ADHDnews i42 - the Voice of ADDiSS - The National ADHD Information and Support Service

42

issue Summer 2019

The voice of ADDISS - The National ADHD Information and Support Service

Fundraising

for

ADHD

ET G R FO E R T ’ N B DO OCTO is

TH Y M

BUST

ING

THIS ISSUE

ADHD AWARENESS MONTH 4-5 ADHD IN

PARLIAMENT

6 YELLOW SUN 8-9 OVERCOMING 10 You cant COMPETE BETTER� TOGETHER PROJECT and the

the � typical mistakes of

ADHD PARENTING

CAT in the PLAYGROUND with a

ADDiSS

is the National Attention Deficit Disorder Information & Support Service.

We provide people-friendly information and resources about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to anyone who needs assistance - parents, sufferers, teachers or health professionals. All our activities are supported by our Professional Board of expert advisers.

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Andrea Bilbow OBE

TRUSTEES

Jenny Missen(chair) Jessica Hyams Danny Eastman Nicole Eastman Sharon O’Dell Dr Rashmin Tamhne Bernadette Ashton

EDITORIAL BOARD

Prof. Eric Taylor Dr Leon Rozewicz Prof. Peter Hill Therese Glynn Dr Nikos Myttas Dr R Tamhne Prof. Chris Hollis

PROFESSIONAL BOARD

Prof. Eric Taylor Prof. Peter Hill Prof. Ian Wong Dr Daphne Keen Prof. Jeremy Turk Dr David Coghill Paul Cooper PhD Dr Val Harpin Dr Nikos Myttas Prof. Amanda Kirby Dr Maite Ferrin Prof Chris Hollis Dr Paramala Santosh

DESIGN & LAYOUT Rohan Nosworthy

AD D I S S

Hyde House The Hyde, Colindale, London NW9 6LH Phone: 020 8952 1515 web: www.addiss.co.uk email: info@addiss.co.uk Twitter: @UK_ADHD Facebook.com /addiss

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A REVIEW OF 2018 TOP ADDISS FUNDRAISERS OF 2018

Last year we were blessed by many fundraisers. Their contributions have had a huge impact on our ability to survive and ultimately help us to expand and strengthen. The support we get from parents, children, and other support groups has been instrumental in helping to build a community of people, all wanting to raise awareness and bring about change. In this issue we will look at some of the changes and inspirational events that have happened during 2018.

OUR TOP FUNDRAISER OF 2018 IS CHRISTIAN OESTERGAARD (main photo) WHO RAISED £8446.38 Hi, My Name is Christian Oestergaard.

I am 16 years old and I am from Denmark, but I live in London and go to Latymer Upper School. Recently in September, I climbed Mont Blanc and raised money for ADDISS. I was diagnosed with ADD in April, having had issues with concentrating and focusing on subjects in class. Throughout my whole life, I was told that it was because I was a young immature boy, and that I was too lazy to keep up with schoolwork.

I was told that I did not care enough to complete my homework on time. I had countless, recurring issues in my report cards from my teachers, saying “consolidation,

recall and organisation” were poor, but the most common complaint amongst them was “concentration”. I used to get angry at myself for letting this happen, and I could not understand why others could work hard and concentrate while I simply could not.

For the first 12 years of my school life, this was happening all the time. I only asked myself why this was happening just before my GCSE’s. My friends could work for hours on end without a break, while I could not do that, falling into daydreams and distractions after only about half an hour. I told my parents, who were always supportive of my choices, and later that day I managed to get an appointment with a Psychiatrist. After just 5 minutes of revealing some of my issues and habits with

Fundraising for ADDISS is easy. We are registered with the Just Giving website where you can set up your own fundraising page.

Just go to www.justgiving.com/addiss

Registered Charity no.1070827 - Summer 2019

school and homelife, the Psychiatrist realised that all of these were traits of people with ADD and ADHD.

ADHD, and I wish that it wasn’t like this. Spreading awareness is one of the most important things that we can do.

At first I was shocked when he told me that I had ADD. I had never really considered this to be the case. However, after talking to the Psychiatrist, it did not seem too far from the truth. Since then, I have been on ADD medication, and it has absolutely boosted my life in every way.

When I climbed Mont Blanc, it was absolutely fantastic. We started off by flying into Geneva airport on Thursday night, drove to Chamonix and stayed the night there. Then next morning we rented the mountaineering gear.

