Sodapop Curtis has ADHD?

[Jay]

I wrote this on the Stay Gold site but I thought it was an intresting notion and I said it anyway

Recently I've been told that I've got ADHD - after tests were done of course. Before I thought ADHD was just something to do with bad behaviour, now though I know its a lot of things:
-Poor concentration (Soda cant sit through a movie).
-Hyperness (Soda's always bouncing off of the walls, go lucky Sodapop)
-Learning is very hard for someone with poor concentration (Soda hated school but he loves the gas station).

Those are a few I've choosen, you can probably figure out more. Anyway, the thought came to me when I was being read a few questions and had to anwser for my test and afterwards the thought of Soda came into my mind. I've never liked Soda's character but then without thinking I was linking up all the ways that Soda and I are alike, even feeling things harder, or more so than most people is a sign of ADHD (Soda does this by being very sensitive for his brothers).

Anyway, thoughts, feelings? What do you all think?

[Nittanylizard]

It's interesting, because back when the story was written, ADHD wasn't a recognized condition (as far as I know). Kids acted the way they acted and were dealt with according to their behavior; so we know it wasn't something intentionally included by Ms. Hinton.

There were kids I went to school with, though, who I am sure would have been diagnosed with ADHD if they were growing up now. I guess what I'm saying is that she could have had character traits in mind based on certain people who tended toward ADHD.

At the same time, I can see him just being your typical teenager who has trouble in school. Schools were set up much differently back then, and didn't work as well for kids who had trouble learning under the only conditions that were offered.

I never interpreted Soda's description to mean he was hyper or bouncing off the walls, just that he had a lot of energy and liked to go out and have fun, but I could just as easily see how somebody could read him that way as well. One of the things I love about this book is how open some of the characters are to interpretation and analysis.