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Conservatives Need Help Focusing Correctly on ADHD
By Kerri Houston
May 1, 2002

Anyone who believes that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is not a legitimate disease clearly doesn't have it. Nor do they experience the agony of watching their children struggle with its challenges on a daily basis.

It is also ironic that some conservatives have publicly denounced the legitimacy of ADHD, as most successful activists that I know seem to have it. Creativity, extroversion, boundless energy and a concurrent ability to hyperfocus on a single issue while still being aware of every nuance of his or her environment are all cardinal signs of ADHD - and of effective ideological warriors.

No other childhood illness is viewed with more prejudice than is ADHD. When its symptoms and effects are misrepresented and misreported, the implication is that victims of this disease are somehow at fault - children already at great risk as they struggle with academic requirements and appropriate peer interactions. Would we find a victim of juvenile diabetes at fault for the dysfunction of his pancreas? Of course not! Then why is deemed acceptable to imply that children with symptoms of ADHD are somehow responsible for the visible manifestations of their dysfunctional brains?

Although the root cause of ADHD is not completely understood, scientific evidence proves its existence in a manner consistent with its long-reported symptoms. These causes include both structural differences and a defect in the operation of neurotransmitters.

Studies show that the brains of children with ADHD are smaller than those of healthy kids due to abnormalities in three specific brain areas; and that size variations in an ADHD brain create an abnormal symmetry.

Chemically, brain receptors do not work effectively as the neurotransmitter dopamine is not produced at normal levels. This anomaly in dopamine production occurs in the area directly associated with attention and emotive behavior.

Approximately 5% of school-age children suffer from ADHD, and it is three to four times more prevalent in boys. The reason for this disparate occurrence is yet unexplained, but has nothing to do with Gloria Allred's theory that boys should play with dolls and be more like girls - i.e. quieter. As conservatives, we celebrate the physiological differences between boys and girls and eschew the radical feminist notion that gender differences are created by societal pressures. ADHD is no exception to this rule - boys are different, and something in their physical brains makes them more susceptible to the disorder.

However, brain-imaging techniques do show that the chemical and physical abnormalities of ADHD boys are identical to those of ADHD girls. This is no more evident than in my house where I have one of each, the girl being more affected than the boy, and my own self-awareness that tells me that I will have to get up out of my chair at least three times and do something else in order to focus on this opinion piece.

Fortunately for my children and 20 million other kids, there are medications available today that allow them to cope with the symptoms of ADHD so as not to be labeled by their teachers or peers as "weird" or "stupid." Drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall quiet abnormal activity in the frontal lobe and allow sufferers to control their impulses and focus their attention.

Studies indicate that these medications are completely safe when properly administered. Unfortunately there are scattered pods of alarmists and fringe groups buying into disinformation about ADHD and thus playing directly into the hands of trial lawyers who see the "myth of ADHD" movement as a post-tobacco litigation meal ticket - shaking down the pharmaceutical companies.

The ideological and political community in which I reside is all about individual responsibility and families. We know that lack of accountability is costly to taxpayers and grows government, and denying the existence of ADHD has a direct impact on these cornerstone principles. Untreated ADHD contributes to lower college graduation rates, employment, marital instability and substance abuse - known causes of increases in government dependency. Being a responsible parent includes doing what is medically necessary for the health and success of a child. When conservatives criticize parents for seeking treatment for ADHD, they become those self-appointed busybodies they usually criticize.

The government run school system is indeed an abysmal blob always looking for the path of least resistance. But to reflexively assume, as some conservatives have, that ADHD is a plot hatched by the education establishment to keep children still in their seats is not only uninformed, but insulting to responsible parents who recognize and treat their child's consistent, detrimental - and make no mistake, painful - inattentive and impulsive behaviors.

Managing this disorder requires a combination of medication, coping systems and consistent discipline. My children see everything, notice everything and feel everything. I tell them to celebrate their difference - to embrace the gift that is ADHD and the remarkable perception of the world that comes with it. I hope that no one else ever tries to tell them otherwise.

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Kerri Houston is National Field Director for the American Conservative Union and the mother of two ADHD children ages 10 and 18.