CADDRA ADHD Convention in Vancouver Nov 20-21st Tell Your Doctor

Post from: Adult ADD Strengths

CADDRA Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance annual ADHD conference The Many Faces of ADHD: A Window into the Future will be in Vancouver BC, November 20-21st.

I previously attended CADDRA’s  2004 ADHD Vancouver conference and found it very informative and useful. Here are my two blog posts about CADDRA’s Vancouver ADHD conference

The 2010 CADDRA ADHD conference is designed for professionals who deal with ADHD, not consumers ie not for the general public.

Target Audience: Paediatricians, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Family Physicians, Social Workers, trainees and other professionals.

As an Adult ADHD coach who runs the Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group, I get people contacting me on a regular basis looking for someone who knows enough to diagnose ADHD or to do the medical part of ADHD treatment. Far too few doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists have been trained in ADHD, especially here in BC.

So if your doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist tells you they don’t know enough about ADHD to diagnose or treat you, tell them about this conference so they can learn.

BC is very backwards on ADHD

• ADHD is 80% genetic so there are more adults with ADHD than Children. The BC Children’s ADHD clinic added on an adult clinic and soon had a one year wait list for an entire year. The asked the govt for funding to reduce the wait list, and the BC Liberal (actual neoconservatives) govt closed the adult ADHD clinic. The opposition BC NDP did and said nothing absolutely nothing about this despite several conversations about it.

• Students at UBC medical school in Vancouver only get one hour of training on ADHD.

• CADDAC’s recent 2010 Provincial Report Card: ADHD in the School System showed that BC was in the bottom 3 provinces in dealing with ADHD, Alberta, Newfoundland & Saskatchewan were in the top 3.

The CADDRA Conference is approved for accreditation criteria by the following organizations:

The College of Family Physicians of Canada
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
The American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award
The Canadian Psychological Association

Conference Overview: This year’s conference will feature topics dealing with the less frequently presented faces of ADHD: ADHD in girls and women and preschoolers; patients with brain injury; those involved with forensic; and several different manifestations of ADHD and mood and rage disorders. Research on long-term outcomes and the latest information on ADHD within the DSM-V will be covered. Treating Adult ADHD and ADHD and learning will also be threads through the conference. There will be a variety of formats, plenaries, workshops and also “Meet the Expert” sessions where you can discuss your cases.

An introductory non-accredited ADHD workshop on adult ADHD and on ADHD medications will be offered to attendees Friday evening free of charge.

Here are the topics that will be covered at the ADHD Conference

• ADHD and Bipolar: What Should You Know? Why Should You Care?
• ADHD From Adolescence to Adulthood
• ADHD in the DSM-V
• ADHD in the Forensic Setting
• ADHD Post-Secondary Education: Implications for Clinical Practice
• Brain Injury, TBI and Secondary ADHD
• Group Therapy as a Treatment Modality for Adults with ADHD
• Longitudinal Course of ADHD into Adulthood
• Managing ADHD and Bipolar Disorder
• Managing ADHD and Depression
• Managing ADHD with Comorbid Mood Disorder: a clinical workshop
• Managing Complex Adult ADHD
• Medication Management of ADHD and Various Comorbidities
• Optimizing Treatment Adherence
• Preschool ADHD Psychopharmacology
• Problem Solving Parenting in Office Situations
• Rages and Mania
• The ABC’s of ADHD Medication
• The ABC’s of Adult ADHD
• The History of Stimulant Medication as a Psychiatric Treatment Modality
• Treating Adult ADHD in the Primary Care Setting
• Women and Girls with ADHD: the saints, sinners and scholars…true lives
• Working Memory and ADHD: Assessment and Interventions

Register online for the CADDRA ADHD conference here

Here are the speakers at the Conference

Featured Speakers:

• Laurence Greenhill, M.D., Ruane Professor of  Clinical Psychiatry,  New York State Psychiatric Institute
• Gabrielle Carlson M.D. Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics; Director, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York
• Rachel Gittelman Klein, Ph.D. Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY
• Rosemary Tannock, Ph.D. Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Special Education and Adaptive Technology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children
• Stephen Hotz, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa
• Margaret Weiss, M.D. Ph.D., Director of Research Division of Child Psychiatry, Director Provincial ADHD Program, Children and Women’s Health Centre

