I do believe ADHD exists and it's not just 'bad parenting' as I have seen it active in all forms from workplace to homelife.
I have worked as SENCO trained Teaching assistant in a variety of schools over 15 years and fully believe ADHD is a mental health disorder as it's behavior that cannot be controlled by the sufferer, its as much an automatic reaction for a frustrated ADHD child to have an outburst as a child with Tourettes shouting profanities.
When my own son was born 7+ half years ago I thought I would be the ideal mother with all my 'training'....Turns out my baby son didn't fancy sleeping for the 1st 4 years of his life, But, he threw himself into nursery + loved it, plus was loved by staff....Things changed when he started school....He didn't like the confines of the classroom + the structured day, he found it too stressful and would come home crying and upset. I had always had a suspicion he may be on the Autistic Spectrum because I recognised mild behaviours i had seen in other children over the years in my career. When I mentioned it to his teacher he agreed there was something so we got a referral to our local clinic.
At the clinic we did many tests and activities and his teacher and TA's were quizzed too...The Dr decided he very probably was more inclined to Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD without the 'hyperactivity) but he couldn't diagnose as My son was too young and ADD was not a term used so much anymore....The Dr suggested putting him straight onto medication, I refused as he was only 5 at the time and felt he was too young to be given such a harsh pre-diagnosis and medicated!
Almost 3 years later, he is still in mainstream school and not on medication, he has 1-1 support for 17 hours in school which we had to fight the LEA for and has a good few close friends in his class. He is achieving level 3's + some level 4's in his school work and he's happy. Yes, we have good days followed by bad weeks, but he knows his boundaries and he know what he can and can't eat/drink. (No sweets, sugar, fizzy pop, etc)
Sorry for the ramble, but I felt some of the non-believers on this thread should hear a personal story of an educated mother with a child with ADHD.......Thanks for reading x