Are We Reaching A Tipping Point in the ADHD Debate?

A student with a diagnosis of ADHD is something that we commonly encounter in our tutoring work.  As such, we try to keep informed about the latest developments in that area.  We’ve written about and referenced ADHD in several of our blog posts over the years.  This post will be a bit different than those that we have written before.

We are wondering out loud whether we are beginning to reach a “tipping point” as it regards the diagnosis of ADHD.  Beginning with a well-known video featuring Sir Ken Robinson in which he says that the national trends in diagnosis of ADHD are not appropriately described as an epidemic, and comparing that with the significant rise in rates of diagnosis that we have witnessed nationally in the last 20 years certainly has us thinking.  We are not epidemiologists and thus, we don’t lay any claim at all to labeling Robinson’s claim as wrong or right, but he does make observations that warrant scientific examination. 

Every single day there is a new news article written which advocates for differing points of view in assessing just what it is that we are witnessing.  One only need search online for “French ADHD” to locate both an opinion piece that calls into question whether America is somehow using inappropriate criteria in making these diagnoses when compared with our French counterparts, and another article whose clear purpose is to rebut.

Further fanning the flames of debate is the announcement of an upcoming publication by neurologist Richard Saul, entitled “ADHD Does Not Exist: The Truth About Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder.” In it, Saul claims that what we label ADHD is in fact more appropriately attributable to as many as 20 other known causes of behaviors that are traditional hallmarks of ADHD.

Finally, a recent article in Forbes calls into question not so much whether ADHD is real, but instead questions the trends in treatment options and whether once a diagnosis is made whether we are defaulting to medication all too easily.

Mind you, all of the aforementioned occurs in the bright light of fMRI and EEG-backed scientific studies that indicate correlations between those diagnosed with ADHD and a different brain profile.  So, it’s no wonder that any family confronted with a diagnosis of ADHD might find themselves absolutely bewildered by the information on the subject and difficulty in determining just what it is they are facing and how best to deal with it.

Diagnosing ADHD well is a highly refined skill.  There is no single test or marker, genetic or otherwise, that definitively confirms the diagnosis and thus, extensive knowledge and clinical experience on the part of the diagnostician are essential.

A diagnosis of ADHD has the potential to greatly impact the life of a student along many axes, including significant changes in student self-perception.  While we have seen many students thrive, others have sadly resigned themselves to not putting forth their best efforts in school because their thinking unfortunately becomes something along the lines of, “Well my ADHD is just going to make this or that too hard and I probably won’t do well anyway.”

It’s this last point that concerns us most.  Ultimately we are talking about ensuring that ANY child facing a diagnosis of ADHD can rest assured that we, as parents, educators and policy makers know precisely what we are talking about when we use the label ADHD and have to make decisions about what to do to treat it (or decide that what we are observing is something else).  We think that’s worth “tipping” over and convening a serious, scientific national debate.

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