Prognosis | ADHD Information

also know Wikipedia has a reputation for inaacuracies. I use it a lot too, but as with most internet information take with a grain of salt...................It would also depend on when those stats were taken.  I think as long as your child is encouraged and driven he can do anything.  Our DD is gifted as well and wants to be a teacher, granted she's only 9 and it will probably change a hundred times.  I think our children have an advantage because more is known about ADHD and they are given skills to adapt better than it used to be.DS10 read on Wikipedia that only 5% of people with
ADHD get a college degree, compared to 27% of the
general population.

Is this true? Does this apply to people who respond
well to medication?

He was really discouraged by this - he already talks
about getting a Ph.D or becoming a doctor.

I' cant believe those statistics are accurate  I was diagnosed with ADD a thousand years ago and I have a law degree.  My daughter is in the gifted program and the majority of the kids in her class are ADHD.  Some are on medication, some are not.  My daughter takes Adderall and gets straight As every report card.  I imagine the children responding well to medications would have an advantage  - better self esteem, better ability to tackle school work and homework, etc...  Please tell your son to continue pursuing his dreams and ignore the stats.  I'm sure he'll be a wonderful doctor who has compassion for others with disabilities!!  

I doubt very much that that is true.  There are many many college grads who are adhd and aren't aware of it.  I would imagine for those with severe adhd and not medicated or treated, the percentages would go up.  

I'm an adhder and have a nursing degree, 3 children with adhd and all are college [or specialty school] graduates.  And, my grandchildren all plan on college, too.  4of 8 are adhd.

I told him that I just don't believe the stats, but I just
wanted to be sure that I was not in denial!!

DS is also gifted. There is no question that his
ADHD (and the LD's which often go with it) have
compromised some of his achievement, but I am
hoping that with time he will be able to reach his
goals. He is so able and motivated.

Thank you for the encouragement.motivation on his part, encouragement on your part and from the school, and choosing the right school and studies--with all of that, there's no holding him back!! I went to a state university and picked the wrong major--struggled mighily but still got my Batchelor of Science degree.  Would've gone on to grad school but was so jaded by the struggle to get that BS.... if only I had known then what I know now!! John D39608.7538657407Our kids can do anything they want to do and phewy with anyone's stats! And...let's just say those stats are right.  Your son (and mine) will be the 5% because they have us!!!

Wikipedia is maintained by regular Joes - so anyone can put anything they want on it. 

My son's neuropsychologist's son has severe ADHD and will be starting Harvard medical school this fall.

It's just like people with dyslexia - it's a little bit harder, you have to learn different learning techniques, but if you have the drive to do it nothing can stop you.

I failed to notice your son's age.  A good antidote to the Wiki piece for your 10 y.o. son is for him to Google "famous people with ADD", where he'll find sites like this one: http://borntoexplore.org/famous.htm  Nothin' like seeing who else out there hasn't let inconsistencies in attention stop them from their passions (and success)!I actually would not be surprised if those stats are correct.  I can't imagine my son actually finishing college.  I don't tell him this, of course.  I encourage him that he can do anything he puts his mind to--as all moms should.  However, knowing that his father who also has ADHD dropped out of high school, and how much my child HATES school now (about to enter 8th grade)--even with meds, an iep, and all the special help they allow---I don't know what will happen.

School is very hard for these kids.  College is even more so.  I am not trying to be a downer, or to discourage, but I am a realist.  It may not happen, and if not, I don't want my son to feel like a failure.  I tell him that life will be very hard for him without an education. 
The job market today shows just how difficult it will be without a degree.  I have explained that he will need to have a plan to make a career for himself if he doesn't go to college. 
I have explained that without a degree you are now unable to apply for a large chunk of jobs and that it will become more so by the time he is an adult.  I have explained that he will need some skills and perhaps he might consider starting his own company.  (Perhaps some kind of job training, etc.)  This conversation has had to come about after he has thrown his weekly "I hate school" fit.  His father has a less than desirable job, and so do I, both because we didn't finish college.  I use our experiences to show him what he may be in store for.
My brother has ADHD and severe dyslexia and he finished his degree (after being told he would never finish grade 7).  He now works for the government and is currently responsible for overseeing all computer appications for the 2010 olympics.  That's not a small potatoes kind of job, and he's doing just fine.

Wikapedia does not hold credibility with me; Anyone can make an entry and the "wikapedia editors" decide what goes and doesn't.

There really is a huge range within the diagnosis of ADHD. I bet some people diagnosed with it may not even have it; it has had a reputation of being overdiagnosed. Some people not diagnosed probably have it.  Where did the statistics come from?  Statistics can be manipulated.

I'd just look at your child as in individual and work around the ADHD -

My kid, for example, is ADHD innatentive but has absolutely no exeutive functioning skills, can't focus on anything he doesn't like, has anxiety and defiance.  He got out of 8th grade only by the skin of his teeth and he has to go to summer school.  He's extremely smart but at his current state, I would say he wouldn't do well in college - but, I'd never tell him that because he can succeed - he just has to work harder than other kids and accept that he has ADHD and take the steps to treat it.

On the other hand - he is a gifted musician and the highschool band leader has been "scouting him".  The entire highschool band knows about him and is excited he is entering 9th grade.  My son would do excellent in music college but he'd have to get the ADHD under control.