Workshop and Consultation Speakers

• Geraldine Farrelly M.D.,Developmental and Behavioural Paediatrician, Clinical Associate Professor Paediatrics and Psychology, University of Calgary, AB
• Martin Gignac M.D., Child Psychiatrist, Institut Philippe Pinel; Clinical Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC
• Lily Hechtman M.D., Professor, Psychiatry and Pediatrics, McGill University, Montreal, QC
• Umesh Jain M.D., Staff Psychiatrist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
• Laurence Jerome, M.B., Adjunct Professor, Psychiatry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON
• Michael Joschko Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C.
• Diane McIntosh M.D.,  Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
• Candice Murray Ph.D., Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of B.C, Vancouver, B.C.
• Joseph Sadek, M.D. Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S.
• Derryck Smith M.D., Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
• Annick Vincent M.D., Centre Médical l’Hêtrière, Clinique FOCUS, Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Québec, QC

Register online for the CADDRA ADHD conference here

Adhd – Busting The Myths, Breaking The Stigma, Showing Reality, One Post And Tweet At A Time

Post from: Adult ADD Strengths

THere are the notes and the links for my presentation Adhd – Busting The Myths, Breaking The Stigma, Showing Reality, One Post And Tweet At A Time for Mental Health Camp Vancouver April 25, 2009. I won’t be able to cover all this material during the session so I have some extra info here. Tell me what you think of it in the comments.

Here are the topics I’ll cover.

1. Defining ADHD
2. ADHD Impairments
3. Co-existing or Co-morbid conditions that go along with ADHD
4. Costs of ADHD
5. Positives of ADHD
6. Famous people with ADHD
7. Myths about ADHD
8. Social media
9. Some ADHD links

1. Defining ADHD

Diagnosis of ADHD as a child

Adult ADHD 5 minute screening test from Harvard & W.H.O.

CADDRA Canadian ADHD Practice Guidelines 2007-8.

Detailed PDFs on diagnosis, treatment, medication, dealing with side effects etc. Must read for ADDers, show your doctor

2. ADHD Impairments

From Dr. Margaret Weiss head of the BC ADHD children’s clinic excellent PowerPoint entitled “The Economic Costs of ADHD”. Hope to blog it in more detail later

Smoking, drug use, health costs, driving, accidents, school performance, behavior, academic achievement, peer relations, parental functioning, divorce, work, unemployment, dysemployment, psychopathology, quality of life, adaptive skills, divorce

Faraone SV, 2003. 2. Pelham WE, 2007 3. Barkley R, ADHD, Guilford 2006
Jensen P ADHD State of Science, Best Practices.  Kingston, NJ. Civic Research
Institute

Also higher rates of attempted suicide, teen pregnancy,

3. Co-existing or Co-morbid conditions that go along with ADHD

Here’s a list of some on my website Note, comorbidity is the norm with ADHD, not the exception, that being said not everyone with ADHD has one of these conditions.

Antisocial Personality Disorder
Asperger’s Disorder
Autism
ODD Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Bipolar Disorder
Conduct Disorder
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Depression
Dysthymia
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Learning Disabilities
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
OCD Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
ODD Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Substance Abuse Disorder
Tourette’s Syndrome

For more detail the Mayo Clinic has good overviews of each condition.

Or there’s a book ADHD Comorbidities: Handbook for ADHD Complications in Children and Adults. Edited by Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D.

4. Costs of ADHD

Here’s info from 2 slides from Dr. Margaret Weiss, head of the BC ADHD children’s clinic PowerPoint entitled ADHD in the Health Care System. Will upload later

Costs of ADHD in Children

Annual cost ADHD in children
$14,600 per individual in 2005 US $
18% health care
34% education
48% crime and delinquency
42.5 billion/year
Comparable to asthma2
Increased risk ER visits, co-morbidity, accidents
Depression costs 44 billion

1 Pelham W 2007; Chan 2002; Leibson 2001, Swensen 2003

Cost of Adult ADHD

Excess per capita health care and work loss age 7 to 44 and family members
Administrative claims data from a large company
Total excess cost ADHD in 2000 in the US $31.6 billion
5% treatment of the condition
38% other health care costs
45% increased health care costs of family members
12% productivity losses of adult family members
1 Birnbaum 2005

Costs not accounted for

From Dr. Margaret Weiss head of the BC ADHD children’s clinic excellent PowerPoint entitled “The Economic Costs of ADHD” Will upload later.

