Better Late than Never: Recent Episodes
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As well as posting a recent review of my own book Better Late Than Never on adult ADHD – I wanted to highly recommend a fantastic new book out by Kat Brown called “It’s Not a Bloody Trend!” (love that title). It launched this February, and I have already finished it because it is a galloping and brilliant piece of writing. It successfully brings together different voices as well as Kat’s own nuanced but never sorry-for-herself exploration of her own ADHD. Even when she described her nickname as “Robogob” at school, which made me drop the book with a cruel hoot, she is measured in her approach in how neurodiversity has affected her life.
The research that has gone into the book is properly thorough, and she has got a good variety of people involved from the esteemed CEO of the ADHD Foundation Dr Tony Lloyd to the average Joe, and there are plenty of interviews so everyone’s experience is valid.
Anyone who is exploring their own ADHD would do well to buy this, because it genuinely adds to the sum of human understanding on this complex neurological difference, and my link above is to the Bookshop.org because I don’t use Amazon (they don’t pay tax in this country and have devastated sales in High Street Bookshops). Copies bought through Bookshop.org donate to a fund for independent booksellers, and over £3.4m has been donated to date through them.
Journalist Emma Mahony and Broadcaster Clare Catford look back at the close of October ADHD awareness month and talk about how to have a “Medication Vacation” following yesterday’s piece in the Sunday Times – detailing how roughly 200,000 patients are experiencing a shortage in their ADHD medication supply, which could last till Christmas. GPs have been told not to start new patients on any medication during the shortage. How can you get extra support at work being “out” about your ADHD?
Commissioned by the Teaching website Teachit to write this piece on supporting students with ADHD in a mainstream classroom, I couldn’t resist offering a mini-glimpse of the challenges for the average teacher (let alone a neurodiverse one). The result is this short piece that was published in April 2023 but has been retweeted and reposted throughout ADHD Awareness month this October to remind educators that there is always another way. Not necessarily better, but another.
In this episode of the ADHD Post-Lockdown diaries, author and educator Emma Mahony and broadcaster and journalist Clare Catford explore their shared view of physician Gabor Maté’s theories about ADHD, which he himself has and two of his children. Despite this, he argues that it is not hereditary but the result of early trauma and lack of attunement. Most recently he argued this when he diagnosed Prince Harry in an interview. What’s your view?
What did you last read on neurodiversity? If you haven’t read any of these books – here are some of the latest thinkers and scientists writing accessibly on how the brain works. It’s good to see ADHD in the mix with my book ‘Better Late than Never’ included. https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2023/01/neurodiversity-books-characters-memoir-diagnosis
Author, journalist and teacher Emma Mahony along with broadcaster and media consultant Clare Catford discuss during new(ish) year resolutions and how helpful dangling year-long intentions are in front of an ADHDer’s brain.
This ADHD Awareness month, Author and Teacher Emma Mahony and Broadcaster and Podcaster Clare Catford encourage ADHD-ers to follow their gut and take a risk, after years of feeling “wrong” in a neuro-typical world. How risk-taking can be a strength of an ADHD diagnosis, not a curse. As Clare demonstrates while protesting on behalf of the Posties…
Clare Catford protesting on behalf of the post-office workers, remind us that taking a risk can be as simple as putting yourself out there on behalf of others
On the eve of travelling up to the ADHD Foundation conference, author Emma Mahony and broadcaster Clare Catford explore the different reactions to their parents dying recently and ask whether it is “me or the ADHD”?
Author Emma Mahony and Broadcaster Clare Catford explore this little known aspect of ADHD where sufferers are more sensitive than others to criticism, perhaps because, by the age of 12, ADHDers receive up to 20,000 more negative comments about themselves than other children. So what effect does RSD have on friendships, relationships and self-esteem?
How great that the internet offers a chance to review your 2020 intentions to see how you are doing, while setting a course for a new year. Aiming for calm, creating chaos. Broadcaster Clare Catford and journalist Emma Mahony do just that, while reminding ADHDers everywhere that they are not alone with this struggle.
