I was diagnosed with it about 45 years ago. Look there is a real problem and there is a real disorder very similar to ADD/ADHD. The epidemic isn't pharmaceutical or even government program driven it is technology triggered.
There is a fairly recently discovery of a sensory processing problem called Central Auditory Processing Disorders. These are very real and far easier to prove than ADD ADHD. They require NO Medications except to treat possible conditions which may have caused it such as chronic sinus allergies or chronic ear infections as a child.
I did not have ADD/ADHD I have C.A.P.D. and a very dysfunctional auditory and visual processing system. You can look for C.A.P.D. in a kid right after Christmas. The new video games for example. The kid plays a while then becomes agitated and unable to concentrate. Here's more clues for C.A.P.D. instead of ADD ADHD. The inability to process oral instructions accurately without them being repeated several times. These kids are not ignoring you their brain is trying to process what you have told them. Ever tell a kid to so something then about the middle of the second or third time they suddenly get it?
The behavioral traits of ADHD and C.A.P.D. can be easily mistaken. That is why all kids need to be tested for C.A.P.D. by an Audiologist at an early age. No special federal funding is needed for them in class either. Other clues such as coordination may point to what I'm saying.
Getting help early on is essential. This might mean Occupational Therapy for more severe cases. For me that enabled me to pass my military entrance physicals and function in the workforce later into my mid 30's. BTW mine is a severe case not typical to most kids with C.A.P.D. The doctors {eye doctors actually} saw the issues 45 years ago in me but no medical name had been given it. I'm also single eye functional. Vision in both eyes but never at the same time.
I worked in a public school. There were two full time counselors on staff and they spent a large part of their time processing SSI claims for ADD and ADHD students. It was a severely abused process. Made us sick to see these moms, who didn't work at all, come in with paperwork for 3 or 4 kids. They were always "very anxious" to start getting those SSI checks!
You assume that we are all heartless creeps with no sympathy for the disadvantaged! Wrong! The truly disabled deserve help. But, we have no sympathy for those who refuse to help themselves or those who contrive to get benefits!
You seem to write lucidly enough, had you ever considered trying to get a career in writing? It’s not a very big field, but for the lucky or hard-working it can be a career.
I do it as a hobby, so my income is miniscule, about $30 a column, but if I had ever figured out how to sell my column to, say, 49 other publications a week, that would have been $1500 a week for about 6 hours of work.