2017 Awareness Month Campaign – ADHD in Education – Get Involved!

If this topic is near and dear to your heart we need to hear your story!

CADDAC continues to receive calls on a fairly consistent basis from parents across the country expressing concern about their child’s education. Many have tried for years to work with their child’s school to put strategies and accommodations in place. They are extremely frustrated about the lack of recognition that ADHD can significantly impact a child’s learning and the void in training for educators.

If these issues are of interest to you, you need to add your voice to our 2017 ADHD Awareness Month Campaign and advocacy efforts. While Awareness Month will be the launch, we anticipate this campaign to extend throughout the next year.  We are aware that most often we are contacted about the worst situations and rarely hear about the successes. So, we also want to hear your positive comments.

Although our knowledge on how ADHD impacts learning has expanded significantly in the past twenty-five years, little has changed in how schools, school boards and Ministries of Education address  student’s learning needs. While some educators have great insight into why and how students with ADHD are impaired and strive to support them, others still label students with ADHD as lazy, unmotivated and defiant. School boards and teacher education programs continue to spend very little time training educators and administrators on ADHD even when on average there are at least 2 to 3 children with ADHD in every classroom.

For the past twenty years CADDAC and its representatives has been meeting with Ministries of Education attempting to bring change to the way students with ADHD are recognized, understood and serviced. Ministries of Education that identify students with disabilities as exceptional learners continue to systemically exclude ADHD in their categories of exceptionality.  However, whichever provincial special education system is in place, the continued lack of training for educators is a commonality across all provinces.

So, during this year’s ADHD Awareness Month, in October, CADDAC will be launching a campaign to bring more awareness to the impact of ADHD on learning, the lack of educator training, the lack of school services for students with ADHD, and the continued stigmatization of students with ADHD is some schools.  At the same time we would like to highlight schools that do a great job of supporting our kids with ADHD, because we know that it can be done.

After meeting with Ministries, boards and government officials for years only to be told that the continual concern we hear from parents about their child’s learning and their frustration at the schools’ lack of understanding, knowledge and services is just hearsay, we think it is about time they hear it from you.

In preparation to the launch of this campaign CADDAC is requesting that you send us your stories.  They can be brief or as lengthy as you like. Tell us about your experiences, good and bad. Tell us about your efforts to be heard, your frustrations and your successes. Let us know about the teacher who really “got your child” and made your child’s year. Essentially we want to hear whatever you would like say on this issue.

We completely understand that this can be a very emotional issue for some, but we do ask that you not name individual schools or boards. Since these stories will be collected, collated and eventually shared with policy makers you may wish to send your letter anonymously. If this is the case, please do not place your name at the bottom of your document. However, also remember that a signed document holds more weight. Also, it is about time that we openly address these issues and refuse to accept the stigma that many feel is still attached to ADHD.

Please send your stories to advocacy@caddac.ca either in the body of the e-mail or as an attachment.

Stay tuned for additional up-dates on this campaign through or blog post, web site or through our e-mails.

Please also join the discussion on this topic though our Facebook page.

Warm regards,

Heidi Bernhardt