ABSTRACT
The past century has witnessed mounting public concern over a host of behavioral and developmental disorders in children, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, attachment disorders, eating disorders, emotional, and mood disorders, including chronic depression, bipolar disorders, low self-esteem, and learning disorders including Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, and Dyspraxia. This chapter examines why these disabilities came to be recognized at particular moments in time, why certain symptoms became objects of public concern, and why certain treatment regimens became dominant. It identifies five broad trends that have contributed to the diagnosis, treatment of these disorders: “the discovery of risk”, “the scientizing of disabilities”, “concept creep”, and the notion of “a symptom bank” of culturally specific symptoms that become the dominant ways that children respond to distress.
