Dr. Saul makes a valid point. The basic problem is, however, that there is no definitive diagnostic test for ADHD or for other brain related disorders for that matter except perhaps for Parkinson's Disease. The best medical science can do is make a diagnosis based upon symptomology and psychometric testing. Treatments are even more limited and essentially amount to trial and error experimentation on each patient. Until such time as we have better imaging technology and can develop cell culture techniques to evaluate neurological function in the laboratory at the molecular biology level, there will be no other alternative.

To say that ADHD is a fictitious disease is doing a great disservice to those that suffer from these real and disabling symptoms. JMHO

http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/...n-real-disease

I listened to the interview the other day. Claims ADD/ADHD to be fictional and only for pharmaceutical companies to make money.

My boys are similar ages(nearly 9 and 7+).

Our kids are exceptionally active(like their parents) and can quickly push boundaries.

Big boundaries(safety/ethics/morals stuff) are easy for us to manage, but the small boundaries are time consuming for us to enact/enforce/reinforce.

We want to raise a couple of respectful but assertive boys willing to make good choices and take calculated risks.

This may sound a bit strange, but in some respects we see raising active boys(little girls seem like a completely different cute little alien species to this fella) has some similarities with raising dogs.

Leave active boys without enough physical/sensory input/output and they will start tearing up the place like leaving a Malinois in a one room apartment and expect it to follow a sedentary life without going off like wet dynamite.

When my boys and/or dog push the boundaries and start driving their mother nuts, I take them to the beach behind the house, throw them in the water(year round) and make them race until they're exhausted.

Modern pharmaceuticals are like little miracle pills for many people, but I view pharm as closer to the final tool(and an important one) in the toolbox for kids/ADHD.

And I'm concerned with the incentives by big pharm, medical community, schools, parents, etc to use pharm to excess due to the profit motive and a crutch for lazy teachers/parents.

As a layman/parent I wonder about the possible long-term effects on child/adolescent brain chemistry after years of prescription ADHD meds, but defer to any SMEs.

When teachers and other parents comment on how "full of energy" our kids are(code for going off like wet dynamite) that just tells me I need to dunk them in the ocean longer and run them faster and farther. :)

I've noticed some personal comments about perceived ADHD in posters themselves.

I have to admit to gaining a bad habit of reading multiple books concurrently. I have had increasing difficulty in starting and finishing individual books, particularly on Kindle/Ebook/PDF.

I find it a BIT easier with physical books, but still find myself doing it a bit with them as well.

Agree. The activity output needed is spot on. He does eat quite a bit, and he sleeps like a rock at the end of the day. His teachers just started having him type out his work. Getting the thoughts out of his head and on paper by pencil wasn't working. Complete turnabout in writing assignments with the change.

I was hyper as a child, too, and I admit as well to having several things going on at once. I just consider myself an efficient multitasker.;)but I think it is possible that I have ADHD, as someone mentioned above about reading things (contracts, etc., that are dry and uninteresting), but it hasn't hampered me in any way. I break things down and compartmentalize a lot to get things done.