ADHD is not overdiagnosed, but it may be often misdiagnosed. Sometimes people think ADHD is overdiagnosed because diagnoses have increased over time. It could be true that some diagnosed people do not really have ADHD. There are college students who fake ADHD to get medications that help them study faster. There are people experiencing depression,…

Many people hold that long-standing and widespread belief that only boys have ADHD—but it is a myth. For almost a century, the majority of clinic referrals were for young hyperactive boys who were impulsive and unmanageable. Researchers used the data describing the behaviors of those boys as the basis for the early diagnostic criteria. Since…

While it is now well recognized that kids with ADHD who struggle in school may be entitled to receive services under an IEP or a Section 504 plan, many students with ADHD continued to struggle prior to the pandemic, either despite these services or protections or because schools were still not willing or sufficiently trained…

Are children with ADHD more likely to have difficulty following healthy lifestyle behaviors compared to children who don’t have ADHD? This research update will focus on two studies that considered different aspects of that question. The first study examined a number of different lifestyle factors, such as water intake, consumption of sweetened beverages, multivitamin and…

Making small talk is a critical life skill and the foundation for all friendships. A conversation can increase your level of intimacy with someone. Small talk allows you to see if you have mutual interests and to get a sense of who they are and what they like. It can introduce you to a new…

For parents of preschool-age children prone to behavior that is very hard to manage, many experts currently recommend Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, or PCIT, as an effective treatment intervention. Among them is Paulo Graziano, PhD, a PCIT practitioner who is an associate professor at Florida International University. He notes that PCIT sessions generally occur weekly, however,…

Revisiting “To Tell or Not to Tell” Clients and audience members often ask me whether to tell their family, friends, coworkers, or bosses that they have ADHD. In social situations there sometimes are no right or wrong answers; so much depends on the circumstances, the openness of the person who has ADHD, and trustworthiness of…

And Stop Trying to Fit Yourself Into a Specific App or Tool   Twenty-eight-year-old Johnny works as a software developer. He has struggled with ADHD since his early years in elementary school. ADHD impacts his ability to stay focused, be organized, and get things done without procrastinating. As an adult, Johnny has often been told…

My earliest school-related memory is from kindergarten. My teacher would assign a small homework packet on Monday that was due on the Friday of each week. Little did I know that my approach to completing my work was a unique one compared to the rest of my five-year-old peers. It took me years to understand…

As we enter summer break after more than a year of pandemic learning, you might feel pulled in opposite directions. On the one hand, your child hasn’t been in a traditional school setting for over a year. Students are likely behind where they would have been without the challenges of distance learning. On the other…