How do I know whether my child may have ADHD and not just being hyperactive?

i second the above suggestion to just bring the child to a specialist for proper assessment. but it is possible that children are just being full of energy because the way children uses their energy is different form adults. they use their energy in a burst mode until it is totally depleted, then they rest then they are ready to go burst mode again (u can observe this in the way children play in teh playground or fields) it is different from the way adults uses our energy because we have muscle endurance and uses our energy in a moderate mode over a longer period of time. so it ur child is have many of energy burst and u can't catch up, it is highly likely to be normal :) a characteristic of adhd child is that the child is the only one doing different from the rest of the class - e.g. rolling on the floor and jumping around while the rest of the children are all sitted with the teacher