1.

Thec hil
dmayc ompletetasksineffici
e ntl
y,e .
g.bymi s
singo uts t
ep sinchoresoro t
her
acti
v i
ti
e swhichthenneedr ep
eating,notp ayingat t
enti
ontoi nstruc
tions,orbre
ak i
ngitems
duet or us
hing(notpayingat te
nt i
ont owhatt heyaredoing) .Thechildmaymak elotsof
mistakesint hei
rhome workevenwhe nt he yu nders
tandwhatt odo,andho mewo rkmaybe
presentedasme ssywithlotsofcorrections.Thec hi
ldmayno tno ti
ceimp o
rtantinformati
on
inthee nvi
ronment,suc
hasr oadc ros
singso rsignsofdanger.

2.Athomeo rc l
ubsthissymp to
mc anbeo bserv
edbyt hechil
dfr e
quentlychangi ngthet oy
theyareplayingwithort heactivi
tytheyar edoi
ng.Theymayo nlystayo ntaskfo rafe w
minut
es.Thismaybebe c
au setheyhavebe c
omebo re
do rbecausesomethingmo ree ngaging
hascaughtt hei
re ye.Ch i
ldrenma ys t
ruggletocomp l
eteacti
viti
esandt as
ks ,evenwi th
adul
tsupport.Theymayav oidreadingbooksorsi
tti
ngt hro
ughamo v
ie,fore xamp le.They
mayalsolo
s ethei
rt r
ainoft houghtwhenengagedinconvers
atio
n.
3.Itmays eemthatthechil
di snotpayi
ngattenti
onorisdaydreaming.Famil
yandv i
si
t o
rs
tot heho memayc o
mme nto nt hi
s.Alt
ernati
vel
y,thec hil
dmayap peart oli
ste
n,bu t
subsequ
ent l
yforgetorbeu nabletorepeatins
truct
ions.I
ns po
rts,forexample
,thec hi
ld
mayap peartol
is
t e
ntotheco achbutfai
ltofoll
owthroughonins
tructi
ons.

4.Whe ngiv
enc horest odoatho me,thechi
ldma ymissoutsomet asksand/ornotfinis
h
everythi
ngtheys etou ttodo.Commonexampl
esarenotcompleti
ngtheirsel
f-carerouti
ne,
i
nc l
udingdress
ing;fo rgetti
ngitemswhe ngoi
ngt oshop
sand/o rre t
urni
ngwi t
hr andom
i
te ms;le
avi
ngt apsrunning;andneedi
ngmanyreminderst
oc omple
teanac t
ivi
ty.Evenwhen
foll
owingwritt
e ninstructi
ons,thechil
dmaymi ssouts tep
s,fo rexamplewhenp utti
ng
togetheratoy,resul
tinginerror
sandt o
ysbei
ngincor
rectl
yas s
embled.
5.Thechi
ldmays eemt oalwaysbeinar us
h,orrunni
nglatetoclu
bsoracti
viti
es.Thec hi
ld
mayu ndert
aket asksinano rderthatseemsil
logi
caltoother
sdu etopoorp l
anningand
organi
si
ngskil
ls
.Childrenmaybeu nti
dyandhavediffic
ultyfi
ndingthei
rtoyso rclot
hes.
Olderchi
ldr
enmayfi ndithar dtobalanc
eho meworkandlei
sureact
ivi
ties
,no tdu etoa
disr
egardforthe i
rhome workbutdu etopoo
rt i
memanage mentando r
ganis
ationalskil
ls
.
Theymayhav ei
mp air
edr el
ati
onshi
psduetomissi
nge v
entsorl
etti
ngdownfriends.

6.Thec hildmayav oidorde l

ayt asksre quir
ingme ntaleffort.Theymayno tpers
evereon
taskst he yfindhardand/o rre pe
titi
ve.Thec hi
ldmayp rocr
as t
inat
eandp utoffhomework
tasks.Whe naskedt odoac hore,thec hildmayc omp l
etesmal l
ertasksfi
rstandp utoff
morei nte nsi
vetasks,and/orpr o
testal otabo uthavi
ngt ocomp l
etethetas
k.Thechil
dmay
j
o i
nc l
u bsbu tdisengagefromac ti
vi
tiest hatlackphysic
alstimulat
ionoracti
vi
ty.Thechi
ld
may av oid gamest heyp er c
e i
vet obe l ong,repeti
tive and/ore du
cati
onal
,be c
oming
oppositionalatthesetimesast heyfindt hetas kav
e r
sive.
7.Thec hi
ldmayloseormi s
p l
aceitemssuchasthei
rbuspass,keys
,cl
othi
ng,s
c hool
wor
kand
toys,andhavenoincl
inati
ono fwhereo rwhentheyl
asthadt heit
em.Thi
sme ansthatthe
y
mayt urnupforactiv
itie
su nprepar
e dand/orwi
thou
ttheequ ip
mentormaterial
sthatthe
y
need,fo rexampl
ewi thoutt he
irc oat
,s car
f,foot
bal
l,tennisrack
et,USB s t
ickand/or
paperwork.

