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My son has contracted a label. Without receiving an official diagnosis, it is already clear that my boy has been exhibiting behaviors akin to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for nearly three years.

Only in the last month has it become necessary to consider the actual existence of ADHD. In addition to receiving high academic marks in every subject area of second grade at Rocky Mount Preparatory School, Michael has also garnered several yellow warning cards for poor behavior capped by a one-week bus suspension for talking too much. Five of his yellow cards came in the last eight days of school

Not just for talking too much had he received these disciplinary consequences. Over the last two weeks, he had been involved in some disruptive, gratuitous behaviors sharply contrasting his excellent academic performances in class. Blocking the bathroom entrance, banging on a bathroom door, walking backward against the teacher's directions, fidgeting loudly during silent reading, losing key items like pencils and books-all of which were behaviors I was sure he knew how to control.

On the other hand, some of these behaviors had already occurred in some fashion at home over the last couple years, but never at school; he loves school (His independent desire to complete his homework and his academic successes in the classroom attest to his love of learning and doing well). The non-academic behaviors include not cleaning his room, playing too loudly indoors, staying out too late at a friend's house, interrupting mom and me, chattering unremittingly at the dinner table, not looking into my eyes when being talked to. The instances of misbehavior at home have been apparent for years.

But not to the degree that his mother and I felt compelled to label him as ADHD. No, I thought he was just acting out; I thought he was choosing these behaviors as ways to gain attention.

It was the suspension from the school bus that got our attention. His mother was visibly upset over the idea that her only son at just six years old had been suspended Naturally, she looked inward for the cause of all this attention-grabbing behavior. She questioned her mothering skills, the attention she gave her son in relation to what she had given to his two sisters. She thought it was her fault he was behaving this way.

Only after a chance conversation at Starbucks in the local Target store with one of her coffee house friends did ADHD enter into our minds. Her friend asked if our son had trouble getting

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