Abstract

Various neuropsychiatric disorders are a common feature today, not leastin educational contexts where Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder is a common diagnosis. The dominant perspective regardingADHD is biomedical. This perspective has been questioned andchallenged in various ways. The aim of this article is to think ADHDthrough quantum physicist and philosopher Karen Barad’s [Barad, K.2007. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and theEntanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke UniversityPress.] theory of agential realism. According to Barad, what we perceiveas singular entities do not exist in advance. Barad pays attention to theworld’s entanglements, and what we perceive as singular objects andsubjects are effects of specific and various material-discursive practicesacting as agential cuts. The theory of agential realism assignsperformativity to matter, which highlights that ADHD is something thatcontinuously comes into being together with human and non-humanbodies. The material dimension has not previously been emphasised asa causal factor in studies on ADHD. In this article, the focus is on theagency of the book. As a conclusion, the importance of takingresponsibility for every material-discursive practice with which we arealways entangled is emphasised.