ADHD is Best Understood as a Cultural Construct

Nicole Uychiat

Blog 4

ASA 2 – Section A03

October 11, 2015

            I found this article particularly interesting because I used to work in a child development center where I had to interact with children diagnosed with ADHD. I agree with this article because it really is difficult to distinguish which children have ADHD and which do not. There is a fine line between just being a kid and a kid with ADHD. I certainly know that putting a label to a child acknowledges some sort of social construct of how a so-called “normal” child is supposed to act and, therefore, sets limits of what they can and cannot do as a child diagnosed with ADHD. Sometimes, it plants an idea in one’s head of how they are supposed to act and limits he/she on what they are capable of. I do believe that society plays a big role in determining if one has ADHD or not because professionals/specialists compare one’s behavior to the behavior of others.

How do the ADHD rates in the U.S. compare to the rates of other countries, specifically third world countries?