Forum from the Archives: Is It Time to Rethink Pediatric ADHD?

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KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A record high 7 million U.S. children have received an ADHD diagnosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But journalist Paul Tough wonders if we’re thinking about pediatric ADHD all wrong. For a recent New York Times Magazine feature, Tough spent a year talking to leading researchers who now say that standard treatments like Ritalin only help children behave better, not learn better – and even that effect wears off completely over time. We talk to Tough about why he says we need to reconceptualize diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. Guests: Paul Tough, contributing writer, New York Times Magazine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:30.3	Hey, forum listeners, it's Mina. I have exciting news. We're taking forum beyond the airwaves,
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0:55.3	From KQED News. From KQED.
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0:56.7	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Nina Kim. Coming up on forum, is it time to rethink how we
1:17.9	diagnose and treat ADHD in kids? Journalist Paul Toff spent a year talking to researchers
1:23.0	of attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, and found many expressing concern over the disconnect
1:28.5	between the science on ADHD and standard treatments for it, like Ritalin and Adderall.
1:34.0	Meantime, the number of children receiving an ADHD diagnosis in the U.S. has reached
1:38.9	record highs.
1:40.3	We listened to my recent conversation with Tuff about why he says we may be thinking about ADHD all wrong.
1:46.6	Join us.
1:59.1	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. More than 11% or some 7 million U.S. children have received an ADHD diagnosis, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported last year, a record high. That figure also includes 23% of 17-year-old boys. And yet, according to Paul Tuff, in many ways, we now understand
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