every male child has ADD according to schools

Question

My son is a Junior in high school and he is not doing well academically. He was not hyperactive as a small child so we never suspected that he had ADD but he has never done well in school and this year his guidance counselor suggested we get him tested for ADD without hyperactivity and he did have this. This really explained a lot about his behaviors and helped us not feel so frustrated with him for his inability to organize his life at all. His guidance counselor has suggested we get in touch with a local therapist who she says has helped other students quite a lot. The therapist uses Neuro-Linguistic Programming. This type of therapy sounds very strange to me. Do you think it is worthwhile for a teenager with ADD?

Jan Falk · Accepted Answer

I would be very hesitant to label or seek any kind of treatment based on anyone elses opinion. These days any student who is : smart, quirky, talented, bored, artistic, athletic, active....you get the idea, gets labeled with ADD or ADHD. If you see it at home, maybe there is some merit, but if your student is able to focus when doing something he likes to do, it is most likely a problem with the educational instruction. What does he say? He is a Junior in High School, which is the most stressful and difficult year, I would tread lightly on backseat quarterback diagnostics.

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