Post by Jane McFadden

A neuroscientist went on a popular podcast and told thousands of parents the iPad caused their kid's ADHD. He said it with confidence. He said 'psychologists now believe' there are two forms of ADHD — genetic, and digital. He said the majority of ADHD cases are now caused by devices. He cited no studies. ADHD is one of the most heritable conditions in psychiatry. The research puts it at 74 to 80 percent — meaning it is overwhelmingly genetic, not environmental. The systematic review most often pointed to in 'screens and ADHD' conversations explicitly warned researchers and clinicians against making the exact claim he made. They flagged the risk of stigma. They flagged the risk that people diagnosed under such a framing might lose access to treatment. That warning was ignored. The clip went viral anyway until it was eventually removed, but the podcast episode stays up. Here is what concerns me as a podcast host, advocate, and someone who works closely with the ADHD community. The women hearing this — the mothers who handed their kid an iPad this morning so they could regulate before they yelled, so they could finish a work call, so they could sit on the toilet alone for four minutes — don't always have the time, the education, or the resources to fact-check it. They hear a neuroscientist saying it on a podcast, and they carry it. It lands on the women with the least access. The ones who can't afford a psychology session. The ones already running on guilt. The ones whose mother-in-law will now send them the clip. When you hold a title — neuroscientist, psychologist, doctor, professor — and you have a platform, you have a responsibility. Not to be neutral. To be accurate. To show your working. To treat your audience as adults who deserve receipts, not soundbites stitched together into something that sounds scientific but isn't. This week on the podcast, senior psychologist and ADHD assessor Amanda Moses sat down with me and went through the episode. She brought the receipts the original didn't. If you're a clinician, educator, or anyone working with neurodivergent kids and their families — this is the gap you need to understand. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/gVa8NxBG