Diagnosing schizophrenia in children is difficult, especially in the early stages. A possible explanation is that our knowledge of symptoms is insufficient. Moreover, there are no specific classification systems for diagnosing childhood schizophrenia. A seven year-old boy presented with symptoms resulting in differential diagnostic considerations of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or a behavioural or emotional disorder. The boy had auditory hallucinations, was socially dysfunctional and had emotional contact disturbances, leading to the schizophrenia diagnosis.