ADHD: a scientific fact or a factual opinion? A critique of the veracity of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Doing being Boys with ADHD: category memberships and differences in SEN classroom practices

“…As Hester (1998, 142) demonstrates in his study of referral meetings at a secondary school, the category 'Remedial' implies various predicates, including being in need of help, being behind, being different, etc., which all ascribe some form of incompetence, deviance and otherness to the individual referred to (Evaldsson and Karlsson 2011;Hjörne and Säljö 2012). These characteristics not only become pathological markers, but may also encourage teachers to adopt a diagnostic lens (Graham 2007;Visser and Jehan 2009). In this sense, the social and administrative functions of medical categorizations and discourses defining the particular boys as being Boys with ADHD, belonging to a particular grouping named after their diagnosis, display the pervasive influence of the biomedical perspective oriented to in Swedish schools.…”

“…The construction of ADHD as a diagnostic category has been criticized for being too simplified and far from evidence-based and also for increasing the identification of boys with behavioral disorders (see Graham 2010 for an extended discussion). The ADHD diagnosis of boys from socially disadvantaged backgrounds is becoming more commonplace and can be seen as having increased immensely in recent decades in several Western countries (see, for example, Visser and Jehan 2009). Looking at the Swedish context we find, for example, a predominance of boys diagnosed with ADHD receiving special educational needs (SEN) support in schools (Emanuelsson and Persson 2002;Giota and Lundborg 2007).…”

The Schooling Experience of Adolescent Boys with AD/HD: An Australian Case Study

“…Proponents of this view have suggested that the symptoms of AD/HD may refer to a set of behaviours that are not necessarily pathological (Deault, 2010;Hughes, 2007a;Sava, 2000;Visser & Jehan, 2009) and view the clusters of behaviours associated with AD/HD as part of the normal continuum of human behaviour, although the behaviours may indeed lie at the extreme end of currently prescribed social norms (Humphrey, 2009;Lee et al, 2008;Sagvolden, Johansen, Aase, & Russell, 2005).…”

Jagten på en ADHD-diagnose: Analyse af situationer og kontekster, hvor det bliver attraktivt at være psykisk syg

“…Debatten er et udtryk for, at ADHD er kontekstualiseret i en raekke forskellige discipliner inden for de biomedicinske, psykologiske og sociologiske paradigmer. Det biomedicinske perspektiv peger på ADHD som primaert forårsaget af en neurologisk dysfunktion, som skal løses med psykostimulerende medicin, og hvilket uden tvivl er den helt dominerende diskurs i akademisk såvel som professionel litteratur (Visser & Jehan 2009), mens det psykologiske perspektiv baseres på teori om for eksempel eksekutive funktioner og kognition. I den sociologiske diskurs eksisterer ADHD ikke som en sand, objektiv sygdom (Ibid.…”