Out of nowhere in the wee hours of the morning today from the other room I hear my 10 yr old daughter proclaim: “End the war on ADHD!!!”
I say “out of nowhere” because my daughter is happily settled at a school that not only accommodates her unique brain wiring but celebrates it as a competitive advantage. However, it did serve as a reminder - most children with ADHD and other learning differences are not so lucky, including many of my clients. These children are constantly at war – with their teachers, their parents… and themselves. They are stigmatised, isolated, and eventually excluded from schools that clearly do not accommodate, and certainly do not celebrate, their neurodiversity.
Too many schools lack the necessary understanding of ADHD (as well as the funding) to support children who are “differently-abled”. Too often, as a result of discriminatory behaviour policies, many of these children end up casualties of this “war”.
It doesn’t have to be this way… Let’s end the “war” and help these children tell a new story.
Stephanie Camilleri
The ADHD Advocate