FAMILIES in south Essex living with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder have spoken out about the daily challenges they face with the condition.

The condition is a behavioural disorder that includes symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

The symptoms tend to be noticed at an early age and may become more noticeable when a child’s circumstances change, such as when they start school.

October marks ADHD awareness month which sees events and activities held to highlight the condition and the effects on people’s lives.

Bradley Swallow, 12, from Southend, was diagnosed with moderate ADHD in 2015 and his family say life has been challenging since.

His mum, Lisa Swallow 37, said he seems to need something very different from other children due to his condition.

She said: “Academically he functions at a much higher level than most children and he always has.

“When other parents were practicing spellings, we were talking about how to manage anxiety, or how to deal with the overwhelming burden that everyday life causes to someone whose thoughts occur at a rapid speed and without the usual filter than non ADHD brains have.

“He is hyper sensitive and incredibly driven, when he is passionate and challenged, but easily distracted from the things that don’t excite him.

“This is a great thing and will undoubtedly lead him to a successful career, but at times he finds the world so painful.

“Children with ADHD can struggle to read social cues and Bradley can struggle to tell the difference between light-hearted banter and bullying.”

She said the hardest thing about having ADHD is having such a short attention span. She said another issue faced by people with the condition is that sometimes when people are having long conversations they can drift off thinking about other things.

Ms Swallow said: “Bradley is a very sociable young man who needs to talk to manage his high energy and excitement.

“He yearns for interaction to gauge how he is doing in social settings, but he is now being told that he cannot talk to his peers at school without being spoken to first, as he is deemed to be disruptive, which for him is actually a punishment so extreme he feels isolated and anxious.”

Other people living with the condition, such as adults, said they can become frustrated with themselves due to the difficulties they face.

Drewe Elizabeth Lock, 24, from Leigh has the condition, and said: “I can get angry and stressed very quickly and sometimes I have to read instructions about 20 times and it just won’t sink in.

“I was hyperactive as a teenager and think I still am from time to time.

“I can also get distracted easily and my mum said I used to do things around the house such as putting furniture in random places.

“I also can forget things a lot and can find it difficult to focus for a long enough to understand some thing.

“My ADHD also means I struggle with making friendships.”