Many parents of children with ADHD reading today's new guidelines will not know whether to laugh or cry. Some will be distressed at the suggestion that Ritalin should be reserved for the most severe cases. For many families Ritalin and associated drugs offer a route back to normality.

The core symptoms of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. This incendiary combination can manifest itself as a pattern of careless mistakes, an inability to finish tasks, excessive talking and constant interrupting, random running around, blurting out of inappropriate comments or impulsive behaviour such as running into the street without looking. And often, all this before breakfast.

NICE recommends parent-training programmes as the first-line treatment. But waiting lists for such support can stretch to a year or more. Even getting a diagnosis of ADHD can take months because many GPs do not recognise the symptoms and the few consultants who do are oversubscribed.

It is hardly surprising then that parents turn to drugs, despite the side-effects (Ritalin can wreak havoc with sleeping and eating patterns).

Even if parent-training programmes were readily available, they would only offer half a solution because schools are so poorly equipped to cope with ADHD.

Research from the Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service suggests that 80 per cent of teachers do not feel competent to support children with ADHD and that few are acquainted with the techniques that can be used effectively to help them.

The good news, the very good news, however, is that the ADHD guidelines will give parents confidence to demand better treatment and the satisfaction of being taken seriously at last.

Equally cheering is the recognition that ADHD is a condition that can affect adults too, meriting a comprehensive treatment programme of its own.

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