During our time climbing there, the Mont Blanc tram (which took climbers up to 2400 meters) experienced technical problems so we had to start from 1600 meters. From that point, we climbed for 5 hours uphill to a shelter high in the mountains which lay at an altitude of 3800 meters.

Being diagnosed has helped with my confidence socially, my academic ability, my organisation and overall self -esteem, and the treatment has helped me more than I can ever describe. After being treated, I could now sit down like all my other friends and work for hours on end, studying laboriously for my GCSEs and achieving the grades I knew I deserved to get.

The medication did not feel like it made me more intelligent in any way, but it allowed me to live up to my potential as a human, and to feel as if I achieved the best results that I possibly could. I have been really grateful for having been diagnosed, and I can only wish that others who have ADHD and ADD are able to receive the correct support. I do not want people to view ADD and ADHD as a disease which disadvantages you in life. It is often viewed with scepticism, and many are embarrassed or afraid to bring up the subject, fearing people will regard them differently if they speak out. I feel that this is wrong on many levels and should not be the case for these people. This was, therefore, my reason for fundraising for this charity, because I personally know how hard it can be to tell people that I have

When I arrived at the hut, I collapsed from tiredness, and could barely keep my eyes open. We were served delicious French soup. I was also feeling quite ill from the effects of the altitude, due to the oxygen levels in the atmosphere being very low.

The next morning, we woke up at 2: 30 am to climb the last 1000 meters.

Having climbed 2200 meters, the previous day in a blisteringly fast time, I thought that the last section would be a cruise to the summit, but I was very wrong. Climbing through thick snow with crampons (metal spikes to grip onto ice) attached to your huge snow boots was extremely challenging, not to mention there being a blizzard at 3: 00 am. Climbing up, there was a small route up the side of the mountain, 30 cm wide with a huge drop on either side. We were roped in with the guides, and trod slowly through the ice, each step burning my leg muscles, begging me to turn around and go home.

I kept my eyes fixed on the end goal, and thought of the people who had sponsored me and were supporting me to complete this. After the most challenging 4 hours of my life, I finally made it to the top. Sunrise had just lit up the sky, causing golden rays of light to cover the surrounding mountains. Being at the highest point in Western Europe, I could see all of the surrounding scenery from above in all its beauty.

Months of preparation and imagining myself on top of the mountain had led to this. We still however, had to walk all the way from 4808 meters down to

COMMUNITY our initial starting point of 1600 meters.

At the end of this, my legs could not move. When we arrived at the finish, I painfully climbed into the car and have never felt such relief and pride in my life. My legs were sore for the next week, and every single step hurt.

All in all, the trip took us 30 hours and I still had school on Monday. We started Friday morning and finished Saturday afternoon. The Mont Blanc summit Climb normally takes 4-5 days with proper acclimatisation and taking the tram up to 2400 meters, so our trip was made even more challenging. The experience was one I will never forget, and I hope to make more challenging trips to different peaks in the future.

Thank you, Christian Oestergaard A HUGE THANK YOU TO CHAN ONG FROM WREXHAM WHO RAISED £1566.25

He competed in the Ironman UK on the 15th July 2018. He wrote “If swimming 3.8KM, cycling 180km and running 42km within 17 hours would improve the lives of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), it would be worthwhile.

I may not know or find out the impact of your charity, but I saw the compassion and felt supported over the years. I know you care and this made me smile every time I think about it.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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MP’s listening to our plight. We are no longer being ignored!

In addition to these meetings we liaise with Jo Platt and other MPs on issues that arise, Prime Minister’s Questions and letters to write to Ofsted, the DVLA, etc.

SOME OF OUR SUCCESSES SO FAR There are too many to mention every single one but ones that stand out are Early Day Motions to challenge stigma on medication, direct questions to the Prime Minister in the main chamber, challenges to the department for education, letters to ministers with positive responses, TV and radio appearances and even several main BBC News pieces.

I thought I’d also pick out a couple that I’m personally most proud of.

ADHD in Parliament

By Michelle Beckett (CEO ADHD Action)

It’s been such a whirlwind 18 months and I’ve barely had time to reflect on how far we’ve come since I started to put together the All Party Parliamentary Group for ADHD.

