When I was growing up (the 1965-1975 era) ADHD and ADD were called Hyperactivity Disorder . Schools and neighbors treated this diagnosis as one-step-up from taking the short bus to school. It was a Learning Disorder, a Behavioral Disorder, but most of all it was a Psychological Disorder. I don’t know how many hours I spent talking to psychologists as a child, but it was quite a few. I don’t blame them for anything. In that period of history, we simply didn’t know any better. Ritalin was prescribed by doctors without the clarity of why it made a difference in the behavior of hyperactive children. It was also common to hear from a doctor that the child would ‘ grow out ’ of her hyperactivity after puberty. Some doctors today still believe this fallacy. The 1980’s brought little change in this area of treatment, except for some brave souls who changed the name from Hyperactivity Syndrome to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). There were a few good insights, but not much rese
...giving all the feels.