Smoking 2
Drug abuse3
Foster care
Fetal alcohol and narcotic syndrome
Victims of crime
Victims of drug accidents
Insurance rates
Increased prevalence and adult prevalence 4.4% with 90% comorbidity4
Suffering to the individual, siblings, families, other children and teachers
Decreased life1
1 Barkley R 2 Pomerleau 3 Wilens T 4 Kessler R

ADHD in BC

BC has NO strategy for ADHD. None at all.

The ADHD clinic at Children’s hospital added on an adult ADHD clinic, they soon found it took have their case load, and it developed a year long wait list for an entire year They asked the BC govt for money to take care of the wait list and they said no, so they closed down the adult ADHD clinic. One way to deal with politically embarrassing wait lists.

In Feb the BC medical association released a policy paper on ADHD, with 8 recommendations. They noted the cost of ADHD to BC, called for the BC govt to treat Adults with ADHD, develop a provincial strategy for ADHD etc. They said ADHD cost BC half a billion a year, but they only counted the cost of children with ADHD which means ADHD is costing BC Multiple Billions of dollars annually. Actual treatment of ADHD is the smallest cost.

Here are their 8 recommendations:

Recommendation 1.

The provincial government must restructure the Child and Youth Mental Health Network so that it meets more frequently, is supported with an adequate budget, and is responsible for producing tangible outputs outlined in a publicly-available strategic plan.

Recommendation 2.

The provincial government should work with stakeholders to ensure that any new child mental health plan includes a strategic plan for the delivery of services specifically for patients with ADHD.

One consequence of the lack of strategic direction has been the reduction in services offered to patients with ADHD through the province’s sole centre for ADHD diagnosis and treatment initiation at BC Children’s Hospital (the ADHD Clinic):

Recommendation 3.

The provincial government must provide services for adults with ADHD and follow-up services for children who graduate from the ADHD clinic at age 18.

Recommendation 4.
Funding for ADHD services should be increased to guarantee waitlists of less than three months for all ADHD patients.

Recommendation 5.
A billing fee for consulting with third parties, such as teachers, should be added to the BCMA Fee Guide to encourage optimal coordination with teachers in the diagnosis and management of ADHD.

Recommendation 6.
Medical professional associations for pediatrics, child psychiatry, psychiatry, neurology, and family practice should endorse the Canadian Attention Deficit Disorder Resource Alliance (CADDRA) ADHD practice guidelines; or review, amend, and then endorse revised CADDRA guidelines. Such guidelines should be accompanied by the implementation, in primary care offices across British Columbia, of a ‘diagnostic toolkit’ for ADHD.

Recommendation 7.
PharmaCare should expand coverage for long-acting ADHD medication in order to facilitate compliance, minimize stigma and prevent missed opportunities for focused learning.

Recommendation 8.

In order to improve access to services for ADHD patients and foster the kind of collaborative care arrangements necessary to provide optimal care, both the MoHS and MCFD should train specialized ADHD clinicians for mental health teams and provide BC families access to community services to complement treatment by physicians.

End of Recommendations.

The BC NDP who in the 70′s emptied the mental hospitals in the guise of community care and never did that and then abandoned the mental patients to the predators of the downtown eastside, said nothing about it. NONE of the BC political parties have mentioned ADHD in their platform. Hopefully ADDers and their families will start contacting their MLA candidates to show that their is a need for proper treatment.

Here’s a Vancouver Sun article on a local with ADHD

5. Positives of ADHD

Top Ten ADD Advantages in a Hi Tech Career.

This post got me top of Digg, Delicious, 30,000 unique hits in 3 days, and 200+ links. Still my most popular post on my blog.

1. The Ability to Hyperfocus. IF interested.
2. Rapid Fire Mind.
3. Multitasking at Will.
4. High Energy Level.
5. Highly Creative.
6. Quick Learner. IF interested.
7. Stimulus Seeking Brain.
8. Constantly Scanning your Environment.
9. Great in a Crisis.
10. Risk Taker.

151 Advantages of ADD

My ADHD strengths blog post category

6. Famous people with ADHD

Paul Orfalea who founded Kinko’s. His book is called Copy This! : Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic who Turned a Bright Idea Into One of America’s Best Companies

JetBlue Founder and billionaire CEO David Neeleman who attributes his creativity to ADHD

Magic Johnson

Michael Phelps

Justin Timberlake (ADHD & OCD)

Howie Mandel (ADHD & OCD)

Seth Godin Marketer Author Blogger. “I clearly have ADHD,” he says. “Lucky for me the world kind of organized around me rather than the other way around. It’s such an asset.”