At the beginning of October’s ADHD Awareness month, we posted this podcast to remind people that there’s no shame in asking for help if you have this complex neuro-developmental disorder. In fact, we believe it can be key to making your life, career and relationships a success, so try making it a habit. All too… Continue reading ADHD Post-Lockdown diaries: Asking for Help →
At 1hour 8 minutes in, on Jo Good’s BBC London Show, we discuss the challenges of starting again at the ripe age of 52 – with a little help from your friends at Now Teach.
Emma Mahony in discussion with Clare Catford on how taking medication for ADHD improves their ability to function in a neurotypical world.
Thanks to LinaBellina for the interview on Teacher Hug Radio – sharing tips on keeping sane while being a teacher.
Now we are all allowed to get out and about a bit more, Author Emma Mahony and Broadcaster Clare Catford discuss their top tips for keeping in good nick with ADHD, including escaping into green spaces, exercise and sea-swimming
More taboo than death these days, Journalist Emma Mahony and Broadcaster Clare Catford discuss how having ADHD affects your attitude to money, and what you can do to help yourself
Author Emma Mahony and Broadcaster Clare Catford reflect on their multiple careers and the hirings and firings which go hand in hand with an ADHD diagnosis. Can such a ton of job experiences be a good thing?
Originally posted on lenabellina:
In December I wrote a post about my achievements in 2020. https://lenabellina.wordpress.com/2020/12/31/pride-after-a-fall-or-the-highs-and-lows-of-2020/ It was a bit cryptic and I made reference to a new piece of information that I had come upon that had helped me to understand myself a bit better. I am now in a position to say that…
Author Emma Mahony and journalist Clare Catford ignore Brexit and Covid to offer their three positive intentions for this New Year. So, what would yours be?
Emma Mahony talks about how spiritual beliefs can help greatly in managing ADHD with journalist Clare Catford, ADHDer and presenter of many BBC radio programmes on faith.
Historically steeped in the work of the Mutoid Waste Company, the artist Giles Walker has produced something important and visionary in his jaw-dropping work “Monster”. After two years beating waste metal and sewing scrap material onto animatronic mannequins in his Brixton workshop, this hauntingly immersive experience is both disturbing and beautiful. The moving characters spout… Continue reading A Must See – “Monster” by Giles Walker, timely, immersive and animatronic →
Following the launch of Emma Mahony’s book Better Late Than Never about ADHD late diagnosis, and the tricky interview on Woman’s Hour with Jane Garvey, we are joined by journalist Clare Catford to discuss the differences between men and women’s experience, particularly in the light of the broadcaster Adrian Chiles’ podcast in the Guardian .
ADDISS – the ADHD Information Service is one of the best places to head, for any parents or adults who are struggling with problems around diagnosis or children with ADHD. This year they are celebrating their 25th anniversary and the great Andrea Bilbow OBE – who runs the organisation – is still organising events despite… Continue reading A Zoom In – hosted by ADDISS – The ADHD Information Service →
Titled “Fifty years of unanswered questions” – and under the section of “Real Life” Fiona Kinloch wrote an interview which came at diagnosis from the perspective of having a child with ADHD. I believe that this is how many women finally come round to the idea of having the disorder, otherwise – they just learn… Continue reading Woman Magazine interview by Fiona Kinloch →
All too often the same old clichés are trotted out by the media around ADHD so I was pleased to share this in Happiful magazine adapted from The UK information service ADDISS and included at the back of my book. It was the theme of 2019 ADHD awareness month
Unlike the tv interview on Channel 4 – there was a challenging exchange with outgoing BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour presenter Jane Garvey. When the interviewer offers “I don’t want to be cynical but… ” you know you are not in for an easy ride. However, anyone with ADHD has heard the arguments and dismissal… Continue reading A pretty challenging interview on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour on #lateADHDdiagnosis for #ADHDAwarenessmonth →
Bella Magazine chose to highlight ADHD in its magazine dated 13 October, by lifting content from the book and adding a “symptom checker”. I liked the photo of the woman with a post-it note on her head. What that had to do with the price of eggs I am not sure – but it looked… Continue reading Bella Magazine – ADHD Awareness month →
The piece I wrote for the Daily Telegraph included some detail from my book that has just been published Better Late Than Never about how I had to produce my school reports for my adult ADHD diagnosis. The headline “My messiness exasperated my teachers” was what captured the editors’ interest in this complex disorder. I… Continue reading ADHD and Struggles at School →
It was a surprise when I wrote a piece for the Daily Mail as an advocate for ADHD Awareness Month and the launch of my book – Better Late Than Never – and they decided to look at it from the angle of falling estrogen levels during the menopause. The full piece can be read… Continue reading ADHD and the Menopause →
In this final ADHD Lockdown 1 diary, Clarissa Vorfeld offers a Swiss view from across the channel of the new normal with Covid-19 restrictions lifted, while Emma Mahony talks to Dr Jude Smith Rachele in the US about the need to slow down to examine the impace of the #BlackLivesMatter protests.
