Pay attention and study hard! (2)

"Reasons vary. Our study shows that Caesarean birth, hormones in food and various electronic gadgets are all relate," he tells Shanghai Daily.

Most Chinese parents prefer to send a child to a psychologist instead of considering medication, Tan observes.

"There is no connection between lower intelligence and medication," Tan says, adding that medication to control symptoms isn't recommended for children under six. Side effects such as loss of appetite and stomach upset can be managed, he adds.

Treatment is a long-term process, requiring both medication and behavior modification therapy, he says. For example, a child could be encouraged to focus attention by giving rewards. Some children seem to "outgrow" ADHD symptoms, others do not. Medication as well as herbal medicine can help, he says.

Although ADHD children are entitled to enroll in public kindergartens and other schools, they are not welcome by teachers or classmates if they are disobedient or disruptive.

"I am a mother of an ADHD boy," says Wen Qing, a professional who returned to China from overseas where the boy was diagnosed. "Now I send him to a local kindergarten but the teacher asked me to bring him back home."

Teachers are sympathetic but they have their limits.

"I am not unkind and I fully understand the situation of parents with an ADHD child," says a teacher at Happy Kindergarten, who asks not to be identified. "But I have nearly 20 other children in class and I cannot spare time to help one difficult child. I am exhausted. If I take my eye off him for a moment, he throws a bowl of soup into another child's face or makes a mess of the toys."

Parents of other children complain about disruptive pupils and fear they will influence their own well-behaved children. "Now I suggest that the boy be in class for just half a day," the teacher says.

"Surely the earlier the diagnosis, the better the cure," says Dr Wu from Fu Da Hospital.

The prejudice against ADHD children cannot be cured, it seems.

"My son has no friends at class," says Wen, the mother who returned from overseas. "I know this is not his fault. Of course, he cannot win the heart of the teacher. I feel they treat my kid like an alien and I am helpless."

She frequently takes her five-year-old son to the doctor who tells her to be patient, saying it may take months or years for him to "ease down." She's now resorting to TCM treatment.

"Do you know how the top primary schools in town choose the children in the entrance exam?" asks Rebecca Wu, a 30-something mother.

"Besides the written exam, children are required to sit in the classroom for half an hour with a book, while a teacher watches from outside to see who is well-behaved," she says.

"It's common for teachers to like disciplined children who can focus on studies. Today when everything depends on test scores, teachers and parents prefer children who are able to sit for hours and do homework and excel on exams," she adds.

Because these children cannot control their behavior, they need encouragement and understanding, say psychologists.

Lin Zhiming, a father of a seven-year-old ADHD girl, says he plans to emigrate to Canada to ease situation for his daughter.

At first, he didn't think the problem was serious and a doctor said her condition was not severe.

"But as parents, we could feel the prejudice around her since she was little," says the 40-year-old owner of a small trading company. "She is not too welcome at public kindergarten and has almost no playmates. There's no association where I can communicate with other parents. I feel my princess is not happy, so I want to shift to a friendly environment for her, a least one that's more tolerant of an ADHD child."