For more than a decade now CADDAC has been advocating with the Ministries of Education, Health, Child and Youth, Justice and Social Services. Our policy papers have been sent to all ministries across Canada impacted by ADHD, and we have personally met with many of these ministries.
When CADDAC meets with government officials to advocate for needed changes to improve the lives of families with ADHD we are told that change will only happen through the interest of our elected officials. In other words, the bureaucratic arm of the government will rarely effect change unless told to do so by the political arm of the government.
However, when CADDAC meets with the politicians we are told that they have no reason to be interested in ADHD since their constituents have shown no interest. They report that their constituents do not speak with them about ADHD, but they do hear from families of children and adults with other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Autism.
Since CADDAC receives countless calls from parents extremely concerned about the current situation we know that you are indeed very interested, but this is not being shared with your elected officials. You are interested in government policies that impact your children with ADHD in our schools. You are interested in the lack of accessibility to ADHD assessment and treatment options. You are interested in the fact that youth as well as adults with ADHD are highly represented in the prison population yet we lack screening and treatment of ADHD in most correction facilities across Canada.
Unless educated by their constituents, our MPPS fall prey to the same misinformation and misconceptions as the general public. They view ADHD it as an insignificant issue rather than the most common neurodevelopmental disorder impacting the academic success and mental well being of our Canadian children today.
This year we have a unique opportunity with the upcoming Ontario election. We can use this platform as a pilot to see if parents, grandparents, extended family, educators and medical professionals working in the field of ADHD are interested enough to let their voices be heard.
Let’s make ADHD an Ontario election issue for families impacted by ADHD!
For those of you outside of Ontario, there is no reason for you not to use the same information to assist you in letting your elected official know that you are indeed interested in ADHD.
What Can You Do To Help?
Did you know that your MPP is required to meet with any constituent that request a meeting?
Did you know that governments estimate that every letter they receive on a topic represents an additional 50 to 60 people also concerned about that topic who have not written a letter?
If you have an interest in ADHD, CADDAC and other Canadian ADHD support organizations need your help!
Advocacy efforts cannot succeed unless the voices of those like you are heard – we need all those with an interest in ADHD: parents, grandparents, adults with ADHD, extended family members, educators and medical professionals to do at least one thing to add their voice to the effort.
Please access information on or web site Campaign Page to find information that CADDAC has developed to help you in this effort.
You will find talking points and questions to share with your sitting MPP and those who will be running for election in your riding. You can use the same information to ask questions at town hall meetings.
CADDAC will be asking Ontario parties to answer a list of questions on ADHD. We will be posting their answers later in February for everyone to see. CADDAC will also be asking to meet with the party leaders to present this information and ask for their commitment to families impacted by ADHD.
Warm regards,
Heidi Bernhardt
On December the 4th 2017 CADDAC met with Minister Fleming and his staff to discuss ADHD in BC schools, our recent policy paper, and rumours that the highly anticipated new BC Special Education guidelines, placing ADHD in a standalone category, would not be released.
Here is a summary of what the Minister and his staff shared with CADDAC.
The guidelines in special education have been delayed due the change in government and a full review going forward in K to 12 funding. CADDAC was assured many times that changes to the new Special Education Guidelines, incorporating the changes in DSM 5 resulting in the inclusion of ADHD as a standalone category, are not being considered for removable. They are not looking at preventing this due to the restoration of old language of class composition in the teachers’ contract. There has been no conversation on their part regarding limiting designations of special needs students. They have been focusing on hiring more educators to meet these students’ needs.
During the process of reviewing funding they will be reaching out to stakeholder groups after they complete their financial consultation. They will be informing CADDAC on a timeline for submissions.
Deputy Minister Laura Sampson will be staying in touch to up-date CADDAC on these issues.
The Ministry is aware that their web site information on ADHD for educators is out-dated. They are in the process of developing up-dated information.
This question is being asked and answered in our recent policy paper, Inequitable Access to Education for Canadian Students with ADHD.
Also access our Media Release and a Summary of our key messages.
During the morning of October the 3rd, CBC's "The Current" hosted the call in show "Is the public school system working for kids with special needs. They asked for people to continue contacting them about this topic.
I'd like to encourage everyone to contact CBC and share your thoughts and the experiences of your children with ADHD in Canadian school systems. There was very little said about ADHD during the 90 minute show.
You can listen to the full episode here, http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-october-2-2017-a-national-call-in-special-1.4317150
You can share your thoughts here, http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/contact via e-mail, Facebook or twitter.
We need to get our voices out there!
