According to the latest research, “attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” may be a misnomer. It seems that the problem is not a deficit of attention, but a matter of allocation:
Many children diagnosed with ADHD can focus well on tasks that are interesting to them, but wander during a class, for example, distracted by other signals in the environment more interesting than the content of the lesson. “They can’t inhibit themselves from looking at or being attracted to something interesting, rather than the—let’s face it, sometimes boring—things we’re asking them to do.”
Another example of something that’s kind of baffling it took this long to confirm with research. Maybe we can start putting more responsibility on the schools and teachers to keep the educational environment engaging rather than labeling kids as having a disorder when they’re just bored and their brain works a little differently than the majority of kids who have adapted to being sheep.
Image credit: q_pid_v