W

hen you have ADHD it’s all too easy to focus on the negatives and what you haven’t achieved yet, rather than all the stuff you have. I constantly feel bad that even though I’m doing this as an unpaid volunteer and single parent, there isn’t yet an ADHD Act, full provision and support for adults and children and a reformed education system, Etc. Writing down and reflecting on what you have actually achieved is not only a great way of building our fragile self-esteem and it helps to stop beating ourselves with the ADHD ‘should have done this stick’.

So, the wonderful Andrea Bilbow has poked me (continually, after I kept procrastinating with this and overshooting her deadlines) to write up and inform you of what we’ve been doing in terms of lobbying and progress we’ve made.

THE LAUNCH The APPG was launched in January ���� in Westminster Palace, with celebrity guests such as Rory Bremner, Carrie Grant and many MPs. Our aim is to fight for the changes we need to see for children and adults in terms of NHS provision, raise awareness, bust stigma and address issues in education, the justice system, work and pensions and so on. It provides us with advocates right at the heart of political decision making and a much louder and more credible voice.

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“Believe you can and you are half way there” Theodore Roosevelt Jo Platt MP is our chair and she’s proven to be absolutely brilliant and really committed to our fight for change.

WHAT WE DO Our main ‘formal’ business is to have quarterly meetings in parliament on various topics e.g. education, justice, consequences of missed diagnoses on adults and so on. These meetings are attended by MPs and we invite specialist speakers to argue our case to ‘win over’ the policy makers.

These aren’t just clinicians and experts with letters after their name they are often patients (even young patients) and their parents who share their stories. These are very moving and have had a huge impact. We’ve made MPs cry and even a minister. They are now starting to get the ball rolling enough to make the changes we need and

- Summer 2019

THE FIRST EVER FORMAL PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE FOR ADHD IN WESTMINSTER HALL This had a HUGE impact and was attended by the minister for mental health and social care, Jackie Doyle-Price. She has agreed to attend our next APPG meeting.

You can read the transcript here: • bit.ly/2ReCVMH and watch here: • youtu.be/hpfRVDXHStg

RESPONSE FROM THE MINISTER WHEN SHE ATTENDED OUR MEETING ON IMPACTS: “I thought I knew about ADHD. I really knew nothing until I heard about these experiences.

Thank you for being so honest. It shows how ignorant we all are…I have made loads of notes.

The condition encounters real prejudice. Many see it as a behavioural disorder that you grow out of.

The interaction with GPs - their lack of knowledge around ADHD - is what concerns me most - for GPs/medical professionals to show prejudice in relation to a medical condition is totally unacceptable! We need to see what we can do about it. I will keep the dialogue open with Jo Platt.

We need to make the public aware about the invisibility of symptoms, and particularly in girls.

Everyone talks about depression and anxiety... this should be the same in relation to ADHD. I’m pleased to hear about the experiences around medication. Prescriptions have doubled in �� years. What you’ve said about it is quite interesting and I would like to hear more about it. There is a lot of bad press around this. We need to tackle that!

People with ADHD are massively represented in prisons. As well as people with autism and specific learning difficulties. How criminal justice deals with these things... it’s getting better. Prison is not the best place for these people. They are ending up in prison because society is failing to do the right thing at an early stage. Attention is only given when people become a menace to society. We are trying to encourage more sensitivity - to consider treatment vs criminal justice system. We are making a lot of progress.

It is a whole other issue with schools. Schools are key to this! School is the place where we ought to pick this up. It will take time however. We need a lot more mental health support in schools. There will be a Mental Health lead in every school.

Central to this is ADHD. Mental Health Support will be provided in the form of psychologists. Teachers need professional support. It is a work in progress.

It won’t happen overnight. There will be a brand new workforce of ���� staff to help in schools.

Angela Rayner, Shadow Secretary of State for Education is on our side.

Angela attended our education briefing meeting and has pledged to do all she can to help us.

“We need to hold schools accountable for the development of these kids. It’s not OK that so many kids struggle and schools get away without helping them” Teresa May commends the work of the APPG for ADHD live in Parliament and promises to address data gaps.

You can watch her response here: • youtu.be/IjLbLdADLCg

ADDISS and their crucial voice on the APPG that we’ve come so far, as well as YOUR support – as parents, teachers, and ADHDers yourselves. I can’t thank you all enough, as well as specialist advisors and all the MPs and Lords involved.

If there’s one thing we have as a strength with ADHD – it’s tenacity and courage. Let’s all work together to move ADHD further forward in the UK – and one day we will look back and see how far we have come. If we keep moving together – we will get there.

