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iQuestions Faculty, Dr. Kevin Leman 
 
 
Question: 
 
My child has been diagnosed with ADD. Can I still discipline my child? 
 
Answer:  
 
I love this question, because there are so many kids in our country 
who suffer from ADD. In fact, there are a lot of kids being treated for 
ADD who quite frankly don’t have ADD.  
 
Let me give you my biased opinion what happens in our country today. 
We bring kids into this world, and we don’t rear them. We let other 
people rear our children. We drop them off at a kiddie kennel and we 
go chase our dreams. 
 
Our kid begins to respond to the fact that they don’t have enough 
parenthood interaction, and they misbehave, we take them to the 
shrink, “Oh, I’ve got the answer here. Your kid’s got ADD.” We drug 
the little suckers. That’s what happens in America. 
 
Now, am I saying that ADD does not exist? No. I’ve been a practicing 
psychologist for thirty-four years. I’ve seen a lot of kids who have 
ADD. But, I point out, I never made that diagnosis myself. I used a 
pediatrician who is behaviorly-trained to make that diagnosis.  
 
Here’s the problem. Once a kid gets labeled ADD, or ADHD, it becomes 
an excuse for the kid acting out. And the parent allows the kid to go 
outside of those boundaries. That’s not good for the kid. It’s not good 
for the family. It’s not good for you, Mom or Dad. 
 
 
 
So, it’s important for you to learn to hold kids accountable, whether 
they suffer from ADD, or ADHD. Now, being a realist, and having 
worked with literally thousands of kids who have ADD, I realize that 
sometimes when you give a kid a directive like, “Honey, I want you to 
pick up the garage now,” you have to take your eleven-year-old by the 
earlobes and draw him in closely and get in his face and give him what 
we call “focused attention.”  
 
Because if the kid is literally ADD, ten seconds later you might find him 
in the living room and not in the garage. And yeah, you might have to 
go in there and redirect him. But the point is, the garage still gets 
cleaned before he goes to Little League practice, before he goes to his 
soccer game, or, if he’s older than that, before he goes to his 
girlfriend’s house. 
 
You see what I’m saying? There always has to be a connection. There 
has to be a disciplinary measure when things aren’t done. So, don’t 
get sucked into, “Oh, little Buford’s got ADD.” Yeah, he might have 
ADD. I think I had ADD as a kid. I think I had many maladies as a kid.  
 
I graduated fourth from the bottom of my class. My mother spent 
more time at school than I did. I cut school regularly on Mondays and 
Fridays—I liked the long-weekend plan, do you understand what I’m 
saying?  
 
But, you know what? My mom and dad, when push came to shove, 
they knew what to do and they were good at speaking to my heart. 
And they believed in me, and they disciplined me. And the truth of the 
matter is, that’s an age-old secret that will never get outdated. So, 
remember, your ADD kid needs your discipline. 
 
Leman -2- 
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