in the a recent new york times article on ADHD, most of which is very good, there is one part that i have real disagreements with.
Other experts, however, say that while such success stories can be inspiring, parents need to know that their children face real risks. Research shows that children with attention deficit have different brain patterns from other children, and that they are more likely to drop out of school, be involved in car accidents and use illicit drugs.
“This reframing A.D.H.D. as a gift, personally I don’t think it’s helpful,†said Natalie Knochenhauer, founder of A.D.H.D. Aware, an advocacy group in Doylestown, Pa. “You can’t have a disability that needs to be accommodated in the classroom, and also have this special gift. There are a lot of people out there — not only do their kids not have gifts, but their kids are really struggling.â€
i believe that ms. knochenhauer is missing out on something good by setting up a false dichotomy here.
as i have written on before, i believe that ADHD can be an amazing gift, and the same symptoms that can bring frustration also bring incredible amounts of creativity and edge-thinking.