Even if sometimes it’s not as quickly as we would like it to be.

Jo Platt MP writes to Head of Ofsted about her ignorant comments on medication.

You can read more about that letter in this Guardian piece online: • bit.ly/2V 0 e16c DVLA decision on reporting ADHD regardless of ability to drive turned around in �� hours

We acknowledge the difficulty with the transition from child to adult. There are programmes to tackle that. Different areas have different ages for what constitutes an “adult” i.e. �� vs ��. In the workplace, we are tackling discrimination so people are able to participate without stigma. We want to make sure that employees treat people with sensitivity (those with physical disabilities as well as invisible disabilities!)

Jo Platt’s letter to the Minister for Transport was fundamental to this win for ADHD. To view her letter, see this link: • bit.ly/2WibhgU

“You have all given me so much to think about...”

It’s thanks to the support of organisations like

I feel like we are starting to make real headway, but we’ve an awful long way to go. Brexit has crippled parliament as far as getting other stuff done is concerned, but we will continue to chip away.

A REVIEW OF 2018

POLITICS

UPDATE: The All Party Parliamentary group

for ADHD met on ��th June this year. The topic for discussion was ADHD and the criminal justice system. Justice Minister Robert Buckland spoke and shared a personal link with ADHD. He was very committed to looking seriously at how to help people with ADHD in the criminal justice system, reduce reoffending and prevent them falling into crime in the first place.

Key issues raised were access to medication in prisons, screening of ADHD on the induction wing, early intervention work in conjunction with DHSC and DfE as well as probation work. The minister has asked for a list of recommendations and will be working on these as quickly as possible.

CONTINUED...

THAMES BRIDGE PATH CHALLENGE (photo right) Thank you to my two companians who joined me to walk 25K across all the Thames bridges in September last year . Thank you to mum Lisa Ellis and her son Marely who is her inspiration and a big thank you to Will Norton who is a science researcher at the University of Leicester. Will has been part of several European projects that I have been involved in, looking at the genetics associated with ADHD and aggression.

Together the three of us raised

ATLANTIC COAST CHALLENGE Thank you to SARAH HOLMES who raised £666. Sarah took on the Atlantic Coast Challenge and ran 78 miles along the Cornish south west coast path. It took three days

£1984

A BIG THANK YOU ALSO GOES TO : • RAVER TOTS who raised

£861

• RICHARD HOLTBY who raised

£1360

• Join us on our next challenges. You can sign up to any of the walks or runs organised by Action challenge. They take place in different parts of the country www.actionchallenge.com • Let us know which ones you like and we can arrange T shirts and publicity for you.

We will be doing the London bridges again this year so please come and join our team.

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TALKS

So here are my key take-aways: Special needs refers to children who have a learning disability or difficulty.

This may be a physical difficulty or an emotional difficulty.

Schools must use ‘their best endeavors’ to meet the needs of SEN children.

SEN provision is anything that is ‘additional to or different from’ the other children of the same age.

Schools are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to ensure SEN children have full access to such provision.

Soli Lazarus from Yellow Sun and the Better Together Project gives her perspective on two talks hosted

by ADDISS Securing your Rights in Education Law As parents of children with ADHD we have to be warriors and fighters. We also need to be legal experts to work our way around the maze of what Local Authorities should be legally providing for our children.

Luckily we had the expert advice of Michael Charles from Sinclairslaw to steer us through a bureaucratic minefield.

Michael is a knowledgeable and affable man who makes the complicated area of Education Law accessible and understandable. His lecture ‘Securing Your Rights – Education Law’ on Wednesday 16th January was well attended by parents with pens and notebooks at the ready.

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If a child is not making progress, despite additional provision, an Educational and Health Care Plans or EHCP can be requested by the school, parents or any other professional The first stage is for the Local Authority LA to assess if a child needs an EHCP For the assessment the LA are legally obligated to seek the advice from parents, Head, any medical advice, Educational Psychologist, Social Services if applicable, plus any other person that the parents feel is relevant Private assessments can be used It is a myth that children have to be 3 years behind, or 2 terms behind to get an EHCP. However, the school must demonstrate that they’ve put in additional resources to help the child and have evidence that there needs to be something more.

When an EHCP is agreed and drafted, the outcomes must be specific so that they can be challenged if not being carried out. Eg ‘Charlie must have Speech Therapy twice a week for 30 minutes each session from a qualified practitioner’.

