Should Children Suffering from ADHD Be Allowed to Jump Queues?

• September 2, 2009
• #adhd
• #queue
• #disability
• #news
• #children

So, I read that due to the Disability Discrimination Act (which, in itself, I’m totally supportive of), children at some theme parks are being allowed to jump queues because “This may reduce the stress of waiting, which they find very difficult.”

Firstly, I don’t believe for a moment that real, proper ADHD is anywhere near as prevalent as affecting 1 in 20 children as the article suggests. The problem is that all of the symptoms of ADHD are remarkably difficult to tell from the symptoms of just being a child. Which child doesn’t find waiting ‘stressful’?

My years teaching introduced me to a few children who had a genuine mental problem when it came to concentrating which was firmly outside the norms, but absolutely nowhere near 1 in 20. That figure would average out at one or two per class in every class across Britain. It would also suggest that 5% of the people you meet have a medically abnormal problem concentrating. That stops looking like a medical problem and starts looking like a common personality trait.

The issue that is raised in the BBC article gets to the heart of the matter though:

“This is clearly a medical condition, but it isn’t right to bring them up in a system where they never have to wait. You’re not making it any better for them - this is something they can be helped to learn.

“I can see why parents might like it, but in the long term you are not doing the child any favours. This is a condition which we can improve, and learning to wait should be part of that process.”

She’s clearly right. It is a medical condition (although one far less prevalent than the 1 in 20 figures suggest) but she’s also right that treating behavioural problems by allowing the child exactly what they’re asking for (whether verbally or behaviourally) is no use at all for the child in question. It would be much easier if the child lived in a world where they could get what they want when they want. But they don’t.

I think the award for most outlandish metaphor goes to Andea Bilbow of The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service:

“These are children with a disability who cannot wait. You cannot teach someone who is crippled to walk, someone who is deaf to hear,”

That’s true. Generally, you can’t teach a deaf child to hear. But if you could, you would, right? And if you could teach a disabled child to walk, you wouldn’t just push them around in a wheelchair because you thought it made things easier for you and the people around you.