I often chat with parents who ask me how they can be expected to organize their child with executive functioning impairments when they have the same issues. If this is something that you struggle with, or find it challenging to calm tempers and put household strategies in place Dr. Mark Bertin’s recent Huffington Post article would be a great read. He talks about using a collaborative family approach to address the many issues that arise in households dealing with ADHD. Access Dr. Bertin’s Article
I always found working on complex organizational tasks and chores as a team with my kids lead to better outcomes. Telling one of my son to go and clean his room usually ended with a room that was even messier than before and escalated emotions, not the good kind, on both our parts. But, when we tackled this chore together, the room ended up clean and we were able to feel a sense of shared accomplishment. Working through the process with my son also forced me to think about what executive functioning skills were lacking and what the underlying impairments might be. It also made me consider how I might be able to help him practice these skills.
Another Tip
Once you’ve finished cleaning the room take pictures of various parts of the room, print and post them. This will help your child visualize what a clean room looks like – dirty clothes in the hamper, cleans ones in the drawers, toys in the bins, books on the shelf etc. Most kids with ADHD find visual cues, knowing what the end product is meant to look like, very helpful.
It was with great interest that I reviewed an Australian study looking at academic achievement in students with ADHD during the period from childhood to adolescence. Having spent the last twenty years speaking with researchers, parents, educators, school boards and Ministries of Education across Canada I firmly believe that this study highlights the same situation that we have here in Canada.
The study published in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics showed that 40% of students with ADHD were not reaching minimum standards for literacy and numeracy in at least one academic area such as writing or math. Based on test results in year seven, which is equivalent to our grade seven, 73% of students with ADHD had a problem with writing and almost a quarter scored below the minimum standard. By year nine things had become worse; 54% of students still had difficulties, however now 37.5% did not reach the minimum standard. What was also interesting was the fact that boys had far greater difficulty with writing than girls. The lead researcher, Nardia Zendarski said that they had expected to see a gap in academic success for students with ADHD, but not such a large gap.
Professor Harriet Hiscock, a consulting paediatrician with the Murdoch Children's Research Institute that ran the study, said problems arose for students with ADHD particularly in English subjects, due to issues with writing, spelling and grammar. "They're quite sophisticated things that we learn how to do," she said. The frontal lobe of the brain, which we know is not as developed in children with ADHD, is used in this type of task.
Remarkably, 75% of children looked at in the study were on medication to increase their attention. This fact led Ms. Zendarski to state, "ADHD medication has its place but it doesn't seem to improve long-term academic outcomes … it doesn't address the core academic skills." She went on to say, "We should stop focusing on the argument around whether these kids should be medicated or not and start focusing on providing services and support that they need to reach their full potential. These programs could be used to support all kids with learning difficulties.”
"We need to look further back and see when the problems start — do these problems start for kids as early as grade one?" said Professor Hiscock. "And if they're not picked up and addressed, particularly in primary school, then these kids get into high school where it becomes harder, the work becomes more complex. So we're seeing the problems become worse."
Professor Hiscock went on the say, “The solution is not clear cut, but better support and training of teachers would be a good start. More support around literacy and numeracy teaching, probably it's got to be small groups, more individualised teaching."
Tracy-Ann Pettigrew a mother with two sons with ADHD went back to university to study special education in order to assist her sons with school. There's not a lot of understanding by mainstream teachers about how to teach kids with additional learning needs and it's a tough gig," she said. "I am hoping that this will facilitate some meaningful change, so that teachers can learn the skills that they need to learn to be able to support these kids."
Ms Zendarski closed by says, “As education is a key determinant of overall quality of life and health, I can't think of a better area to concentrate our efforts,"
Access the Institute’s REPORT
Access articles on the study:
Over the past 25 years I have spoken to tens of thousands of parents struggling with the question of whether to give their child medication to treat their ADHD. In all that time I have never come across one parent who was thrilled at the thought of medicating their child. Most parents express doubt, concern and have countless questions. Some refuse outright to even consider medication as a treatment option even when their child is clearly struggling at home, in school and during social situations. I must confess that even with a background in psychiatric nursing I had to think about the decision and it took quite some time for my husband to come around to the idea.
I also think that second guessing yourself on the decision you made, for many years even decades, after the fact is quite common. I receive many calls from parents asking if I think that they are responsible for their child’s failure at school and work because they refused to try medication when the child was younger. Or, they ask if it is what caused their child's involvement with the law and/or with self-medicating with substances. No one can answer these questions nor should they try. When asked, I steer parents away from the past and towards the present and future. What can and should be done now to set up the best individualized, balanced, multi-modal treatment approach possible. It may include medication, or it may not, but it should always be more than just medication. On the other hand, I also receive calls from adults who never received medication as a child, have been able to weather the storms, and have come out stronger because of it.
