The Stigmas of ADHD
What are the stigmas attached to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), and what can be done to overcome them? The stigmas of AD/HD affect all areas of life for children and parents: social interaction, school and home. While ADHD has been widely discussed in the media lately, the lack of relevant information that makes headline news greatly perpetuates the stigmas of ADHD.Before being diagnosed, a child is often not able to establish good peer relationships, due to interrupting conversations or not waiting for her turn. In school a child's inability to sit still, or pay attention can have serious effects on their academic performance, thus they get labeled "troublemakers", lazy... These labels can have significant effects on their self-esteem that lasts a lifetime. ADHD children also need more one-on-one attention to learn, and are put into special ed classes where they are labeled "slow learners". Patrick J. Kilcarr, Ph.D., and Patricia O. Quinn, M.D. published the study "The impact of ADHD on the Family" where they concluded that parent child relationships can be strained because the child cannot meet the parent's expectations of learning in school, or are unable to learn cause and effect at home therefore
Because the Federal Government considers ADHD a disability, school children who are diagnosed with it have special rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). For example Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has recently led to the identification of what could be proof that ADHD is indeed a disorder with physical characteristics to identify it. In order to learn a child must be able to sit still and pay attention, without those abilities a child is unable to learn in today's school environment. During childhood any excuse to ostracize another is often drudged up and all too often the ones who seek medication, go to special education classes, or need extra help are the ones who suffer the consequences by receiving the stigma of being different. " As early as, 1908 children were being medicated for this condition. An article in the American Family Physician states the "Prevalence rates for ADHD vary substantially, partly because of changing diagnostic criteria over time and partly because of variations in ascertainment in different settings and the frequent use of referred samples to estimate rates. " (National Mental Health Association) Parents who choose not to use medication have other options, such as intensive behavior modification, special education programs, restricted diets, biofeedback etc. Unlike an average child, using time out to punish a child with ADHD requires constant supervision and reminding them they are in time out, and at the same time what they are being punished for, as one symptom of ADHD is diminished short term memory. In the DSM-III two versions of ADD were presented, ADD+H (with hyperactivity) and ADD-H (without hyperactivity). HID was thought to be cause by "nerve pathway deficits", and in 1968 it was replaced MBDS in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II). The theory of ADHD being a "behavior syndrome that disrupted personal and community lives through inattention, poor control of impulse, mood swings explosive emotional patterns and unexplained aggression and violence" was first put into writing in 1890 by William James. Children whose parents do choose to medicate are stigmatized as bad parents, often being cited as unable to control their child or they are considered lazy parents. They also experience "social and emotional adjustment difficulties" which causes them to be singled out and frequently reprimanded by their teachers (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH] 1997; CHADD 1995).
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