Passage 3

Questions to 15 are based on thefollowing passage.

When my daughter Jane was infirst grade, her teacher pressured me to put her on stimulants(兴奋剂). She explainedthat Jane daydreamed; she also became over-excited- when she learned somethingnew. "Inattention and excessive activity are classic symptoms of ADHD(多动症). They can be treated with Adderall or Ritalin,”her teacher explained.But I knew this was absurd. Jane did not haveADHD. "That just sounds like any bright kid,"I responded. "Ifshe's ahead of her classmates, she'll be bored sometimes."

I was on to something. Somescientists believe that kids with IQs in the top 5 to 10 percent of thepopulation are especially at risk for ADHD misdiagnosis. It is estimated thatsomewhere between one-third and one-half of intelligent kids diagnosed withADHD are misdiagnosed. As I suspected, that is because smart kids such as Janeengage in the same behaviors as children with ADHD. For example, both brightkids and those with ADHD are over-excitable and inattentive. Both questionauthority.

Even so, her teacher'ssuggestion merited further consideration. After all, intelligent children suchas Jane can still have ADHD. I was not going to ignore Jane's' problem.But I amalso a doctor. And I know stimulants carry risks.

For example, a"naturalexperiment"in Quebec revealed that kids using stimulants for ADHD may bemore likely to drop out of school and underperform in math. Other evidencesuggests that these drugs deteriorate some child-parent relationships.Additionally, a one-year study suggests that stimulant use can lead to chronicdepression.

Meanwhile, stimulants are nocure. They simply reduce core ADHD symptoms while the child is on the drug.Consequently, drugs may hide conditions that are misleadingly presenting asADHD, leaving them unnoticed.

Due to these concerns, Itried other approaches before drugs. I enrolled Jane in a more challengingschool. There, she became first in her class. Later, she became high schoolvaledictorian(致告别辞的毕业生代表).

What if I had accepted herteacher's suggestion? Jane probably would have been fine. But she could havedropped out of school. Medication might have sucked her into a depression orhidden her real problems leaving them unnoticed. Also, humanity might neverhave benefited from Jane's considerable achievements.

Being watchful whilemedicating children is important for all parents, especially parents ofintelligent children. Mounting evidence indicates that bright kids are atconsiderable risk for misdiagnosis. And medication may minimize theircontributions, upon which society's progress depends.

 
What did the'natural experiment' in Quebec tell people about?