Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) holds the distinction of being the most extensively studied pediatric mental disorder and one of the most controversial, in part because it is also the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder among minors. Currently, almost 8% of youth aged 4 to 17 years have a diagnosis of ADHD, and approximately 4.5% both have the diagnosis and are using a stimulant (methylphenidate or amphetamine) as treatment for the disorder. Yet a diagnosis of ADHD is not simply a private medical finding; it carries with it a host of policy ramifications. The enduring controversy over ADHD in the public arena therefore reflects the discomfort over what happens when science is translated into policies and rules that govern how children will be treated medically, educationally, and legally. This article (1) summarizes the existing knowledge of ADHD, (2) provides the relevant history and trends, (3) explains the controversy, (4) discusses what is and is not unique about ADHD and stimulant pharmacotherapy, (5) outlines future directions of research, and (6) concludes with a brief analysis of how two North Carolina counties have established community protocols that have improved the screening, treatment, and societal consensus over ADHD and stimulants.

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Abstract:Scholars point out a tension between racial justice and disability rights activism. Although racial minorities are more likely to become disabled than whites, both disability activism and the historiography of disability politics tend to focus on the experience and achievements of whites. This article examines how disability rights activists of the 1970s sought to build a united movement of all people with disabilities and explains why these efforts were unable to overcome cleavages predicated on race. Activists drew from New Left ideas of community and self-help as well as the New Right rhetoric of market freedoms to articulate a vision of liberation for people with disabilities. Though they yearned for racial solidarity, in practice, activists could not overcome institutions that separated antipoverty and racial politics from disability policy, nor could they figure out how to incorporate minority voices in an identity-based movement forged around disability rather than color.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (adhd) holds the distinction of being both the most extensively studied pediatric mental disorder and one of the most controversial. This is partly due to the fact that it is also the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder among minors. Currently, almost 8 percent of youth from the ages of four to seventen have a diagnosis of ADHD, and slightly more than 4 percent both have the diagnosis and are taking medication for the disorder. In other words, on average one in every ten to fifteen children in the United States has been diagnosed with the disorder and one in every twenty to twenty-five uses a stimulant medication—often Ritalin, Adderall, or Concertaas treatment. The biggest increase in youth diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed a stimulant drug occurred during the early 1990s, when the prevalence of physician visits for stimulant pharmacotherapy increased fivefold. This unprecedented increase in U.S. children using psychotropic medication triggered an intense public debate.

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