Here are some memories of VE day from my parents, now 86, remembering the celebrations in their respective towns of Fowey in Cornwall where my grandfather (pictured) was buried in 1944 and Dewsbury in Yorkshire.
As Clarissa gives the timescale for Switzerland coming out of Lockdown, Emma feels hope is on the horizon for the UK as the pandemic plateaus. Andrew St Clair joins from urban Spain to report on easing off there, while Paul Richardson in rural Spain discusses music as solace during isolation, and plays us out with… Continue reading The ADHD Lockdown Diaries – Day 25 →
Clarissa prepares for the easing of Lockdown with hairsalons in Switzerland, while Emma talks to founding director of the prison charity Fine Cell Work about how they are keeping prisoners occupied and paid with bonuses in their cells – a lesson for us all in mental health.
Emma in the UK loves 99-year-old Captain Tom Moore walking a 100 laps of his garden before his birthday, and raising over £7m for the NHS, while Clarissa in Switzerland welcomes the reopening of schools in Denmark, and talks to Now Teacher Anne-Marie Lawlor about how well Education is faring under lockdown.
Clarissa in Switzerland talks Easter memories of chocolate bunnies in face masks, while Emma finds fresh air in abundance after councils clear streets of cars so people can exercise. Welcoming Environmentalist Matt Mellen of Ecohustler to suggest One Good Thing we can do after Lockdown to breathe better #climatechange.
Clarissa has found great stories of Covid-19 progress in Switzerland with CERN inventions and #VersusVirus ideas, and Emma is celebrating all things good in the environment as we head into the Easter Break. Just 15 minutes of all the positive news we can muster. Happy Easter!
Emma tells how the nation is #prayingforBoris and how nature is benefitting from the great global slowdown, while Clarissa reports on the first virtual wedding in Switzerland. Guest Agronomist and Master Baker Nacho Trives in Spain offers tips to bake the perfect loaf.
Clarissa in Switzerland discusses the green shoots of recovery in Europe, and painting smiles on masks, while Emma talks recycling clothes via the charity Smart Works and how to live a sustainable life with Paul Richardson in Spain. Pic is ingredients for Nancy Burrell’s cocktail “Quarantini”.
Emma concentrates on the eccentric great British public over the weekend, while Clarissa explains how the Swiss are leading the way in business rescue packages, while Abundant Sun CEO Dr Jude joins from the States to explain the silver linings offered by this enforced pause. So begins a week of good news where the environment… Continue reading The ADHD Lockdown diaries – Day 14 →
Clarissa in Swtizerland and Emma in the UK find the feelgood Friday stories for the weekend, including the Swiss #VersusVirus online event to solve Covid-19 problems with international cross-skills groups, and digital karaokes to keep our spirits up. Joined by Andrew St Clair in Barcelona sharing Spanish Mask Fashion and the Stark Bollock Naked online… Continue reading The ADHD Lockdown Diaries – Day 11 →
More positive titbits from Switzerland and the UK, as Clarissa and Emma get advice from Actor and Keyworker Kelvin O’Mard on Buddhist chanting, while discussing the yeast shortage in Switzerland, how cash is no longer king, and why Emma finds fun in the GPs doing a midday dance class for Care Home residents here in… Continue reading The ADHD Lockdown Diaries – Day 10 →
Clarissa reports on the Swiss police stopping singing from balconies, while Emma comments on how shaggy goats are taking over the UK’s deserted streets. Their guest, the author and former cave dweller Guy Ogilvy offers insights into how a period of pause and reflection can benefit the whole of mankind.
