ADHD | Peter "Just Loves Flying"

An Epidemic of Attention Deficit Disorder – NYTimes.com

January 2, 2014

An Epidemic of Attention Deficit Disorder – NYTimes.com.

There is no doubt that a small percentage of children, perhaps 5 percent, have the disorder and that medication can alleviate the symptoms, such as inability to concentrate, that can impede success in school or in life. Some studies have shown that medications helped elementary schoolchildren who had been carefully evaluated for A.D.H.D. improve their concentration and their scores on reading and math tests.

Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 15 percent of high-school-age children had been diagnosed with the disorder and that the number of children taking medication for it had soared to 3.5 million, up from 600,000 in 1990. Many of these children, it appears, had been diagnosed by unskilled doctors based on dubious symptoms…

Hyperactivity can be useful – especially if you’re a mother – Family News & Advice | Parenting, Marriage & Kids | The Irish Tim – Tue, Sep 24, 2013

September 26, 2013

Hyperactivity can be useful – especially if you’re a mother – Family News & Advice | Parenting, Marriage & Kids | The Irish Tim – Tue, Sep 24, 2013.

‘A weight off my shoulders” is how Monaghan-based artist and fashion designer Helen Steele describes the day six years ago when she was diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Today is ADHD Awareness Day, which aims to highlight the positive aspects of the condition and its link with creativity and sport.

ADHD is a genetic condition that is caused by a balance of chemicals in the brain that is different to that of the average person. It affects an estimated 60,000 children in Ireland, with the majority diagnosed between the ages of five and seven.

This misunderstood psychiatric condition leads people to assume that a child’s hyperactive and erratic behaviour is down to bad parenting.

Research by HADD, the Irish support group for people living with ADHD, found that more than six in 10 parents of children with the condition feel it isn’t properly recognised by society. Some eight in 10 parents of children with ADHD feel judged by other parents.

But Steele is “quite proud to wear the ADHD label”…