But the schools have to be in their corner, helping students cope with the disease

At the same time that Michael Phelps headed back to the U.S. from Beijing this week, with eight Olympic gold medals and seven new world records in swimming, thousands of other young men just like him were heading back to school.

But where he was reportedly looking forward to moving into a luxurious condo and weighing endorsement offers, the school-bound boys were dreading a year of bullying and academic failure.

What Phelps and thousands of other young people, mainly boys, have in common is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neurobehavioural condition. The three to five per cent of school-aged youngsters who have it are to an extreme degree restless, inattentive, distracted and impulsive.

Teachers often find ADHD pupils annoying and unresponsive to their attempts to help. Other students pick on the class "losers." It's hard being the object of all this rejection. In addition to the disorder, many ADHD sufferers have to contend with depression, substance abuse and social difficulties.

Phelps has described himself as quiet, introspective and angry growing up. He told U.S. media of the "deep hurt" of being bullied by other children, both over his struggles with schoolwork and his appearance.

Standing six feet five inches, Phelps grew unevenly, his mother Debbie told the New York Times. His arms were unusually long. It was a useful body for the world-class swimmer he became, but it made him a target of fun in the town north of Baltimore, Md.where he grew up.

Groups that work with ADHD youngsters and their families hope that the example of Michael Phelps - triumphing over the disorder to achieve success on the world stage - will remove some of the stigma attached to the condition.

If so, it will be an achievement almost on a scale with his Olympic medals. Beyond the unease that almost any neurological disorder provokes, fears have grown in recent years that attention deficit disorder has become nothing more than an excuse allowing parents and teachers to absolve themselves of responsibility for their young charges and boys to avoid accountability.

With so many thousands of new cases - ADHD is the most common chronic mental health problem among young children - a single solution was put forward: Ritalin, a stimulant that temporarily increases attention span and controls impulsivity.

Yet even here, as more and more boys, especially in poorer neighbourhoods, were prescribed Ritalin, critics worried that an entire generation of boys were being prescribed out of a normal rambunctious, physically active childhood. In one of Montreal's most disadvantaged neighbourhoods, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, as many as 12 per cent of boys were diagnosed with ADHD in 2004.

But in the controversy around whether Ritalin is under- or over-prescribed, it can be easy to forget what a toll ADHD can take. Researchers have found that children with ADHD are more likely to fail a grade, require special education and score lower on reading and mathematics tests.

Michael Phelps was blessed with a mother who was a teacher and is now a school principal. She had the confidence to demand that her son's teachers do their part.

"In kindergarten I was told by his teacher, 'Michael can't sit still, Michael can't be quiet, Michael can't focus,' " Debbie Phelps told the New York Times. She said she replied to the teacher, "What are you going to do to help him?"

Few parents from impoverished neighbourhoods have the confidence to put demands on their children's schools.

Michael Phelps took medication for two years. Although his mother is a spokesperson for a pharmaceutical firm, she told the Times, "Were meds the right thing? I could be on the fence either way."

ADHD is not a figment of anyone's imagination. Quebec's schools are lacking a lot of support systems for its young sufferers - specialists and sports programs, to start with.

Nor does every ADHD child have a parent who can take on teachers who could see only failings, not strengths.

As school starts a new year, youngsters with ADHD need to be able to count on having someone in their corner, fighting for them. By rights, that should be the schools' job.