8.Thec hi
ldmayap peartofrequent
lybedaydr eamingand/orobser
vedt oqu i
ckl
ys hift
focustoano ther(mo resti
mu l
ati
ng)t ask.Thechil
dmaybee asi
lydist
ractedbyt he i
r
surr
oundings
,i nc
ludi
ngac ti
vit
iesand/o rbackgr
oundnois
e( su
chast het ele
visi
on)t hat
other
ss eemtobeabl et obl
ockoutorigno r
e.Mul
tit
aski
ngmaybep arti
cul
arlychall
enging.
Thec h
il
dmayap pl
yc opi
ngstrate
giest hatmaskthiss
ymp t
om,suchasp referri
ngtodo
homeworkinaqu i
etr o
o m.
9.Thec hi
ldmayfr e quentl
yfo rgetwheretheyleftsomething,ands p
endal otoft ime
searchingfo ro bje
cts ,toys,cl
othese t
c.Thechil
dmayfo rgett oattendap p
ointments,
me e
t i
ngso rclubs.The ymayfo r
gett ocommuni
cateimport
anti nfo
rmationand/orletter
s
froms cho
olt op arent s
/carers(whic
hr emai
natt hebo t
tomo ftheirschoo
lbag).Whe n
vi
siti
ngfr iendso rre lati
ves,t
hec hi
ldmayno tcol
lec
talloft heirpro
perty,eve
ni t
e msor
toyst hatar eimp or
t antt othem.Theymayne edr emi
nderst odor outi
netasks,suchas
brushingtheirteeth.

10.Thechil
dmaybeo bse
rvedt obefi dgetyandrestles
s,evenwhenwatchingtele
vis
ion,at
thedinnertableand/orint hec ar
.Thec hi
ldmayfi dgetevenwhene ngagedo natasko r
acti
vitythe
yfi ndi
nterest
ing, orwhenfe e
li
ngtir
ed.The yarefreque
ntlybe i
ngtol
dt ostop
rocki
ngbackont hei
rchai
r,k ic
kingtheirl
egsand/orfiddli
ngwithobj
ects.Thesebehavi
ours
mayc aus
ep ro
blemsinthecinema, i
nchu r
chand/orinrestaur
ants.
1
1.Thechil
dmayhav ediffi cul
tysettl
ingdown.Inparti
cular
,thechildmays truggl
et ost
ay
s
eatede v
enwhe nthisisc ompulsor
yo rimport
ant,ge t
tingupmu ltipl
et i
mes.Thismaybe
o
bserv
edbyt hechi
ldwa nde ri
ngar o
undt heroomwhe nwat c
hingte l
evisi
onand/orleavi
ng
t
hei
rs eatatt hedinnert abl
e.Thec hil
dmayne edc onst
ante ngage menttohe lpthem
r
emainseatedonpubli
ctr ansportandtheymays tr
u ggl
et ocopewithlongjour
ne ys
.

12.Thechildmayr unaroundandc l
imbono bject
sde s
piteattemptsbyp ar
ents/carersto
managet hi
sbe havio
ur.Thec hi
ldmayhavedamage dfurnit
uret hr
ought heseactiv
iti
e s
,or
hurtthe
ms elv
es .Theymayr unorcli
mbinare aswherethisisnotpermi
t t
e dand/ore ngage
inbehavi
o u
rst hatar eri
skyo rdangero
us,su chascli
mbingu po nroo
fs ,cars,trees,and
runni
ngac ros
st hestr
eeto rtrac
kline
s.Olde rchi
ldr
enmayc hanneltheu rget orunand
cl
imbintosportingacti
vit
ies.
13 .Thec hil
dmayber ar
elyobser
vedtoe ngagei
nqu i
etac t
ivi
tie
s,ins
teadbei
ngde scr
ibed
asl oud,ont hegoando ver
lyacti
ve.Whenaskedtoplayqu i
etl
y,thechil
dmaygoo ff-task
be causet heyge tup
,r u
nar ou
nd,and/ormak ealoto fno i
se.Thechil
dmays tr
u ggl
et o
adhe ret os oci
alnor
msandc ontr
olbehaviouri
ns ett
ingss u
chasmu seu
ms,gal
lerie
so r
chu rch.Thec hi
ldmaydistur
bothersbytalki
ngthro
ugho uttel
evi
sio
np ro
grammesoratt he
cinema.

