Regina raised this issue, and I found this under my computer...
ADD and Girls by Margaret S. Friedman, Psy.D.
Elizabeth* was known as the preschooler who flitted among the play 
centers, participating in the activities and projects she liked and 
avoiding the others. Cathy was defiant in kindergarten and 
daydreamed about playing with friends after school. 
Michele was on the honor roll and a "perfectly behaved" 3rd grade 
student, who threw tantrums at home, was extraordinarily messy, and 
told her parents that she was hopelessly and completely dissatisfied 
with her life. 
Judith was gifted, but falling behind in math, and aloof or too bossy 
with the other 5th grade girls. Beth, who had learning disabilities,
blew up at peers who teased her at middle school, making things even worse. 
At 15, Eve was pregnant, drinking beer, smoking cigarettes and pot, 
and barely passing 10th grade. And at 19, Laurie's leg shook constantly 
as she struggled to concentrate on her college reading assignments. 
She maintained her 3.7 grade point average, but was in serious 
financial trouble and had developed an eating disorder.
What all of these girls had in common was ADD (Attention Deficit 
Disorder).
What are girls with ADD like? Not every girl with ADD has 
these particular problems, but they are typical characteristics 
of girls with ADD. Most struggle to master the challenges of school, 
be they academic or high demands for self-controlled, socially 
appropriate behavior. 
Many have trouble managing their emotions or coping with the 
everyday stress and conflict inherent in family functioning. It is 
also common for these girls to have difficulties initiating, 
developing, and maintaining friendships. Invariably, they are 
vulnerable to low self-esteem and beliefs that they are "dumb," 
lazy, or otherwise inadequate.
The diagnostic process often begins when a parent, a teacher, 
a physician, or a therapist begins to wonder whether ADD is the 
problem. Girls may be diagnosed as early as preschool, not until 
adulthood, or anytime in between. All too often, though, girls with 
ADD are not diagnosed or are incorrectly diagnosed.
Do as many girls have ADD as boys? Traditionally, ADD has been 
thought to be much more common in boys than in girls. In fact, it 
used to be exceedingly rare for girls to be diagnosed with ADD. Thus, 
most of what we know about children and teens with ADD is based on 
research with boys. 
As assessment and classification of ADD have become more reliable, 
and now include forms of ADD without hyperactivity, more girls are 
being identified, studied, and treated. Some experts now believe that 
ADD (with and without hyperactivity) may be only 3 times more prevalent 
in boys, or may even occur as frequently in females as in males.
Diagnosing girls with ADD: ADD in girls may "look" different from ADD in 
boys, and the reasons girls are referred for help may also be quite 
different from the reasons boys are referred. For example, a girl might 
first be noticed as having a problem with friendships or mood, while a 
boy with ADD is more likely to be noticed because of hyperactivity or 
aggressive behavior. 
In fact, girls with ADD tend to be less hyperactive-impulsive, 
less aggressive and defiant, and have fewer conduct problems than 
boys with ADD. Girls, on the other hand, are more likely than boys 
to have anxiety along with their ADD.
Actually though, girls and boys with ADD have been found to be more 
similar than different. As a group, girls and boys with ADD are not 
substantially different when it comes to the number, type, or severity 
of symptoms. 
Both girls and boys with ADD basically have the same types of underlying 
problems: difficulty with the regulation of attention and/or activity 
level, and poor impulse control. Girls and boys with ADD are not 
necessarily different from each other in areas such as academic 
performance, fine motor skills, social functioning, or emotional 
adjustment. 
Girls and boys are diagnosed according to the same criteria, delineated 
in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th 
Edition (DSM-IV), published by the American Psychiatric Association 
(1994). 

Continued in the next message...
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