The missing Boy Scout who was found Tuesday in the mountains of North Carolina was contending not only with nature but with a medical condition.

Twelve-year-old Michael Auberry suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. He wandered away from his troops' campsite Saturday without his medication. National Park Service officials say ADHD played a critical factor in finding the boy. They say they need individuals to stay in one place and if Michael was a restless child, it could have worked against them. Nationwide, the prevalence of ADHD is between 3 and 5 percent of the population. The disorder is far more common in boys than in girls.

Thursday, Valley residents gathered at an annual ADHD Conference at James Madison University. "Raising the Bar" is an annual event bringing together people in the Valley who are interested in learning more about the latest medications and research regarding ADHD.

Fran Clark is a mother of two. Her sons David and Andrew both suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. When Clark's older son was about 3-years-old she noticed something different about him. "Time-out didn't work for him like it worked for other children and I was a daycare provider so I was with lots and lots of other children, but I would put my son in time-out and he would entertain himself and would get back up and do the same thing again," says Fran Clark.

Clark says ADHD was not only affecting her son at home. "Difficulty in school, difficulty completing assignments, not really behavior problems so much that you see in many, many children," says Clark. Homework is a major frustration at the Clark residence. David and Andrew forget to bring home the materials they need to complete homework assignments and it takes hours for them to get the work done. "And then, when they did complete the assignments, they wouldn't turn it in, and so we would spend all of those hours doing homework and just for them to not turn it in and so that was extremely frustrating," says Clark.

And that's what brings Clark to this conference, so she can learn more about leading research on treatment development to help her sons. Research, Dr. Steven Evans of JMU is working hard to tell others about. "Without interventions, these kids are at risk for a lot of pretty pour outcomes that not only are costly personally and to their family, but also to society," says Dr. Steven Evans of JMU.

There is an ADHD Advocacy Group that meets once a month in Harrisonburg. The meetings are open to the public. The group meets on the second Tuesday of every month from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in JMU's Blue Ridge Hall.

The ADHD Conference had its largest turnout Thursday with about 200 people.