I suspect that trying to diagnose ADHD too early might be part of the reason for the frequent feeling that kids are overmedicated today. Some people forget that young kids are not normally able to sit and focus for long periods of time, that they are really supposed to be active and moving a lot. Being appropriately active for one's age is very different from being ADHD, but in a classroom where the teacher expects quiet all the time, active kids stand out, and not in a good way.
I DO have a very big problem with medicating a small child for the teacher's convenience! But obviously that's nothing like what's happening in this case. Very different thing. When your child asks for help in junior high, it's pretty clear there's a real problem in need of a real solution.
Combine a GT kid and the tendency for extended focus (especially on subjects that interest the child) with ADHD and the scattered focus there, and you probably come up with the 50%-or-100% scenario. Something to think about...
