Letter: Problem children

Sir. Robert Hanks (Television Review, 25 November) may have found the portrayal of unsympathetic psychiatrists and school "unconvincing", but, as parents of a child with behavioural problems, we can assure him that we found those scenes all too familiar.

With health and education authorities desperate to avoid diagnoses which would lead to the expensive situation of a statement of special educational needs, and head teachers who refuse even to accept the existence of attention deficit disorder, parents often face an uphill battle to show that simple naughtiness, exacerbated by bad parenting, is not to blame for their child's behaviour.

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