Feminine Side Of ADHD: Attention Disorder Has Lasting Impact On Girls

Science News ^ | 7-11-2006 | Bruce Bower

[bnelson44]

That's because most boys who are diagnosed with ADHD are simply acting like boys and not girls. Teachers today don't know how to handle boys (maybe because they are mostly women).

[SteveMcKing]

Fake. Disease.

[bnelson44]

It is just a way to control boys in class without having to do actual work.

[Gay State Conservative]

"World To End Today:Women and Minorities Hit Hardest"

[metmom]

Girls are more than half the population. Why should it be so significant that this *affects girls* and more than it affecting boys. News flash. *Children are at risk* DUH!

[Gay State Conservative]

Fake. Disease.

My sister,a very hard working,productive,middle class gal was recently diagnosed as having it at one of Harvard Medical School's largest teaching hospitals.

And,no,she's not gonna apply for SSDI or anything like that.

[SoftballMominVA]

Tell that to my 19 year old daughter who has fought with ADHD and depression her whole life. Nothing fake about it. Nothing.

[greasepaint]

Teachers apparently want more referral fees.

[Seruzawa]

"Research" that is set up to find predetermined results is not science it is fraud. Why do they even call it social science? What hubris. The Physics and Chemistry departments must laugh and laugh at these wannabes who pretend to be scientists. There's no such thing as soft science. If research doesn't result in good hard repeatable results then it is fraud pure and simple.

I'm amazed that anyone buys any of the silly stuff that comes from of the social science wingnuts. I mean, this is Oprah kind of stuff, not real science. None of these "studies" ever survives an independent peer review. What an insult to real scientists. Why don't real scientists publicly repudiate these pretenders?

[SteveMcKing]

"Tell that to my 19 year old daughter who has fought with ADHD and depression her whole life."

A struggle is not a disease.

[mugs99]

My sister,a very hard working,productive,middle class gal was recently diagnosed as having it at one of Harvard Medical School's largest teaching hospitals.

LOL!
The "disease du jour" is always popular at teaching hospitals!
.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

"Attention Disorder Has Lasting Impact On Girls"

'been saying that for years.

[rlmorel]

Thank God I am not growing up today.

Today, they would have slammed those drugs in me so fast it would have made my head spin.

I simply do not believe it is a real disorder. I think it is kids being kids. Do kids get hyperactive? You bet. Do kids get depressed? Absolutely. I just do not believe it is a real "disorder". I think it is an excuse to drug kids to keep them in line.

Just my opinion.

[Hendrix]

Why don't real scientists publicly repudiate these pretenders?

Because most science is junk science, including the science from so called real scientists. The bottom line is that science is not equipped to find answers to most questions. People put way too much faith in science.

[Williams]

Yes of course it is a real condition, many people on here are ignorant and shallow and accept the talking points w/o having any real knowledge. maybe ADHD is overdiagnosed and over medicated but it is very real for many many people.

[wideminded]

A teenage girl who is our babysitter and friend has ADHD. She seems quite intelligent but is doing very badly in school. I worry about her future.

[big'ol_freeper]

I don't see where anybody is claiming ADD is a disease. It is a disorder. A disease is something you can catch. A disorder occurs because of one's personal characteristics.

By the way, how much are you paid for your medical expertise?

[freedumb2003]

I know you have and will get lots of "testimonials" about how Ritalin saved people's brother/kid/cousin/friend etc.

It is all crap. In my youth, I was what we called "hyperactive." Thank GOD they didn't call psycorps on me to medicate me into lobotomy-like semi-comotosity.

I learned how to concentrate, how to act properly, how to behave, how to succeed.

Nowadays it is 15 minutes from "problem child" to medication. So much easier than parenting (God rest my Mom's soul who gave me the examples to last my life).

You have to wonder how these "ADHD" kids would have done 30 years ago.

[SoftballMominVA]

When we first looked into "what was wrong with this kid" we went to our local physician who gave us a checklist to rate her symptoms. (She wasn't in school at the time; we were homeschooling.) I wasn't happy with what I saw as a 'quick and dirty' diagnosis, so we ended up having her evaluated by the Kluge center at UVA. After an extensive work up by a physician, psychiatrist, an counselor and an educational diagnostician, we were told that she was not only ADHD, but SEVERELY ADHD. They recommended counseling, behavior modification and medication. So, when I hear that people say that their local doctor diagnosed ADHD, yes I do think that there is a chance of over-diagnosis.

We ended up putting her in our local public school for many complicated reasons (one of which was her sister who at a very young age showed evidence of brilliance and I was honestly too afraid to teach her and possibly screw her up)

The schools have worked with us at times and not at others. She bonded with a few teachers who are, in my opinion, saints here on earth. There were a couple that were rotten. She's going to college this fall at a small, private school with a whole lot of support. I've never been this nervous and you can believe I'll do what I can from 4 hours away, but the time has come for her to be on her own. Tons of deep breaths and prayers--and my husband says a drink now and then won't hurt.