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Comorbidity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading disabilities (RD) is greater than what would occur by chance. Considering the well-documented adverse impact of both ADHD and RD on development, the presence of both conditions may lead to particularly poor outcomes for affected people. This chapter, which reviews 43 research studies carried out in the last decade that have focused on the link between ADHD and RD, is divided into two broad nuclei of contents. First, studies are described that contribute information about characteristics of the comorbid phenotype. Second, studies related to procedures directed toward evaluation and intervention in this problem are analyzed. The review carried out does not make it possible to extract definitive results on the exact nature of ADHD and RD comorbidity or, even less, reach conclusions about its causes. However, the literature-based evidence shows a cognitive profile of ADHD+RD characterized by failure of various functions that can produce more severe functional deficits and worse neuropsychological, academic, and behavioral outcomes. Furthermore, the analysis of the set of results from the studies shows a limited efficacy of pharmacological and psychopedagogical treatments, and highlights the need for continued research on this topic. From a clinical and educational standpoint, the conclusions derived from this review underline the importance of performing an exhaustive evaluation of children and adolescents with symptoms of ADHD and/or RD, in order to be able to plan interventions with greater possibilities of success in each case.

I discuss the formal attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis process and whether the Black–White differences found in this process are the results of unmet needs or conscious decisions.

First, I offer a new analytic framework for understanding the “ADHD process.” The proposed framework breaks ADHD diagnoses down into three stages: the informal diagnosis, the formal diagnosis, and treatment. This approach reveals certain racial trends in the ADHD literature. Second, I use the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (total n = 75,764) to address racial differences.

I find that blacks are less likely to hold a formal ADHD diagnosis than whites. Third, nested logistic models reveal that this racial difference is not explained by health insurance status, family income, or family educational level. New explanatory models for the black–white difference in ADHD should stray from a strict reliance on the “unmet need” discourse, and instead focus on other factors that may affect the decision-making process in diverse families.

This chapter makes three contributions to the wider literature on ADHD and race.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed psychological disorder of childhood. Prevalence of ADHD currently is estimated at 5% among school-age children making it a serious concern for educators. One aspect of ADHD, however, that has received comparatively little attention is the academic difficulties that are commonly associated with ADHD. This chapter provides an overview of the extent and nature of academic problems of students with ADHD. First, a theoretical perspective on academic deficits of students with ADHD drawn from Barkley's (2006) theoretical work is presented. Second, the academic status of students with ADHD is discussed. Third, drawing on longitudinal studies, the academic trajectory of students with ADHD is examined. Fourth, possible causal factors for academic problems and core deficit areas of working memory and executive functions are discussed. Next, progress in academic interventions for ADHD is assessed and promising interventions are noted. Finally, some possible directions for future intervention research are provided.

Purpose – The DSM-III reflected American psychiatry's shift from a dynamic approach to a descriptive diagnostic approach. This chapter seeks to elucidate the implications of this shift for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

Methodology/approach – To shed light on this issue I analyze the diagnosis and treatment implications of this shift for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Findings – The transition to the diagnostic approach has had three consequences for the handling of ADD, and later Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): first, it increased the number of children diagnosed with the disorder; second, it encouraged clinicians to treat the disorder with psychostimulants; and third, it expanded the pool of clinicians who could prescribe stimulants.

Contribution to the field – Beyond illuminating the specific cases of ADD and ADHD, this analysis contributes to the medicalization literature by demonstrating that there is more to be studied than merely the expansion or contraction of diagnostic categories. Researchers also have to analyze the implicit assumptions within the diagnostic definitions, which have implications for the prevalence and treatment of illness.

