Hyperactive children

The public and professionals alike are deluged with well-intentioned but poorly substantiated treatises on hyperactivity and its supposed causes and cures. From some parts of the spectrum come the assertions that hyperactivity is best understood as a purely physiological problem, perhaps a compensatory reaction to underarousal in the central nervous system, or perhaps a specific dietary allergy. From other quarters come the claims that hyperactivity is largely in the eye of the beholder and that children are the victims of slipshod labeling practices. In this climate of controversy, there is a clear need for a responsible and authoritative survey of what we know about contextual variables in the identification and treatment processes of hyperactivity in children. This volume is an attempt to fill this need. -- from Preface.