CDC about ADHD

Attention deficit – hyperactivity disorder, more commonly known as ADHD, is one of the most common psychiatric disorders and is the most common developmental disorder among children, affecting three to five percent of children before the age of seven ( Razjouyan, Mousavi, 2017) The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a webpage to help assist parents that may be concerned about their child. It has facts and statistics about the disorder and lists causes, diagnosis, and treatment plans for children with ADHD.

The website also goes over common notions about the causes of the disorder such as eating too much sugar, watching too much television, parenting, or social and environmental factors (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018).The website gives a thorough overview of ADHD to help parents determine if their child is displaying symptoms of the disorder through the principles of logos, pathos, and ethos reasoning.

The principals of logos is used in an attempt to persuade the reader towards research and treatment options and away from speculation and theories. Common symptoms of the disorder, types of ADHD, and treatment options are all acknowledged on the CDC’s webpage. The CDC also addresses common myths about ADHD by stating that excessive sugar consumption, television watching, poverty and difficult home environments, are not supported by research (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). Examples of treatment options are explained and are not focused strictly on medication. They suggest therapy, a healthy diet, physical activity, recommended amount of sleep and training for the parents. By laying out facts the CDC is trying to persuade their audience towards their point of view and away from bias opinions through the principle of logos. The use of logos is used throughout the website by providing facts that link information an research to one another. To logically persuade the reader through facts and figures is a common logos attempt to persuade.

The principle of ethos is used throughout the website because it is a factual site that uses their credibility to tie themselves to other organizations. At the end of each section of their website links are provided to external organizations to solidify what they have stated. Through citing research and official organizations the CDC is able to prove their trustworthiness and credibility which helps to in letting the audience know that the information they are providing is correct. This also gives the reader a good perception of their authority. Because of this they are able to effectively persuade others to their points of view and logical arguments.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention uses a few principles of pathos within their logical arguments and statements of authority. The focus is on ADHD within children instead of adults to make people feel more compassionate about the disorder. The CDC says that ” in order to make sure your child reaches his or her full potential, it is very important to get help for ADHD as early as possible” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). This statement leads parents to believe that if they do not get help their children will not be as successful as if they were provided proper treatment at a young age. Subtle principles of pathos are used throughout the website to ensure that there facts and arguments will be believed.

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