Should individual with ADD/ADHD skip lines?
Hyperactive children do not have to wait in line at theme parks because they cannot cope with the stress of waiting.
The youngsters are being given wristbands that allow them to sail past the crowds queueing for rides and other activities.
Attractions such as DisneyLand, Magic Mountain, and Knotts Berry Farm hand out priority wristbands to children with disorders such as ADHD if they present a doctor's letter.
But the system has been criticised by teachers, who claim it undermines their attempts to encourage patience.
'Part of having ADHD should be teaching them to live in the world as we know it,' one said on the Times Educational Supplement online forum.
'They cannot queue jump in later life in the post office, therefore they need to be taught this.'
ADHD - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder - is estimated to affect between three to five per cent of children.
But ADHD experts said the priority system was necessary as youngsters with the condition simply couldn't wait patiently for their turn.
Andrea Bilbow, of the ADDISS support service, said: 'Children with ADHD are very impulsive and just can't cope in a queue or when there is a delay in gratification.'
'They can't stand and wait for an hour because there will be a nice ride at the end of it. They physically can't cope with that.'
She said the idea that ADHD children should wait like others was based on a misconception of the condition.
'If you believe ADHD is a real condition and understand and acknowledge it, then you would understand why they have got this treatment,' she said.
Sufferers had a 'maturity lag', she said, and may only be able to handle waiting in a queue until later in life.
Attractions were unable to disclose how many people had requested wristbands.
A spokesman for Thorpe Park said: 'The operator will give them a time to come back that reflects the length of the normal queue line, meaning they avoid standing for a prolonged period.'
A spokeswoman for Alton Towers said: 'At the Alton Towers Resort, we take great pride in the fact that we go to great lengths to ensure our attraction is as accessible as possible to all our guests.
'Visitors who are unable to stand in line in our standard queue lines due to medical conditions are eligible to receive wristbands in order to gain priority entrance to our rides and attractions.
'Documentary evidence of their illness or disability must be presented to our Guest Services team in the form of an original doctor's letter, or a document from the Department for Work and Pensions, before a wristband can be issued.'
