Myth #9:
ADHD kids are learning to make excuses, rather than take responsibility for their actions.
- Therapists, educators, and physicians routinely teach children that ADHD is a challenge, not an excuse. Medication corrects their underlying chemical imbalance, giving them a fair chance of facing the challenges of growing up to become productive citizens. Accommodations for the disabled, as mandated by federal and state laws, are not ways of excusing them from meeting society's responsibilities, but rather make it possible for them to compete on a leveled playing field.
- The Woodhall School (catering to boys of superior intelligence who have failed to thrive in traditional school settings) considers accountability a cornerstone of its education model. Though small (42 boys maximum) Woodhall's successful programming is highly regarded across the globe. Having just celebrated its 25th anniversary, educators and academics have been consulting Woodhall in hopes that they might duplicate the program’s success.