问题
问艾玛
仍然困惑……多动症是一种残疾还是一种疾病?
我看到我的女儿们，以及她们每天的行为和功能。我总是怀疑他们是否患有注意力缺陷多动障碍，每到新学年，我就会和老师们讨论他们的注意力集中时间……或者缺少它，当他们的注意力快要消失的时候，要寻找什么或者保持什么。如果你失去了她对你教的东西的兴趣，那么你就很难再让她回来了。一旦她迷路了，你就无法让她回来，直到第二天，因为一旦她对你失去兴趣，她的情绪就会崩溃。”- my words to their teachers every new school year. The teachers assure me every year that they have not seen any behavioral patterns to cause concern and their studies are right on the money - A/B Honor roll students every year. My daughters are my pride and joy.....smart, creative, clowns, one is a social butterfly but has a hard time coping with adversity within her friendships and the other is unusually shy (until she gets to know you) but then you can't make her stop making you laugh with her funny antics. One doesn't seem to do too well with kids her age but all the teachers know her and how helpful she can be....she is very smart but known to daydream in class if the teacher misses her cue. The other is more popular with the students in her class but always fears of getting in trouble for not doing her work...she hates to bring attention to herself...it brings the shyness out in her yet is very distracted at home when it comes to starting tasks or finishing them at that. I keep a close eye on them now that I know I have ADHD. I also have a female cousin who has ADHD and her oldest son has ADHD. Her youngest child has yet to be diagnosed but shows all the same issues that her oldest did 10 years ago at the age of 5. I have an aunt in her 60s that I have a real reason to believe has ADHD but was never diagnosed. That aunt has a daughter, another cousin of mine, that I think may had this as well. Unfortunately, no one has medical insurance to find out.
所以，为了更好地评估我的情况，并对我的孩子们的未来保持一种前瞻性……多动症是一种残疾还是一种疾病?
回答
你好,艾玛,
你的女儿听起来很棒，而你听起来像一个伟大的母亲!
好问题!是残疾还是疾病?
这不是一个简单的答案，但这里是:
注意力缺陷多动障碍通常被视为一种障碍，而不是一种疾病，尽管一些科学家确实称其为一种疾病。多动症的大脑不同于“正常”的大脑，但是多动症不像糖尿病那样，如果不治疗，就可能死于糖尿病。所以这可能是一个语义学的问题。
至于残疾，许多人认为这取决于多动症的严重程度。有些人有轻微的多动症;有些人患有严重的多动症。如果严重到影响一个人在学校、工作或社交方面的能力，就会被认为是一种残疾。事实上，儿童和成年人可以在学校和工作中得到法律保护和支持，因为多动症，当它致残时，是受ADA(美国残疾人法案)保护的。
由于多动症是高度遗传的，而你和其他家庭成员也确实患有这种疾病，所以明智的做法是找到一种方法来评估你的女儿在学校等方面是否需要干预，这样她们就不会挣扎甚至失败。你可以先和学校的心理学家谈谈评估方案。
希望这可以帮助!
特里