ADHD, mothers and the politics of school recognition

Abstract

This chapter critically examines the tension experienced by some women who are forced to advocate for schools to support their child who has been diagnosed with ADHD. The chapter uses the stories of mothers to highlight the conflict experienced by some mothers when faced with the decision and consequences of either seeking the label ADHD to explain their child's unacceptable behaviour or having their child identified as being naughty and coming from a bad home which in fact means product of a bad mother. It is the mothers' stories that interrupt the taken for granted notions of inclusive education. The stories underscore the dilemma faced by many mothers and educators of whether or not to make all children the same even if that means resorting to medicating them or allowing their difference even if that means disruption to the classroom.