Do not accept ‘Charlie must have access to Speech Therapy’ There is case law supporting families where children have been excluded without providing the correct in-school provision.

Equalities Act 2010 protects our children from discrimination.

So our children are protected by law.

Schools are legally obliged to give all children access to a full time education.

Schools must put in place adequate provision to meet their needs.

I hope that helps clear the foggy legal mist.

- Summer 2019

The Journey of Confidence: Breaking Through Walls On a rainy day in February I witnessed something extraordinary. A beautiful young man from Croatia explained how finding out at the age of 22 that he had Inattentive ADHD gave him a new life.

All his life he had felt odd and different.

Didn’t fit in. Couldn’t keep still. Recognise the signs? Of course we do…But no one recognised the signs when Marko Ferek was growing up.

In his talk ‘The Journey Of Confidence: Breaking Down Walls’ he explained how the continual negative language surrounding him as a young child caused deep emotional damage.

My key take-aways: Our children have a learning difference not a disorder.

Our children will be motivated if they are stimulated. So they will hyper-focus on something that gives them great motivation and interest. They will be easily bored and will lose focus if the activity is not stimulating enough.

The brains are crowded with thoughts and ideas. There is too much attention on what is happening around our children - there isn’t a lack of attention. This should be harnessed not squashed.

A toddler has natural curiosity, is playful and imaginative. Unfortunately this is knocked out of our children who have to conform to the constraints of school.

The bombardment of negative words can seriously damage a child’s feelings of self-worth.

Parents should share with their children that they have ADHD. Arm them with the facts and what works for them.

We need to create the right environment to enable our children to flourish. A fish cannot climb a tree. A jeep wouldn’t win a race but it would be the best vehicle in a tough terrain.

To be a confident person, we must teach our children to be who they are, not to be influenced by outside sources and not be afraid.

There will be bumps in the road ahead...but the destination is worth it!

Alastair worked tirelessly as a volunteer for the parent support group known as ADHD Richmond and Kingston since he joined the group as a member in 2011 bringing with him exceptional communication skills from his distinguished career in broadcasting. He also took over as Chair of the group in February 2017 and more recently transferred it into an Unincorporated Association.

A TRIBUTE TO

Alastair Yates ADHD Richmond and Kingston Management Committee deeply regrets to announce the sad news that our Chair, Alastair Yates, passed away last year on 26th July.

Many ADDISS members will have met Alastair at various ADHD events and will have heard him engaging with the media as a strong advocate for children and young people with ADHD.

He was fully engaged in a range of activities including training teachers in schools in the Richmond and Kingston area, in a greater understanding of ADHD and organising daytime and evening monthly talks for parents/carers and professionals. He was a great networker and successfully arranged for high quality speakers who were eminent experts in their fields to present at these twice monthly events so that parents could benefit from having the most up to date knowledge of ADHD and its treatment. He also brought young people together by arranging social events and activities for them.

Alastair was also instrumental in setting up and managing a very comprehensive website for ADHD

OBITUARY Richmond and Kingston which is visited daily and reaches people from all over the world as well as setting up our Facebook and Twitter accounts and a YouTube channel.

Creating a greater understanding of ADHD was at the centre of all he did so that children, young people and their parents could benefit from receiving support in dealing with this much misunderstood condition.

As well as being a highly skilled and competent professional, Alastair was warm, approachable and empathetic. There are no words to express how much all of us miss him other than to say that his death leaves a huge gap. Our thoughts are with his family at this extremely difficult time.

Alastair’s very well attended funeral was held on 20 August 2018 and there were many tributes paid to him. Alastair’s family kindly requested that should anyone wish to donate in his memory, to make a donation to ADHD Richmond and Kingston via the Just Giving page which has been created for this purpose: www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/alastair-yates

Lets all

PULL TOGETHER Support Group

Individual

for ADHD Practitioner

is here to spread the word about what’s going on in the ADHD community!

Student

Researcher

Author

Celebrity

We invite individuals & groups to share your ADHD-related articles/event details/stories/research/reviews, etc.

Please send any interesting/informative/inspiring/ or humourous content to: ADHDnews@ADDISS.co.uk

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SOLUTION: Find Compassion. Meet kids with ADHD where they are, not where you think they should be. Start by having Compassion for yourself. If you accept who you are, warts and all, it will be easier to accept your child and their current challenges. Kids with ADHD often take longer to develop necessary life skills and require more time than you may expect.

