AD/HD Principles:
Helping Patients, Families, Teachers, and the Community

Signatories

AD/HD is a recognized mental disorder that, if left untreated, can have serious impact on a person’s mental health and social, academic, and work life.  These principles affirm that people with AD/HD have the same rights to healthcare, and social, government, and medical support as do sufferers of other disorders.  We encourage public and private funding for research on this mental disorder. 
The undersigned support and adopt the Principles set forth in this document.

1)      Scientific evidence supports that AD/HD is a recognized disorder.

• AD/HD is real.    The nation’s most prestigious medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and American Academy of Pediatrics, agree that AD/HD is a mental disorder with symptoms which include distractibility, inattention, inability to plan and follow through, overreacting, and restlessness. 

• AD/HD is serious.  Children and adults with untreated AD/HD are at higher risk of developing learning disorders, substance abuse problems, clinical depression, and anxiety disorders.

• AD/HD can be diagnosed and treated.  Guidelines established by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry enable physicians to appropriately diagnose and treat AD/HD.

• Adults as well as children suffer from AD/HD.  More than 50% of children with AD/HD carry the symptoms into adulthood.  The disorder appears to run in families, with 10-35% of children with AD/HD having a parent who has or had the disorder.

• AD/HD is vastly undertreated.  According to the US Surgeon General, fewer Americans are being treated for AD/HD than suffer from it.

2) Children and adults with AD/HD and their caregivers have both  
rights and responsibilities.

• The right to be recognized as having a legitimate, chronic mental disorder.

•  The right to a medical evaluation and ongoing treatment by a licensed healthcare professional.

• The right to make informed decisions about the benefits, risks, and costs of treatment and the right to select and have access to the treatment that meets their individual needs.

• The right as students to appropriate special education services as set forth in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

• The right as employees to appropriate workplace accommodations as set forth in the Americans With Disabilities Act.

• For caregivers and those with AD/HD, the responsibility to educate themselves and others about the disorder and to seek expert advice on diagnosis and treatment from qualified health professionals.

• For caregivers and those with AD/HD, the responsibility to comply with treatment, to use and care for medications responsibly, and to seek assistance from family and health professionals.

• For those with AD/HD, the responsibility to be held accountable for their actions in all settings and to contribute in a positive way to their community.

3) Medical professionals  have a clear responsibility to diagnose and   
appropriately treat children and adults with AD/HD.

• The responsibility to make informed diagnostic and treatment recommendations using guidelines established by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and other recognized medical societies.

• The responsibility to provide individualized treatment, including education about treatment options that meet particular needs of each patient and his/her family.

4) Educators have a clear responsibility to accommodate students with AD/HD without compromising the instructional needs of other students.

• The right to have open, constructive dialogue with parents and caregivers about the educational needs of children who have, may have, or may be at risk of AD/HD.

• The right to draw upon professional experience, to obtain training, and to receive assistance from school administrators and parents in their efforts to accommodate children with AD/HD, or who are at risk of AD/HD, without compromising the instructional needs of other students.

• The responsibility to understand the symptoms of  AD/HD, to alert parents and caregivers (without making medical statements or recommendations) to participate in relevant classroom intervention plans and to understand the limitations of their authority.

5) Employers have a clear responsibility to accommodate employees with AD/HD without compromising the workplace environment.

• The responsibility to make appropriate workplace accommodations for people with AD/HD, as provided by the Americans With Disabilities Act.

• The responsibility to balance the needs of the AD/HD employee with the needs of the overall work place.

• The responsibility to give the AD/HD employee every opportunity to produce an excellent work product and to succeed.

6) The media have a clear responsibility to follow sound journalistic practices based upon accepted science in their coverage of AD/HD.

• The responsibility to accurately report scientific and medical facts and accurately present the broad medical consensus regarding diagnosis and effective treatment of AD/HD.

• The responsibility to investigate the credibility of sources claiming to have expertise in AD/HD, as well as to disclose commercial or professional conflicts that may have a bearing on their public statements about AD/HD.