There’s no cure for ‘difficult’ boys [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 04 March 2010
YOUR feature on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on February 22 needs some cautionary notes.
When a newly-defined "condition" affects nearly 10% of the population (in this case boys), it is probably not an illness but a part of the range of behaviours that was considered normal in the past.
Parents must not be coerced down this road as they have been in the US. There are many historical figures who would certainly have been "diagnosed" with ADHD. Mark Twain is a certainty. And I’m sure if you remember your school days, as I do mine, you know the boys who would have been given this label in the past. Most of those I knew harnessed it to become successful and well adjusted – even if the "treatment" of the day was to be beaten to pulp.
Full Story: www.irishexaminer.com