3. EXCLUDING THEIR PARTICIPATION IN SOLUTIONS AIMED AT HELPING THEM.

How you can overcome the 5 typical mistakes parents make with ADHD kids After another day of struggling with your ADHD child about school, chores and technology, do you ever feel like giving up? Many parents of kids with ADHD feel frustrated and dejected with the daily yelling and pushback. How can you hang in there and do things differently? hildren and teens with ADHD depend on you to teach them the crucial executive functioning skills such as self-regulation and organization they need for success. In over twenty-five years of clinical practice and leading workshops, I’ve seen how listening to the voices of kids diagnosed with ADHD improves cooperation and success.

My �C’s of ADHD parenting -- self-control, compassion, collaboration, consistency and celebration -- has helped hundreds of families reduce their stress, build closer relationships and improve day-to-day living.

Let’s look at the five typical mistakes parents make with ADHD kids and how you can overcome them:

1. LOSING YOUR TEMPER.

It’s natural to get upset when someone’s screaming, kicking or hitting you. But your agitation only adds fuel to their fire. As adults, our mature thinking brains have the capacity to calm our intense emotions. Kids with ADHD, whose pre-frontal lobes finish maturing after age ��, need extra assistance from you to do this.

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SOLUTION: Practice Self-Control: Start by managing your own feelings first so you can act effectively. This doesn’t mean never getting upset or feigning calmness. Instead, notice when you’re becoming riled up and try to bring yourself back. Stop what you’re doing, take some deep breaths and call a pause in the action to re-group. If you have to go into the bathroom for a short break, do that.

When you’re settled, then you can help your child do the same.

2. MISUNDERSTANDING THEIR EXPERIENCE AS A YOUNG PERSON LIVING WITH ADHD. It’s tough for busy parents to remember that your kids with ADHD are trying to do the best they can while living with significant executive functioning challenges. When your son forgets his history project again, he’s struggling with working memory and organization, not being lazy and forgetful.

- Summer 2019

Kids with ADHD, even young children, have their own ideas about what isn’t working and what could be better. Whether it’s at school--a place where they often face social,academic or emotional challenges, or at home, they constantly hear from adults and peers about how they’ve missed the mark and what they should do differently--even if these ideas don’t work with their brains.

SOLUTION: Start with Collaboration: When parents or educators include the opinions of kids with ADHD in their efforts to address problems, there’s more buy-in and cooperation.

Collaboration means working together with your child to find solutions to daily challenges instead of imposing your rules on them. This collaboration offers a “we” attitude instead of a “you” attitude. Ultimately (and in crises) you have the final word, but, when they are part of process, they participate more readily.

4. NOT FOLLOWING THROUGH.

Kids with ADHD, despite their protests, thrive on routines and predictability. When parents struggle to stick with a behavioral plan or improvise a spontaneous punishment, it’s confusing. Do you mean what you say or not?

If they pester you enough, do you give in?

SOLUTION: Stay as Consistent as possible without aiming for perfection No parent can follow through all of the time.

You aim for clear messages and similar consequences for the same behavior as often as possible. Consistent parenting means that you don’t threaten or give your ADHD children and teens consequences that you can’t enforce, remember or support. They already struggle with trial-and-error learning and benefit from having clear plans that aren’t renegotiated in the heat of a moment.

5. FOCUSING MORE ON THE OUTCOME THAN THEIR EFFORTS ALONG THE WAY.

PARENTING

difference in promoting behavioral changes and can-do attitudes.

Many parents, understandably, want to see immediate changes in their child’s behaviors when they give feedback or start a behavioral plan. But repeatedly telling them what they could do better backfires. Kids with ADHD lose motivation and momentum.

SOLUTION: Acknowledging progress with Celebration: While you don’t have to break into a cheer every time your son remembers to clear his plate or your daughter gets off her phone when asked, a high-five with a short “thanks” conveys two important messages: you noticed their efforts and you’re pleased with them.

Studies have found that a �:� ratio of positive comments to negative ones makes a big

The �C’s of ADHD Parenting transforms your family by shifting attention away from what’s not working--anger and disappointment- to building closeness and cooperation, teaching essential executive functioning skills and fostering lifelong success.Sharon Saline, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist who specializes in ADHD and teens, children and families. Her first book, What your ADHD child wishes you knew: Working together to empower kids for success in school and life, will be released on August �th. Based on insights gleaned from over �� years of private practice, psychological test interpretation and school consultations, this book captures the actual comments, thoughts, feelings and experiences of kids living with attention issues.

