Educational outcomes for students with ADHD are often negative. To better understand this problem, the purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the representation of individuals with ADHD in contemporary American English. Data was obtained from the Corpus of American Contemporary English (COCA), using all sections except the academic section, for the years 1990-2019. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to determine the semantic prosody of concordance lines, metaphors used in relationship to ADHD, and changes over time in data from 1990-2019. Results indicate that ADHD tends to be framed with a negative semantic prosody. Coding of concordance lines revealed that metaphors were not used to frame ADHD; instead, it is represented using a medical framework. The semantic prosody and the use of a medical model was consistent over five-year periods. Being aware of a negative representation of people with ADHD may help avoid a negative bias that contributes to negative outcome for these individuals. Reframing ADHD in a more positive, person-centered context may lead to improved outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]