So it was with great interest and delight that I watched a YouTube video by Jessica McCabe, a young actress, writer and YouTube personality with ADHD. The video is captioned “To My Mom who Drugged Me”. Don’t be alarmed by the title, you’ll be wonderfully surprised by the message Jessica shares. While she addresses the topic of medication in the video she shares so much more. She expresses how she felt as a child with ADHD, what her mother’s understanding and support meant to her, and the profound difference it made in her life.
Watch the VIDEO
Access an ARTICLE on the video
Access Jessica’s web site How To ADHD
Children with neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD have been excluded from general guidelines on screen use by the Canadian Pediatric Society because children with these disorders are at greater risk for internet addiction. Dr. Umesh Jain, a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist specializing in ADHD, believes that children with ADHD should only be in front of a screen for educational purposes. He believes that screen time can be addictive for children with ADHD with the same cravings and withdrawal effect as other addictions. He also believes that it deteriorates social skills of children with Autism since they quickly become dependent on the Internet for their social interaction. Dr. Jain states that screen time is altering the brain of children with ADHD by “softening and altering cortical structures”. He’s basing his recommendations on studies out of South Korea pointing to ADHD as the most common reason for Internet addiction under the age of 12.
Dr. Randy Kulman, a child clinical psychologist from Rhode Island, believes screen time for children with ADHD and ASD should be tailored to their learning challenges, but does recognize the increased risk to those with ADHD. Children with ADHD crave stimulation that these online interactions provide.
Access the entire article by Patricia Tomasi HERE
This brief article geared to employers and managers makes some interesting points on ADHD in the workplace that are just as useful for employees. The first being, an employee with ADHD can have considerable talents along with their ADHD which will make them a valuable asset to the company even if some accommodations are required. Secondly, awareness of an employee’s ADHD benefits everyone, the employee, the manager and the entire organization. Once awareness is there, strategies can be put in place to set the employee up for success rather than failure.
The author goes on to outline two important lessons an adult with ADHD shared with him. Kyle the adult with ADHD noted that although he knew distractability was an issue for him, not until he actually monitored his time did he realize how hugely it impacted his productivity. However, the biggest lesson he learned was from a past boss. This boss showed Kyle the benefits of having an accountability partner. Although he was initially resentful of what he misinterpreted as his boss's oppressive oversight the success it afforded him quickly turned him into a believer. Someone to check in with at regular intervals, daily if necessary, by e-mail or through face to face meetings, helped him prioritize and manage his time more effectively. Having someone to hold him accountable allowed him to accomplish more and turn in an improved product. His only regret was that he had not learned this lesson sooner.
Access the full article HERE
A new study published on May 10 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry looked at ADHD, driving and medication. The study tracked more than 2 million American adults who had been diagnosed with ADHD for a period of 10 years. The data was accessed from health insurance claims from more than 100 health insurers and reviewed inpatient and outpatient hospital visits due to motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) and filled prescriptions.
The study looked at over 2 million patients identified with ADHD, over the age of 18, with half over the age of 33. The study found that men’s risk of a motor vehicle accident decreased by 38% during the months they filled their prescriptions and women’s risk decreased by 42%.
The study team also estimated that 22 % of accidents could have been avoided if people with ADHD were on their medication during the entire study period.
The lead author Zheng Chang, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden stated that the study most likely underestimated the effect of medication on car crashes because only those accidents serious enough to warrant medical intervention through a hospital were included in the numbers. The data also did not include car crashes were someone died.
Considering the high prevalence of ADHD and its association with motor vehicle collisions along with the high rate of MVCs resulting in injury or death these findings should be looked at very seriously.
To access further details
Study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Published online May 10, 2017.doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0659
http://www.livescience.com/59047-people-taking-adhd-medications-may-have-fewer-car-accidents.html
Spinner toys, the newest craze, are being marketed as appropriate fidget toys that increase the focus of children with ADHD. They actually have the opposite effect. These claims are simply a marketing stunt to encourage parents to purchase the toy for their children with ADHD. If you are wondering if these toys might be useful for your child please read Dr. Doron Almagor’s article in the Huffington Post before running out to purchase a spinner. Dr. Almagor, a Canadian child and adolescent psychiatrist specializing in ADHD, points out that movement of a manipulative, or fidget toy, should stimulate the child’s brain just enough to keep their focus engaged on something other than the toy, like their teacher. Repetitive or unintentional movement is what helps the ADHD brain focus. These spinners actually draw a child’s focus to the toy and away from where their focus needs to be.
Hopefully false claims such as these, designed to market products to children with disabilities and their parents, will be called out and the companies fined.
Access Dr. Almagor’s article Here.
