I have just been reading a report in Pediatrics where a study shows that if
you are a minority child from Asian, African or Hispanic background, then you
are much less likely to be taken for an ADHD diagnosis.
The result is that among these minorities, the detection, diagnosis and treatment of ADHD is just way below that of white Caucasian origin. The study was done after the researchers had followed about 17,000 children from kindergarten to the eighth grade.
The conclusion was that among these minorities as many
as a half to two thirds were less likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than their
white counterparts. This is not because ADHD is not present in these minorities.
It is just that there are many factors at play here.
One may be the lack of awareness of what ADHD is and
what the warning signs are. Other factors could be economic ones where access
to healthcare is expensive or non existent so many of these children just go
through their childhood and into adulthood without ever realizing that they have
a problem.
Another issue is that minorities are just outside the
diagnostic net while it could also be said that white children are being
overdiagnosed. There is no definite agreement or consensus on this one.
All too often behavior issues which are plain and
simple and need parental intervention. These cases have nothing to do with
ADHD. Similarly, behavioral problems or learning disabilities at school may be
the result of some other problem. But all too often, teachers want problem
children quiet and calm and will often put pressure on parents to get the ADHD
label, meds and all the other problems that go with that.
Misdiagnosing a case of ADHD is very serious as
medication in the long term can lead to health problems.
Even more worrying is that fact that original disturbance or disorder may never be properly diagnosed, with all the implications this has as the child moves into adulthood. 