Experts from all over the world take a critical, highly international and often controversial perspective on the ADHD phenomenon – a condition that has reached global proportions, significantly affecting the lives of children, parents and teachers worldwide. This book raises a number of concerns often not covered by the material currently available to parents and practitioners. Critical New Perspectives on ADHD unpicks the myths surrounding the development of this phenomenon and leaves no stone unturned in its search for answers. An in-depth exploration into the reasons for the emergence and maintenance of ADHD lead to suggested explanations of the dominance of US psychiatric models and the need for new markets for major pharmaceutical companies, as well as the functions that ADHD diagnoses fulfil in families, classrooms and communities. In a world where moves to educational inclusion are paradoxically paralleled by the ever-increasing use of medication to control children’s behaviour, this book scrutinises current accepted practice and offers alternative perspectives and strategies for teachers and other education professionals. This in an invaluable resource for anyone with a serious interest in ADHD and other behavioural difficulties.

Experts from all over the world scrutinize the current accepted practices and unpick the myths surrounding ADHD. They raise a number of concerns uncovered by some available material, and offer alternative approaches for educational professionals.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition of childhood worldwide, yet the medical and psychological perspectives that dominate our understandings of ADHD present problems in their reductive understanding of the condition. Exploring ADHD incorporates Michel Foucault’s notions of discourse and power into a critical ethnographic framework in order to analyse ADHD in terms of both the historical conditions that have shaped understandings of the disorder, and also the social conditions which build individual diagnostic cases in today’s schools and families. In this ground-breaking text, Simon Bailey also: acknowledges the necessary work of classrooms, schools and families in contributing to a social order; examines the problem of teacher autonomy and the constraints placed on schools to ‘perform’; describes the role of nurture groups in governing the emotional conduct of children; presents a unique gender analysis of ADHD. This fascinating new book will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of early childhood education, special and inclusive education, and will illuminate and spark new debate in the arena of ADHD.

Graham, Hiroyuki Ito, Fabian Karsch, Victor Kraak, Claudia Malacrida, Lorenzo Montali, Yasuo Murayama, Sebastián Rojas Navarro, Órla O'Donovan, Francisco Ortega, Mónica Peña Ochoa, Brenton J. Prosser, Vololona Rabeharisoa, Patricio Rojas, Tiffani Semach, Ilina Singh, Rachel Spronk, Junko Teruyama, Masatsugu Tsujii, Fan-Tzu Tseng, Manuel Vallée, Rafaela Zorzanelli

Oxford Textbook of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is an authoritative, multi-disciplinary text covering the diagnosis, assessment and management of patients with ADHD.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition of childhood worldwide, yet the medical and psychological perspectives that dominate our understandings of ADHD present problems in their reductive understanding of the condition. Exploring ADHD incorporates Michel Foucault’s notions of discourse and power into a critical ethnographic framework in order to analyse ADHD in terms of both the historical conditions that have shaped understandings of the disorder, and also the social conditions which build individual diagnostic cases in today’s schools and families. In this ground-breaking text, Simon Bailey also: acknowledges the necessary work of classrooms, schools and families in contributing to a social order; examines the problem of teacher autonomy and the constraints placed on schools to ‘perform’; describes the role of nurture groups in governing the emotional conduct of children; presents a unique gender analysis of ADHD. This fascinating new book will be of interest to researchers and academics in the field of early childhood education, special and inclusive education, and will illuminate and spark new debate in the arena of ADHD.

This book should be read by everyone who wants to understand special education today. New Perspectives in Special Education opens the door to the fascinating and vitally important world of theory that informs contemporary special education. It examines theoretical and philosophical orientations such as ‘positivism’, ‘poststructuralism’ and ‘hermeneutics’, relating these to contemporary global views of special education. Offering a refreshingly balanced view across a broad range of debates, this topical text guides the reader through the main theoretical and philosophical positions that may be held with regard to special education, and critically examines positions that often go unrecognised and unquestioned by practitioners and academics alike. It helps the reader to engage with and question the positions taken by themselves and others, by providing thinking points and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter. Perspectives covered include: Positivism and empiricism Phenomenology and hermeneutics Historical materialism and critical theory Holism and constructivism Structuralism and post structuralism Pragmatism and symbolic interactionism Psychoanalysis Postmodernism and historical epistemology Anyone wishing to gain a fuller understanding of special education should not be without this stimulating and much needed text.