You’ve read all the expert advice, but despite countless efforts to help your child cope better and stay on track, you’re still struggling with everyday issues like homework, chores, getting to soccer practice on time, and simply getting along without pushback and power struggles.

Veteran psychologist Dr. Sharon Saline presents a proven roadmap to help ADHD kids succeed in school and life.

What if you could work with your child, motivating and engaging them in the process, to create positive change once and for all? In this insightful and practical book, veteran psychologist Sharon Saline shares the words and inner struggles of children and teens living with ADHD—and a blueprint for achieving lasting success by working together. Based on more than 25 years of experience counseling young people and their families, Dr. Saline’s advice and real-world examples reveal how parents can shift the dynamic and truly help kids succeed.

Dr Sharon Saline, Psy.D

a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice, is a top expert in how ADHD, learning disabilities and mental health issues affect children, teens and families. Dr. Saline has worked extensively with schools on mental health issues in the classroom, interpreting psychological evaluations and improving teacher/ parent communication.

Please visit her website: www.drsharonsaline.com for more info about the book, workshops & parenting tips.

BOOKSTORE TOPICS INCLUDE: * Setting mutual goals that foster cooperation * Easing academic struggles * Tackling everyday challenges, from tantrums and backtalk to staying organized, building friendships, and more.

With useful exercises and easy-to-remember techniques, you’ll discover a variety of practical strategies that really work, creating positive change that will last a lifetime.

PURCHASE YOUR COPY FROM THE ADDiSS BOOKSTORE

www.addiss-shop.com

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9

You can’t compete with a cat in the playground!

U

During a recent school visit I witnessed a year 6 student with ADHD called Daniel fling a chair across the room after an altercation with his teacher.

nfortunately, the situation did not improve. After being sent to the Head’s office Daniel became more aggressive and swore at the Head Teacher. This resulted in Daniel being excluded for the rest of the day.

Incidents like these are not uncommon.

However, it does occur to me that when something like this happens a teacher may need to reflect on their practice. I am certainly not condoning the behaviour of Daniel but I do wonder if the teacher had acted differently whether the outcome could have been different.

It all started when an obviously bored Daniel looked out of the classroom window and saw a cat strolling through the playground. He shouted this out to the teacher who told him to ignore the cat and get on with his work. Within microseconds, 28 pairs of additional eyes were straining to look at the feline distraction. This disruption to the whole class made the teacher extremely annoyed and he demanded order. The teacher mandated that everyone look down and return to their work. Ignoring this request, Daniel stood up and shouted, ”Sir he has got a red collar on.”

At this, the teacher lost his temper and shouted, “Sit down right now.” Daniel screamed back, “you can’t make me.”

Things went from bad to worse until a chair was thrown and Daniel was sent from the room.

Situations like this happen every day and there is always a balance between effectively managing a class and strategically managing individuals.

This is why behaviour management systems cannot be rigid but need instead to be fluid or flexible. Within the SF3R behaviour management training programme that we offer schools, Structure, Flexibility, Rapport, Relationships and Resilience can provide teachers with a greater understanding of how to maintain this balance without losing control of situations. Although

10

there will be some occasions when no compromise can exist Flexibility is often the key to managing tricky situations.

In the scenario involving Daniel above, what lessons can we learn? To begin with, you can’t ignore a cat in the playground. It’s like a wasp flying around the classroom. You have to acknowledge it and deal with it.

One suggestion would be to have everybody get up to look at the cat through window. As it is unlikely that any cat will stay in an open space for very long, the object of interest will soon disappear. If the cat decided to remain in the playground, no doubt the students would soon get bored and return to their studies. If the students were still overexcited the teacher could perhaps set aside a couple of minutes to ask the whole class who has a cat at home and their names before returning to their work.

Sometimes you have to spend time to earn time. Removing an angry child from the classroom will take up a lot of time and energy not to mention writing the incident report, phoning/meeting the parent etc…

EDUCATION In my experience, often a less hierarchal figure or person such as a Teaching Assistant or the school secretary is the best initial option before the SMT become involved.

