I think you need to be careful here, TC. Your response reads as though you are suggesting that the student with ADD just "needs a little discipline" and wouldn't be having this problem if they had a little more willpower. It simply is not that easy. ADD isn't something that is a result of laziness or poor parenting. Students may learn coping strategies that help to overcome the problem, but to suggest that medication is simply an excuse not to buckle down and work a little harder (which is almost what it sounds like) is certainly not the case. There are folks who do not benefit from medication, and there are those who choose not to take it for a variety of reasons. The use of medication is a separate issue from the presence of symptomology. It would be a mistake to think of the student with a diagnosis of ADD as any less capable simply BECAUSE of that diagnosis.