ADHD
ADHD — Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Understanding in order to provide support differently
Is your child having trouble staying focused, finishing tasks, managing restlessness, or controlling impulsiveness?
Homework becomes complicated, remarks from school multiply, tensions arise at home — and the whole family ends up exhausted by difficulties that seem to repeat themselves endlessly.
In adolescents or adults, ADHD often takes more discreet but equally debilitating forms: mental fatigue, chronic disorganization, procrastination, emotional hypersensitivity, feeling constantly overwhelmed despite efforts made.
ADHD is neither a lack of intelligence, nor a lack of willpower, nor a problem with parenting. It is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects specific brain systems — and is understood and managed all the better when placed in its context.
What ADHD does to the brain
ADHD primarily affects executive functions — those abilities that allow us to concentrate, organize our tasks, regulate our emotions, control our impulsiveness, and maintain mental effort over time.
Neuroscience shows that these difficulties are linked to specific developmental and functional characteristics of the brain networks involved in attention, self-regulation, and working memory. In children, this can manifest as high distractibility, restlessness, frequent forgetfulness, impulsive reactions, or difficulty tolerating frustration. Over time, these difficulties can have significant repercussions on self-confidence, relationships, and quality of life.
The role of presence in ADHD An often underestimated dimension in ADHD: the role of the presence of those around the individual in the expression and evolution of the disorder.
The brain of a child or adult with ADHD regulates its attentional and emotional functions differently—but it remains deeply sensitive to its social environment. The quality of the attention given to them, the presence of a predictable and supportive framework, the availability of a regulating adult: these elements are not simply contextual factors. They actively modify brain function.
A child with ADHD who feels understood, supported, and not judged is not the same child neurobiologically as one who accumulates negative remarks and experiences failure. The caring and structured presence of those around them—parents, teachers, therapists—is an active part of the support, not just a background element.
This is one of the ideas explored in the blog articles, based on research in social neuroscience and the Presence Brain project.
How I work
A tailored neuropsychological assessment (in a clinic) allows for a better understanding of attentional and executive functioning, the identification of specific difficulties, and the guidance of treatment.
Depending on the situation, support may include parental guidance, psychotherapy, attentional and emotional regulation strategies, cognitive remediation, and certain neurofeedback approaches such as Play Attention.
The goal is to gradually help the child, adolescent or adult to better understand how they function, regain more stability in their daily life, and develop strategies adapted to their difficulties — in a support that also includes those around them when relevant.