Accidental Intolerance How We Stigmatize ADHD and How We Can Stop

"Accidental Intolerance is outstanding. Not many books this philosophically sophisticated are so carefully attentive to the medical literature. Even if you do not agree with Hawthorne you will have to take her arguments seriously." -- Carl Elliott, University of Minnesota "Susan Hawthorne offers us a multifaceted, sensitive (and sensible) study of the emergence of ADHD as a distinct diagnostic condition in the last decade or so. Carefully analyzing the research from different disciplines and orientations, as well as the reports of experience of those so diagnosed and their families, she uncovers the ways in which values and factual findings from many directions have interacted to shape this psychiatric category. She concludes with recommendations intended to improve the scientific and clinical understanding of the phenomenon as well as the experience of ADHD-diagnosed individuals. An excellent contribution to contemporary science studies." -- Helen Longino, Stanford University "Susan Hawthorne has written a sober, evenhanded, and insightful book about the place of ADHD in our culture. Readers who want to understand the complex interplay of social, medical, economic, and conceptual elements in the ADHD phenomenon will want to read this book." -- John Z. Sadler, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center