Emma in the UK and Clarissa in Switzerland talk all things Corona-trivial including the Swiss Artist shining messages on the Matterhorn and the misbehaving Brits getting caught on the road. Special guest Peter Brooke-Turner of the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain treats us to a five-minute how-to guide to the Ukelele and keeping yourself amused… Continue reading The ADHD Lockdown Diaries – Day 8 →
After the first weekend in UK Lockdown, Emma talks to the founding director of the prison charity Fine Cell Work about their work in keeping inmates occupied, while Clarissa holds forth on how the Swiss establish social distancing by phone, and how they establish Hazard zones
Ex-Times journo Emma Mahony and former Vogue editor Clarissa Vorfeld trawl for positive news nuggets in the coronavirus updates, and invite Lisa Rowe-Beddoe on from America to explain how Dj-D-Nice and his daily dance-athon quarantine party is helping to encourage people in the US to register to vote.
Ex-Vogue Shopping Editor Clarissa Vorfeld is holed up at home in Switzerland and former Times Journo Emma Mahony is stuck in the sticks in Sussex and are keeping positive with any news titbits possible, including tips from Texas on handwashing, Instagrammable handicrafts, free fish and chips, and interviewing an expert on chicken keeping as poultry… Continue reading The ADHD Lockdown Diaries – Day 3 →
In Switzerland, Clarissa Vorfeld, ex Vogue Shopping Diary Editor, and in Sussex, UK, Emma Mahony, former Times editor, discuss the Wuhan Shake, disappearing taste and smell with Covid-19, and statistical overload. They are joined by Andrew St Clair from Barcelona to explain the curious approach to all things doggy in Spain.
Emma Mahony, stuck in Sussex, and Clarissa Vorfeld, holed up in Switzerland, talk all things Covid-19 …
Before October draws to a close, I do love the TADD talks given by ADDA, the American Organisation – a riff on TED talks – to celebrate ADHD awareness month. At 10 minutes long, there is something more personal about a voice talking – particularly when they are given by some of the best thinkers… Continue reading Listen up! October is ADHD awareness month. →
The theme around ADHD awareness month last October was girls with ADHD so I was pleased to add my thoughts via the success of Late to the Party about how this area is so underdiagnosed – girls vs boys diagnosis is currently 1:3. This is in spite of the condition affecting both equally. Back copies… Continue reading ADHD front page news →
A great eleven minute plug for Late to the Party the performance for the Brighton Fringe, covering horse whipping by teachers; the damned of the village; nicknames; Rory Bremner’s recent diagnosis and other random facts about ADHD. Interview Link
https://www.brightonfringe.org/box-office/shows/view/late-party Looking forward to putting ADHD onto the stage at The Brighton Fringe next month.
