It's way too easy to say that ADD doesn't exist. Almost as easy as a teacher recommending psychiatric drugs because they're incapable of handling a class.

I've got ADD. I've had it all my life. Taking meds makes the difference between functioning and not.

ADD means Attention Deficit Disorder. ADHD means Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. They are not the same, despite usually being run together.

Hyperactivity is a kid thing, and often seen as a fault, which it isn't. In the school system, it replaces dyslexia as the excuse for poor teaching methods. As ADHD is dampered down, another "mental disability" will show up to replace it.

But ADD truly does exist, and by leaving hyperactivity out of the equation, it is probably very much underdiagnosed. Many of the kids who have it are quiet. Some of them even do well in school, simply because they force themselves to learn something.

When I found I had it, I was shocked, and it bothered me for a long time. I always thought I was "normal" (relatively, anyway). I thought everyone's mind worked like mine. Then I found that not only did I seem to think differently from a lot of people (I knew this ), but I had trouble learning things. In school and most my working life, I was able to take notes and refer to them to get the job done until I was used to doing it. Then I got a job where I wasn't allowed notes, and talk about S hitting the F. I felt like a total idiot. They would tell/show/explain something, and unless I could keep doing it right away, over and over, I forgot a lot of it. Talk about having to be retrained after lunch! I guess I'm bright enough, but I just have the attention span of a gnat. It's more debilitating than you could realize without experiencing it.

So please don't blow off the suggestion of ADD if someone dares suggest your kid (or YOU) have it. Have an evaluation done. Educate yourself. Ask questions. INSIST on answers to your questions. If you don't get them, go elsewhere. But don't handicap your child because of your wishful thinking or other people's opinions.

There are naturopathic treatments that really do help (that's what I take) if you don't want 'hardcore' drugs.

Sue