symptoms (e.g., restlessness and inatten-tion), which require very different management. Differentiating between these different disorders de-pends, in large part, on obtaining an accurate ac-count of the child's personal experience of troubling symptoms. Deaf children experience the same range of psychi-atric and psychological disorders as hearing childre