We all know that ADHD’s impulsivity can mean the difference between doing something and not doing it. And in business, that can make a big difference when coupled with an ADHDer’s intuition. This is the finding from the latest UK study published in Science Daily this month offering business leaders a different way of looking… Continue reading At last! A study showing positive ADHD traits in business →
I love this line in this FT journo’s farewell column today. Susie Boyt neatly sums up that ‘overwhelm’ that so many of us Adhders experience, and frames it in a positive way. On the eve of a New Year…when I can feel a city going crazy. “A small part of me still believes that to… Continue reading Happy 2017 and a good goodbye →
Sari Solden is the best champion there is for women with ADHD, she’s been a psychotherapist in the US helping women specifically with ADHD for 30 years, and has it herself. Although her first book Women with Attention Deficit Disorder was published a long time ago, 1995, her new book “Journey Through Adulthood” manages to… Continue reading Sari Solden -poster girl for ADHD women →
And a big thanks to our friends across the pond, including the irrepressible Dr Ned Hallowell for wading in with the positives of this condition – in a TADD talk here . For anyone who hasn’t heard of ADDA, the Adults with ADHD part of the volunteer-run US website, it’s been going for over 20 years, and… Continue reading October is ADHD awareness month! →
I thought this survey on ADHD and their partners was fascinating because of the Gappiness between what how the ADHDers thought they were doing, and how they were actually doing. It is also kind of heartbreaking how the initial attraction of spontaneity begins to grate over the years and turns into unreliable. There is also… Continue reading Is it you, me or ADHD? Author on relationships surveys… →
Marie Forleo in a mini-interview with ADHD psychiatrist Dr Hallowell on how to keep your attention in an internet-driven world … Continue reading Attention Management not Time Management →
There’s a great blog by an American author called Tess Messer, a mother of an adopted ADHD-er with Combined Hyperactive and Inattentive, and an ADHD biological son who is Primarily Inattentive. She herself had it as a child and writes eloquently, in an All-American fashion about what it is like to sit in 5th Grade… Continue reading Feel like a Primarily Inattentive ADHDer →
This looks very worthy and important stuff about diet. But I’d rather walk more, and eat a home-made quiche then stare at the rain and pick at a salad. So exercise and more cake rules over nutrient dense in this part of the country. But medication also plays havoc with suppressing appetite during the day,… Continue reading ‘Course, we know all this stuff about diet →
We know that Meditation is good for ADHD, and for calming the system of other neuro-atypicals. The expert and psychiatrist Dr Ned Hallowell recommends it as one of the 8 interventions to help, along with sleep and exercise, but it seems that more and more international studies are now confirming just how impactful it can be.… Continue reading Meditation – Good for ADHDers →
This is a brave and clear explanation of the physical effects of anxiety, often termed as a “co-morbidity”, something that accompanies spectrum disorders such as Autism and ADHD. I think it comes about because of deeply ingrained sense of being different from a young age – and how that affects your ability to navigate the… Continue reading As the Anxiety Kicks In →
Hyperfocus For all that scattered attention, mindwandering, forgetfulness and disorganization there is an even more confusing aspect to ADHD that is often cited as evidence for why the person can’t have it at all. Hyperfocus, the ability to lose time and be completely absorbed by some interesting occupation, and interesting is the crucial word here,… Continue reading Hyperfocus – confused? You will be… →
Hats off to Dr Hallowell for his new podcasts on a brand new website that launches tomorrow. I listened to the one on music and focus, where the author and neuroscientist interviewed spoke for five minutes about music and focus. It appears that the ADHDer and psychiatrist Dr Hallowell is unusual because he likes to write… Continue reading Distraction – new podcasts for ADHDers →
Thank you to Emily in the comments section on this piece in the Daily Mail a few days ago. Emily points out that ADHDers have a hard enough time being believed for this condition, without the gleeful note of scepticism raised in the Mail every time the latest study on ADHD appears. This one from… Continue reading Grrr. The Daily Mail. Here they go again. →
When Dr Ned Hallowell, the ADHD expert from America, came to the UK – I was surprised to learn that he controlled his own ADD symptoms with coffee rather than medication. Any ADHDer is likely to LOVE coffee, or have an on-off relationship with it, knowing that overly wired means that you just do stupid things… Continue reading Caffeine: A User’s Guide to Getting Optimally Wired →
Recently I took part in a double-blind randomised controlled medical trial for a cannabis inhaler to help in controlling ADHD symptoms. At the end of the six-week trial, I was later told that I was on the placebo – which was no surprise as the mouth puffer had no effect whatsoever. While I wasn’t expecting to… Continue reading CBD – a help for ADHD? →
Here in the Washington Post about what ADHD means to America’s children. It includes details of the first US national survey of medication among preschoolers. It makes positive and interesting reading. I like the Brain difference, rather than Brain deficit.