14.Thec hil
dmaybede scribedasbe ingc ons
tantlyont hegofr om mo rningt onightand
stru
gglingt os ett
leatbe dtime .Yo
ungc hi
ldrenmays eeml i
keawhi rl
wind,mo v i
ngfr omtask
totask,r unningaround,andno tengagi ngwithac t
ivi
ties
.Onp ubl
ictrans p
or tt hec hil
dmay
requi
readdi tio
nalsup e
rvisi
o nt oens u
r ethatt heys t
ays eat
edands afe.Par e
nts /car
ers
mayr epo rtfe e
li
ngwo rnou tbyt hec hi
ld.Olderc hi
ldr
enmayp re s
entasl essc haoticbu tsti
ll
stru
gglet osettl
eandfu llye ngage.Thec hil
dmayr epor
tade si
ret orel
axbu tfe elunableto
‘
switcho ff’,evenwhe ntheygot obed.
15.Thechil
dmayhav edifficu
ltywaitingforthei
rt urntos peakandi nsteadblurtthi
ngs
outorint
e r
rupto t
hers.Theymays tr
u ggl
et ofol
lo
wt he‘turn-taki
ng’ru l
eso fconv
e r
sati
on
butinste
ads e e
m mo tiv
atedt osayi mme di
atel
ywhati so nt he
irmi nd( eve
ni ft hi
sis
unrel
atedtot hetopicofc o
nversa
tion).Thechi
ldmays e
e mt obei mp
at ientforothersto
fini
shspeaki
ng.Olderchil
drenmayfinishotherpeopl
e’ssent
e ncesforthem.

16.Thechil
dmaybeo bse r
vedt ofindwaiti
ngavers
iveandbe comequ i
cklyi
mp atient.The
chil
dmaybe comeoverl
ye mo ti
onalwhensomethi
ngt hattheywanti snotavailable.They
mayav oi
ds tandi
nginli
nei naqu e
u eorpushtothefr ont
,speakouto ftur
n,ands natch
i
t e
ms .Thec hi
ld may at temptt o wait bu
t beco mesu nmanageable
,disru ptiv
e,o r
embarras
sing.Parent
s/c arer
smayr e
por
thav i
ngt oleaves i
tuat
ions,forexamp l
ewhe n
shoppi
ngint hesuper
mar ket.Thismaye venbethec asewhenqu eui
ngfo rso
me thi
ngt he
chil
ddesi
res,suchasarideatat hemep ar
k.
17.Thec hi
ldmayi ntr
u deo nthec o
nversati
ons,privatespace,orac ti
v i
ti
es,ofo thers.The
chil
dmayu nderstandt hes oc
ialboundaries
,bu tlackt hepatiencet omanaget hem.The y
mightinterruptpr i
vatec onver
satio
nsandt hei
rbe haviourmaybep ercei
vedasat t enti
on
seeki
ng.Thec hil
dmayno tseemt orespe
c tthep r
ivacyo fparents/carerso rs
ibli
ngs ,us
ing
thep os
se s
sionsofo therswithoutas ki
ng.The ymayac twi t
ho utt hi
nkingt hrought he
consequ
enc esofthe i
rbe havi
our.Repri
mandsmayhav ehadli
mite deffe ct
.

18.Thec hi
ldmaybep ersi
stentlychat te
r i
ng,evenwhent
he yknowthesi
tuatio
nc all
sfor
qui
et .Thec hi
ldmayj umpfr omt opictot opi
c,havi
nganendles
snarrat
ive,anddo minat
e
co
nv ersationsast heystruggletos topt al
king.Theymayinte
rrupttheconversat
ionsof
ot
he rs,ev e
nwhe nt he
ya reo nthep hone.Parents/c
are
rsmayr epo
rthavi
ngt ofrequentl
y
re
mi ndt hec hi
ldtobequ i
etors ett
ledo wn.