In Late 1998, the First Major Study on Student Perceptions of ADHD Was Published in The

The school experiences of students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the focus of UniSA academic Dr Brenton Prosser’s new book Seeing Red, to be launched at the Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference in Adelaide next week.

Following on from his highly successful book ADHD: who’s failing who? Dr Prosser continues to challenge the conventional notion of how we deal with ADHD.

Seeing Red is the first book to record the views of Australian students with ADHD.

“It seems strange that each day we hear the opinions of every man and his dog on ADHD, but we rarely hear the voices of young people diagnosed with the disorder,” Dr Prosser says.

“It’s not that students with ADHD don’t understand schoolwork, it is often that schools don’t understand how they work.”

In talking to these students, Dr Prosser found their experiences unsettle many of the stereotypes about ADHD.

“Young people want to do well in school and are angry at the representations of ADHD put forward by the media,” he says. “They say that medication is not the answer for school, it just helps them make smarter choices.

“Students also explain that engaging teaching helps them to learn, while old fashioned discipline often has the opposite to the desired effect.

“Hopefully through this book, schools will get a better understanding of what life is like in school when you have ADHD.”

“What’s hard is sometimes you don’t know like... how to behave for one teacher what the teacher expects, they might expect somethin’ completely different to another teacher. Like you may have one teacher that is really laid back and easy going and treats you proper so you treat them proper... then you got other teachers and it’s like walking into the army, they’re there to teach and you’re there to learn and sit there and do what they say no matter what happens. Kids with ADD can’t cope with that…” Daniel, X-year-old student

Seeing Red is compulsory reading for educational leaders, academics, researchers and anyone wanting to explore the narratives of ADHD students in depth.

Seeing Red: Critical Narratives in ADHD Research by Dr Brenton Prosser (PostPressed, Flaxton, Queensland, 2006) will be launched by Professor Pat Thompson (Nottingham University) and Professor Robert Reid (University of Nebraska) at the 2006 Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference 3.40pm, Monday November 27 Bonython Hall, North Terrace, Adelaide Advance praise for this book:

“This study represents cutting edge thinking and an innovative strategy for approaching gaps in knowledge in the wider fields of sociology and education. Hopefully this work will inspire other researchers to follow on in addressing the social and cultural problems presented by such a complex and little understood diagnosis as ADHD”. Dr Katherine Bilton, Institute of Education, Cambridge University.

“Prosser has the ability through his writing to make meaningful connections between the individual and the universal. Through his rich images, he is able to weave the threads of an aesthetic (at times spiritual) expression together with a compassionate critical language to achieve a rather wonderful whole cloth. The study comes alive as it unfolds”. Professor Noreen Garman, Institute of Studies in International Education, University of Pittsburgh.

“This book should be required reading for all politicians, policy makers, medical practitioners and parents who unthinkingly reach for the prescription pad to solve a complex problem. We must get inside the reality of ADHD by understanding it, before attempting to ‘fix’ it”. John Smyth PhD, Roy F & Joann Cole Mitte Endowed Chair in School Improvement, Texas State University

About the Author: Brenton Prosser PhD has an honours degree in English Literature, is an ex-middle schoolteacher and for several years ran a respite program for children with challenging behaviours. Now a Lecturer in Middle Years teacher education at the University of South Australia, he works with teachers to redesign pedagogy for schools in Adelaide’s northern urban fringe.