背景介绍：
注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）曾被视为主要影响学龄男孩的行为问题，但近年来，其诊断范围已扩展至各个年龄段，特别是少女和中年女性中增长显著。随着对神经多样性理解的深入，ADHD 的诊断标准和治疗方法正经历变革，旨在减少误诊和过度医疗，同时倡导通过调整环境以适应不同神经类型，促进个体的潜能发挥和社会融入。
ADHD should
not be treated as a disorder
Adapting
schools and workplaces for it can help far more
Not long ago, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) was thought to affect only school-aged boys—the naughty ones who could
not sit still in class and were always getting into trouble. Today the number
of ADHD diagnoses is rising fast in all age groups, with some of the biggest
increases in young and middle-aged women.
不久前，注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）还被普遍认为仅影响学龄男孩——那些在课堂上难以安坐、频繁制造麻烦的顽皮小子。然而，时至今日，多动症的诊断数量在各个年龄段均迅速攀升，其中少女与中年女性的增幅尤为显著。
The figures are
staggering
. Some 2m people in England,
4% of the population, are thought to have ADHD, says the Nuffield Trust, a
think-tank. Its symptoms often overlap with those of autism, dyslexia and other
conditions that, like ADHD, are thought to be caused by how the brain develops.
All told, 10-15% of children have patterns of attention and
information-processing that belong to these categories.
这些统计数字着实令人瞠目。智库纳菲尔德信托基金指出，英国约有200万人（占总人口的4%）被诊断患有多动症。其症状常与自闭症、阅读障碍以及其他由大脑发育方式所致疾病相互交织，总体而言，10%-15%的儿童展现出了属于这些类别的注意力和信息处理模式。
At the moment, ADHD is treated as something you either
have or you don’t. This binary approach to diagnosis has two consequences. The
first is that treating everyone as if they are ill fills up health-care
systems. Waiting lists for ADHD assessments in England are up to ten years
long; the special-needs education system is straining at the seams.
目前，对于多动症的判定，秉持着非黑即白的二元标准。这种诊断方法带来了两个直接后果。其一，医疗保健系统将每位患者均视为病患对待，致使系统不堪重负。在英国，等待多动症评估的队列冗长，有时甚至需时十年；特殊教育系统亦处于紧绷状态。
The second consequence occurs when ADHD is treated as a dysfunction that needs fixing. This leads to a terrible waste of human potential. Forcing yourself to fit in with the “normal” is draining and can cause anxiety and depression.
其二，当多动症被视为亟待修复的功能障碍时，人类潜能的极大浪费便随之发生。迫使自己迎合“正常”标准令人心力交瘁，还可能诱发焦虑和抑郁情绪。
The binary view of ADHD is
no
longer supported by science
. Researchers have realised that there is no such thing as the “ADHD
brain”. The characteristics around which the ADHD diagnostic box is
drawn—attention problems, impulsivity, difficulty organising daily life—span a
wide spectrum of
severity
, much like ordinary human traits.
多动症的二元观念已不再获得科学界的广泛支持。研究人员已意识到，“多动症大脑”这一概念并不存在。ADHD 的诊断依据——注意力不集中、冲动以及日常生活自理困难——在很大程度上与普通人的特征相似。
For those at the severe end, medication and therapy can be crucial for finishing school or holding on to a job, and even life-saving, by
suppressing
symptoms that lead to accidents.
对于病情严重者而言，药物和治疗对于学业完成、工作保持乃至生命维系至关重要，能够有效抑制可能导致事故的症状。
But for most people with ADHD, the symptoms are mild
enough to disappear when their environment plays to their strengths. Rather
than trying to make people “normal”, it is more sensible—and cheaper—to adjust
classrooms and workplaces to suit neurodiversity.
然而，对于大多数多动症患者来说，当环境条件适宜时，其症状甚至会自行消退。相较于试图使人们“正常化”，调整教室与工作场所以适应神经多样性显得更为明智，且成本更低。
In Portsmouth, in the south of England, teachers have
been trained to assess a child’s neurodiversity profile on characteristics that
include speech, energy levels, attention and adaptability. The goal is to find
where children need support (being easily distracted) and where they have
strengths (being a visual learner), without diagnosing them with anything in
particular.
在英格兰南部的朴茨茅斯，教师们接受了专业培训，能够评估孩子的神经多样性特征，涵盖言语、精力水平、注意力及适应性等方面。其目标是识别孩子们需要支持之处（如易分心）及其优势所在（如视觉学习者），而非仅凭特定标准对他们进行诊断。
Organising lessons to mix sitting, standing and working in groups is one way to make things easier for pupils with ADHD-type traits. Greater freedom to choose when to arrive at school or work can help those who are worn down by sensory overload during the morning rush. Bullet-point summaries of lessons or work memos, noise-cancelling headphones and quiet corners can help, too.
结合坐着、站着与小组工作的课程组织方式，为具有多动症特征的学生提供了一种更易接受的学习方式。更大的到校或上班时间自由度，有助于缓解那些在早高峰时段因感官超负荷而感到疲惫的人群。课程或工作备忘录的要点摘要、降噪耳机及安静角落等措施同样能够提供有效帮助。
Such things should be universally available at school
and at work. Greater understanding of neurodiversity would reduce bullying in
schools and help managers grasp that neurodivergent people are often
specialists, rather than generalists.
此类设施应在学校和工作场所广泛普及。对神经多样性的深入理解将减少校园欺凌行为，并帮助管理者认识到，神经多样性者往往是某一领域的专家，而非多面手。
They may be bad in large meetings or noisy classrooms, but exceptional at things like multitasking and visual or repetitive activities that require attention to detail. Using their talents wisely means delegating what they cannot do well to others.
他们或许在大型会议或嘈杂教室中表现欠佳，但在多任务处理以及需要细致关注的视觉或重复性活动中却能大放异彩。合理利用他们的才能，意味着将那些他们难以胜任的任务指派给其他人。
A culture that tolerates differences and takes an
enlightened
view of the rules will help people achieve more and get more out of life. That, rather than more medical appointments, is the best way to help the growing numbers lining up for ADHD diagnoses.
一个包容差异、对规则持开放态度的文化，将助力人们取得更多成就，从生活中汲取更多美好。实现这一目标，而非增加医疗预约，才是帮助日益增多的ADHD待诊断患者的最佳途径。
staggering
[
ˈ
stæɡ
ə
r
ɪŋ
] adj. 令人惊愕的；惊人的
severity
[s
ɪˈ
ver
ə
ti] n. 严重；严厉；严肃