This is not a good sign. The NHS is already nowhere near able to deliver a little finger’s worth of the recommendations within the NICE guidelines for children. And with Adults having to already jump through a number of hoops to get a diagnosis, including being referred by a GP to a regular NHS psychiatrist for a… Continue reading Wiltshire NHS ADHD Service will end on 1 Apr 2016 →
The British ADHD organization – ADDISS – ran a campaign a few years ago in ADHD awareness week (this year happening on October 14 ) called “ADHD IS real”. I can’t think of many Awareness weeks that have to focus on the fact that the condition they are campaigning about actually exists. Few mental… Continue reading ADHD is real – so why question it? →
Two phrases that mean little, but that are cliches bandied about journalists. We journos love a catchy cliche, however unhelpful they are. This piece by Nicholas Hellen in yesterday’s Sunday Times is no different. The medication is not a chemical cosh, it’s a stimulant – that helps ADHD concentrate. They may become more focussed, but… Continue reading Postcode Lottery and Chemical Cosh →
I love the piece today reported in all national press in the Guardian that women fidgets live longer than women non-fidgets. Long ago, around the time in 1904 when ADHD was first reported in the British medical journal the Lancet, alongside the poem “Fidgety Phil” – ADHDers were described as “fidgets”. Now, a joint study with… Continue reading Women of the World Rise Up Out of Your Chairs! Fidgets Live Longer – it’s official. →
Yesterday’s Times published a new report by the Home Office showing that although illegal drug use has fallen among the young in the past year, it has increased among older adults for the past 18 years. But Why? To put the figures into perspective, the Home Office report showed that the proportion of people aged 16… Continue reading The Times of London reports: Substance abuse among the older generation in the UK →
We know the UK lags behind the US for treatment of ADHD generally, but I was interested to read Kings College Professor Philip Asherson’s study on ADHD in the prison population, how the untreated in the UK are often at great risk of greater anti-social behaviour within prisons, and likely to get into more trouble than… Continue reading Professor Philip Asherson and ADHD in prisons – what is being done… →
When diagnosed very young, ADHD can sometimes be seen as very restless children in need of “recess” or playground activity as we call it in the UK. America has a much shorter “recess time” than we do in the UK – particularly in Middle School – and one occupational therapist here suggests that this could… Continue reading The Fidgets – Washington Post calls for kids to move more to prevent ADHD diagnoses →
Thanks to Scott Barry Kaufman for this great positive piece on the power of creativity and ADHD here in the Scientific American. The Author Kaufman suggests that there is a link between a fast brain that allows unfiltered messages to come through all the time, and unfettered imagination. Acting on impulse is not always bad – especially… Continue reading Hurrah! A positive piece on ADHD and creativity… →
When the Guardian writes a piece about preschoolers and ADHD, as they do here , we don’t expect it to scaremonger or to conform to prejudices around this complex neurodevelopmental disorder. We expect some breast beating from the Daily Mail or the Telegraph, but we hope for sense from the Guardian. However, while medicating preschoolers is controversial,… Continue reading Pre-schoolers and ADHD medication – scary? Not so much… →
I’ve just been in to meet with my son Michael’s head of year, two teachers and Special Needs co-ordinator. None of them seemed to think that excluding my ADHDer from sport yesterday was not the best way forward when they also wanted to talk about his challenging behaviour in class. As they went on and… Continue reading ADHD and Exercise – When will schools get it? →
Doctors are getting themselves in a right twist. In response to the previous post on the New York Times piece, Behavioural Neurologist Dr Richard Saul in Chicago has waded in, puffing his provocatively titled book called “ADHD does not Exist” (ironically reviewed by Belinda Luscombe on the same site as one of the Top Ten ADHD… Continue reading Now Dr Saul wades in with ADHD doesn’t exist →
When a piece like this comes out in the NY Times it doesn’t always help the cause of seeing ADHD as a real issue, that people struggle with daily, and that those that are affected by it do deserve help. We don’t tell the short-sighted to try and manage without glasses, so why assume that the… Continue reading Is ADHD a disease? And are novelty-seeking jobs really a cure? →
