Attention deficit and the development of child science in the Netherlands c. 1955–1985
pp. 331-346
in: Sabine Reh, Kathrin Berdelmann (eds), Aufmerksamkeit, Berlin, Springer, 2015Abstract
Today children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are often treated with medication, mostly methylphenidate like Ritalin, in order to improve their attention at school and their behaviour. The illness is conceived of as a dysfunction of the brain. Before the 1980s, when ADD+H and ADHD were introduced and rapidly became popular, different labels were used to indicate children showing the same problems: inattention at school, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Although at the time the possibilities of the instrument available to register brain activity, the electroencephalogram (EEG), were very limited compared to modern techniques, these children were likewise conceived of as suffering from brain disease.