In this chapter, we present the results of a study designed to investigate: (a) the family relations of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), (b) the sources of stress parents in families of children with this disorder experience and (c) the possible modulating role that ADHD subtype and comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) have on parenting stress level. One hundred and sixty seven families, divided into two groups, an ADHD group (N=114) and a control group (N=53), participated in the study. Parents of both groups completed a Semi-Structured Interview that gathered information on socio-demographics, family structure and the presence of oppositional behaviour symptoms, as well as the Parenting Stress Index Questionnaire (Abidin, 1990) to evaluate parent stress. The results showed that the relations of children with ADHD with their parents and siblings were significantly more tense than those of children without this disorder with their families. Parenting stress was higher in parents with ADHD children than in parents of non-ADHD children in most scales relating to parent personal variables, with even more sharp differences in measures of parenting stress that are triggered by the child's behaviour. Finally, our results evidenced how the ADHD subtype and ODD comorbidity influence the level of stress in parents. The results of the study suggest that interventions focused only on the behaviour of ADHD children are not likely to improve the developmental course of the disorder in the long run.

The purpose of this study was to explore how mothers with an ADHD child living in the household experience, perceive, and manage family communication.

A qualitative research design study was employed where in-depth interviews were conducted amongst nine married mothers who have an ADHD child.

Three themes emerged from the interview data: managing internal relations, managing stigma, and difficulties in managing the communication process. Mothers communicate with their ADHD child differently than their non-ADHD children, as conversations with the ADHD child are often unpredictable, negative, and erratic. They specifically experience these conversation patterns when giving directions, during times of discipline, and when the child acts impulsively or cannot focus.

Mothers are not always open about their child’s ADHD with nonfamily members as they are afraid of the stigma that is attached to the condition. Mothers recognize the difficulties in the communication process as they spend a considerable amount of time on their child’s ADHD issues, and their time given to others in the family may be compromised. They also recognize that because of the amount of stress and emotional burnout they feel from having an ADHD child, they need emotional and pragmatic support from family, friends, and professionals. The mothers who receive the least amount of emotional support from their spouses also feel the highest amounts of stress.

This chapter is structured for teaching young learners with other health impairments in special education. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004), other health impairments represent chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, and sickle cell anemia and adversely affect a child’s educational performance. The chapter is organized around definitions, prevalence, etiologies, intervention strategies, and teaching considerations for selected disabling conditions in this disability category.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are one of the most underserved populations in today's schools (Kauffman, Mock, & Simpson, 2011). Many of these students also have additional disabilities in conjunction with an EBD identification, such as Learning Disabilities (LD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), among other psychiatric disorders (Henley, Ramsey, & Algozzine, 2009; Kauffman, 2005).

Because the identification of EBD examines behaviors that tend to be more subjective in nature than other disabilities and because these pervasive behaviors are manifested in a variety of forms, EBD is one of the most misidentified disability categories (Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Gallini, Simmons, & Feggins-Azziz, 2006). For students with EBD, the behavior(s) they exhibit contribute to learning difficulties in multiple academic and functional areas. This chapter provides in-depth information on the common characteristics and behavioral dimensions of this population. Additionally, the in-school performance and long-term outcomes of students with EBD are discussed.

Since the beginning of the 20th century environmental health researchers have known about the association between toxicant exposure and disease. However, that knoweldge has not been well integrated into mainstream medicine. Shedding light on why is the focus of this chapter.

To shed light on this issue I analyze the 2011 American Academy of Pediatrics’ clinical practice guidelines for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), focusing specifically on the omission of environmental health research pertaining to ADHD symptoms and exposures, such as lead and mercury.

I found that while environmental researchers have been documenting the link between lead and ADHD for over forty years, the American Academy of Pediatrics has completely omitted this research from its 2012 clinical practice guidelines. Moreover, I argue this omission can be traced to competitive pressures to protect medical jurisdiction, and a reductionist worldview that emphasizes treatment over prevention.

This is the first attempt to analyze the way clinical practice guidelines help reinforce and perpetuate dominant medical perspectives. Moreover, to shed explanatory light, this chapter offers a synthetic explanation that combines materialist and ideological factors.

Beyond the specific case of ADHD, this chapter has implications for understanding how and why environmental health research is omitted from other materials produced by mainstream medicine, such as materials found in the medical school curriculum, continuing medical education, medical journals, and on the medical association web sites.