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That may be correct and I am not disagreeing (and here is the..) but I have read stories of parents who are warned about having their children kept out of school, doctors who interview the teacher and watch the child for five minutes. This can not be a coincidence. There are school districts where 40% of the young boys are medicated! Please do not tell us that there is not abuse going on. Doctors are financially rewarded for prescriptions why not for prescribing ritalin? Teachers can not diagnose legally, but for all intents and purposes their "strong suggestion" is equal to the same thing.

Here's why it gets over-diagnosed: schools get more money for "special-ed" kids. It creates a financial incentive. Teachers find that rowdy boys can be made less rowdy if they're drugged. It makes life for the teacher easier

Schools have a list of docs/shrinks that they recommend. The docs get paid for each evaluation. The docs understand that if they do not give the evaluation that the schools want to hear, then they will be dropped from the list and get less business. This gives the financial incentive to the doc to provide the diagnosis that his real customer (the school) wants him to provide.