I know of one very enlightened Head Teacher who revised his practice of getting involved too early after an experience with one of his students with ASD who had lost her temper in class and had been sent to his office.

He found that the student would not engage with him as she put her fingers in her ears and her head down on the desk. The Head quickly realised that sending the child to his office was not making the situation better but worse.

He then chose to remove himself until the student had calmed down via the help of another member of staff. Later, once the student had calmed down he was then able to talk to her about the incident.

The key to this and most other classroom scenarios, is taking the time to read the situation properly before taking action. Knowing that managing behaviour does not come from a script can often give a teacher more confidence when making difficult classroom decisions.

It is important to remember that just like in our daily lives, sometimes you have to adapt your systems to deal with specific situations.

There is also another issue to be considered here which is to recognise that by sending a child with ADHD or ASD to a member of the Senior Management Team when they have lost their selfcontrol can often make them even more anxious and angry.

In most cases being sent to head teacher will be an effective strategy in terms of management but for students with ADHD and ASD it often does not work as effectively as it often increases the anxiety and therefore the intensity of their frustrations. If a student then swears or lashes out at the Head Teacher there is little room for flexibility as the behaviour management system takes over and exclusion is likely.

The key is knowing how best to reduce the anxiety and anger of the student and not increase it.

- Summer 2019

Contact Finton O Regan at fjmoregan@aol.com or at www.fintanoregan.com

IMAGINE? life-limiting

CAN YOU ...if there was a over

neurological condition which affected and in the UK.

���,��� children

�,���,��� adults

SO SERIOUS, THAT IF LEFT UNDIAGNOSED AND UNTREATED IT COULD MEAN THAT...

Your

life expectancy could be reduced by up to 25 years

You had an 80% chance of such as anxiety and depression

poor mental health

You were 11 times more likely to be , or twice as likely to get

unemployed divorced

��% of child suicides, or increased adolescents’ risk of self-harm by �.� times.

Children with it were ��� times more likely to be excluded from school.

What if ��% of all prisoners were affected, ��% of alcoholics and substance abusers, and at least a quarter of homeless people? And that this was preventable?

This would be shocking, wouldn’t it?

• But imagine if it was easy to reduce those risks. Improving countless lives Imagine if it was implicated in

and saving �billions for the NHS, schools, the police, prisons, work and pensions...

• Now imagine treatment was inexpensive and safe,

with ��% of children and adults gaining enough relief to function, flourish, and allowing

natural strengths such as quick thinking, creativity, drive and passion to shine through?

•Yet what if most sufferers had no idea they had it, were currently being treated for the wrong conditions, or told they were ‘badly behaved’ or ‘failures’; and that most doctors, parents and teachers didn’t know what to look for?

• What if newspapers wrote on their front pages that the condition didn’t exist?

Or public figures cried out in horror that potentially life changing medicines were being given to these children, when all they needed was a better diet or less screen time?

• Then imagine on top of all of this, it often took years to get diagnosed, if you were lucky enough to get on a waiting list at all...

Sadly we don’t have to IMAGINE. This is the reality for those with ADHD THIS IS #ADHDdiscrimination • TOGETHER WE WILL END THIS.

POWERING POTENTIAL. CREATING CHANGE adhdaction.org/Donate Registered Charity Number ������� * PLEASE NOTE - the opinions and facts in this infographic are supplied by and published on behalf of ADDISS’ sister charity ADHD Action.

CE

HD

We call on parents, children & teachers worldwide to become mythbusters.

EN

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ADH

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ARE YOU AN ADHD MYTHBUSTER? Have you ever had to challenge a teacher or a journalist or even a friend who does not believe ADHD is real, or that children simply grow out of it or that medication for ADHD is addictive, but did not have the science at your fingertips to back you up?

We will be publishing good scientific evidence for each myth which you will be able to download easily and quickly.

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OUR GUEST SPEAKERS WILL BE KEVIN ROBERTS, DR PHIL ANDERTON OUR FAVOURITE EX COPPER, LISA MANGLE ADHD NURSE SPECIALIST AND SPECIAL GUEST DR SHARON SALINE, PSYCHOLOGIST WHO HAS JUST PUBLISHED HER BOOK WHAT YOUR ADHD CHILD WISHES YOU KNEW. THERE WILL BE OTHER GUESTS AT EACH VENUE. PLEASE LOOK ON OUR WEBSITE FOR NEWS OF THESE EVENTS AND HOW TO BOOK.