Well, well, well. When an issue gets on to Coronation Street, the UK’s longest running soap opera on TV, or The Archers on the radio – then you know that it has made the mainstream. So it was kind of heartwarming in ADHD Awareness month, that ITV have chosen to run with an ADHD storyline.… Continue reading Coronation Street gets ADHD →
Anyone who has been touched by ADHD considers US-based Dr Hallowell as something of a guru. And, on the eve of ADHD Awareness month, the Crossley Family managed to persuade him across the pond to talk to those affected by ADHD in the UK. An author of 20 books, a self-professed ADHDer himself, with dyslexia,… Continue reading Mastering ADHD for adults – Dr Hallowell’s Game-changing Workshop in London on 30 September →
Every now and then, someone comes along and sums up this complicated condition in such a neat way. Dr Ned Hallowell, author of many books on ADHD, talking more in Additude online magazine this week about Girls and why they often go undiagnosed. In his short video here , he ends by saying something so simple… Continue reading Dr Ned Hallowell – says it Oh So Simply →
I knew there were some gender differences between boys with ADHD and girls with it, but I didn’t realised they were so pronounced. This research that appeared in the American organisation CHAD’s newsletter – Attention – gives some idea of how different. Teaching teenage mothers to cook, I often pick up on some of the… Continue reading Girls with ADHD, underdiagnosed and misunderstood →
Untreated ADHD for teenagers that don’t have much support (or even a diagnosis) often ends in teen pregnancy for girls, and juvenile delinquency for boys. Undiagnosed, these young kids often seek thrills and danger, and go off the rails, attracted to the mad, bad and dangerous, ending up in prison. The Guardian piece this weekend documents how the failure of… Continue reading Prison, ADHD, and The Mental Health Scandal… →
Why is Negative So Much More Attractive than Being Positive? I’ve written on this blog before about Kevin Roberts being the poster boy for ADHD and now have completed his rather good book – Movers, Dreamers and Risk-Takers, Unlocking the Power of ADHD. I like it, ironically, because he is so positive about the whole… Continue reading Why is Negative So Much More Attractive than Being Positive? →
A lot could be said about the two days spent in the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, along with a hundred or more ADHDers, all twitching to get out of their seats. The atmosphere reminded me of those signs in the pub above the Optics saying: “You don’t have to be mad to work here… but… Continue reading ADDISS International Conference in Liverpool – Well Worth the Schlep →
Kevin Roberts, Author and ADHDer, came over from the States to give a couple of talks at the ADHD international Conference in Liverpool – 10 to 12 October 2013. He is co-founder of The Empower ADD project and a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. Officially or unofficially, he became the Master of… Continue reading Kevin Roberts – Author of Cyber Junkie and Movers, Dreamers and Risk Takers →
Five Fingers to the Face.. A modern version of talk to the hand. Surely a song written by an ADHDer for an ADHDer. Useful to use against one as well – if they won’t listen to No… Four more days to go. And I shall be waving him off on the School Bus. With Five… Continue reading Five Fingers to the Face. Back to School for an ADHDer →
Today I learnt that my ADHD son returns to school not next week, but the week after. Arrggghhh. He finished school on July 12, and it has been a long old break. His twin sister tells me that there was a Facebook post of all children returning to school looking miserable and a mother behind… Continue reading A Whole ADHD Summer … nearly over… →
I wonder how families who have only the NHS to fare cope when it comes to “Child and Adolescent Mental Health“? Our initial meeting with the NHS pyschiatrist left me holding some Concerta 12-hour stimulant medication – and a date for a follow up meeting IN A MONTH. A Month was too long, too long… Continue reading From Concerta via Ritalin to Elvanse & Strattera, a month’s journey in meds →
On Tuesday, we give up with the year’s experiment of keeping our ADHD son unmedicated, and head for the pharmacy. Despite the promises of the NHS with their NICE guidelines suggesting Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Social Skills training, group and individual therapy and parenting classes – it’s clear that NONE of it is available. There is… Continue reading Countdown to Meds for my 12 year old ADDer →
Childrearing in traditional societies – a lesson for ADD parents For a year since my 12 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD, I’ve been trying to get hold of the Hunter school in Massachussetts. Recommended by a friend in the States, it’s known for its alternative ways of schooling children with ADD, I have… Continue reading ADD kids are hunters, the rest are farmers →