ABSTRACT
By and large schools are places where student conformity and passivity are assets to the smooth running of things. On this basis it could be said that AD/HD is tailor made to disrupt schools as we know them. It could also be said with equal truth that schools are tailor made to exploit the weaknesses of students with AD/HD. In short, we must be careful not to assume that problems relating to AD/HD are necessarily located within the student. The doggedness with which the majority of school students quietly put up with sometimes pointless, tedious and stressful school routines is often under-emphasised. There are not many legally compulsory institutions, apart from schools (and possibly prisons), where human beings are routinely subjected to strict rules regarding their rights of association and communication, physical movement and personal appearance, and where failure to comply with rules can lead to punishment. In these circumstances it is sometimes the case that the child with AD/ HD is telling us more about what is wrong with the school than what is wrong with the child.
