The other side of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

There are a high number of people that search for speech treatment due to unsatisfactory performance at school. They are considered to have writing and reading “disorders” or “difficulties”. Many of these subjects are diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). The studies on this field are very vast and it is possible to identify two theoretical and methodological tendencies that try to explain the problem. On the one hand there are the organicists who believe in the existence of the ADHD as a mental disorder that is responsible for symptoms like hyperactivity, lack of attention and impulsiveness. On the other hand, there are researchers who think that these diagnoses are a process of medicalization of education. This second point of view is related to a sociohistorical paradigm and its followers defend the idea that learning problems are related to social issues (not biological ones), i.e. learners are victims of inefficient pedagogical process. Thus, the objective of this paper is to develop a discussion about the diagnose of the ADHD. Here, we are going to consider the two presented points of view and their possible implications on the developing process of writing language and we are also going to propose a theoretical reflection about the scope of these paradigms.