The linguistic construal of extreme behaviour

Abstract Teaching and family communities usually have an active role in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity-Impulsivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis in childhood. Examining the construal of hyperactivity-impulsivity in teaching guidelines and online parental exchanges can elucidate common lay understandings of the trait. The study considers transitivity , with a focus on Relational and Behavioural clauses, lexical metaphors and appraisals. The linguistic descriptions have a potential to assist medical specialists in interpreting evidence presented by teaching and family communities in the complex task of diagnosing ADHD, facilitating communication and explaining the strategies used to avoid potentially stigmatising descriptions. The analysis supports the suitability of distinguishing Behavioural processes in transitivity and traces a parallelism between the metaphorical descriptions of extreme behaviour and those traditionally reported for strong emotions.