Clarence Page Chicago Tribune Columnist & Author Famous for: Winning a Pulitzer Prize. Twice.

Ty Pennington

James Carville Political Strategist who co lead Bill Clinton’s campaign that won the presidency

Payne Stewart who won the 1999 and 1991 US Open & other pro golfers

7. Myths about ADHD

Myths About ADHD Misconceptions About ADHD – Separating Fact from Fiction

Many Parents Want Distance Between Own Kids And Those With Mental Illness

New research suggests that Americans are more likely to socially reject children with mental illness than they are those with physical illnesses such as asthma. Almost 30 percent of the 1,134 participants said they would not like their child to become friends of a child with depression, and almost one in four said the same thing about ADHD. But a kid with “normal troubles” and asthma, only 10%.

Many ways to take action on stigma from SAMHSA’s Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity and Social Inclusion Associated with Mental Health.

*  Tips on Taking Action
* Organizing a Campaign or Program
* Planning Anti-stigma Events and Strategies

How to Respond to People Who Say “ADHD doesn’t exist”  & Clinical Evidence of The Existence of ADHD as a Real Condition My answer to the flat earth people.

Pencil, Pens and Meds. LA Times Editorial Stigmatizing ADHD Get’s Fisked By Gina Pera

Helping Your Child Cope with the Stigma of ADHD

Silencing Skeptics: The Truth About ADHD and LD
What is ADHD? Does medication really help? Can adults have ADD? Learn to clear up common misperceptions about ADHD with authority.

Overcoming the ADHD Stigma
An expert psychologist shares his secrets for fighting ADD ADHD stereotyping in children and adults.

Myths and Misconceptions About AD/HD: Science over Cynicism

Helping your child overcome the stigma of ADHD

Spread The Truth About ADHD
3 ways to help friends and family understand that ADHD is a real disorder with real symptoms and real solutions.

8. Social media

12 Ways to Fight Mental Health Stigma With Social Media
I created this post specifically for my presentation. Please check it out, and if you have any other ideas, let me know.

What things have you done to fight stigma against ADHD?

What are you willing to do?

9. Some ADHD links

ADDCoach4u My 130 page ADD Website

Pills Don’t Teach Skills Website of one of my ADHD Coaching Clients

CHADD Vancouver Local ADHD support group I’m on the board of

CADDAC Center for ADD Advocacy, Canada

CADDRA Canadian ADD Resource Alliance

Thanks and please let me know any feedback in the comments

4 Day Conference Focusing on Adhd and Stress in Vancouver

Post from: Adult ADD Strengths

There’s going to be a 4 Day Conference Focusing on Adhd and Stress in Vancouver BC.

The 2nd biennial, international conference on Brain Development & Learning: Making Sense of the Science will be held on july 12-15, 2008 in Vancouver at the Sheraton Wall Center hotel.

Two main focus areas of the conference will be ADHD (executive function and prefrontal cortex) and stress (including trauma, depression, anxiety, and resilence).

It’s an interdisciplinary conference devoted to improving children’s lives by making cutting-edge research in neuroscience, child psychology, & medicine understandable & applicable to those who work with children on a daily basis.

Although it’s focused on children, it seems that some of the topic will be useful for ADHD adults too. Here’s who they suggest should attend:

• Educators and educational administrators
• Physicians, Pediatricians , Psychiatrists and Psychologists
• Parents
• Social workers, nurses, occupational therapists
• Government Officials concerned with Child, Families, Health, or Education
• Elected Representatives, Community Organizers

Here’s some of the speakers and topics directly relating to ADHD:

Amy Arnsten Professor of Neurobiology & Director of Graduate Studies in Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine who pioneered the role of norepinephrine in ADHD.
Presentation Title: “Stress Impairs Prefrontal Cortex Function: Why Stress Can Produce an ADHD-like Profile”

Jay Giedd Chief, Brain Imaging, Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute for Mental Health who pioneered structural neuroimaging of ADHD.
Presentation Title: “ADHD: New Views from Brain Imaging”

Torkel Klingberg Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, Stockholm Brain Institute, Karolinska Institutewho pioneered the role of computer games to improve working memory in children withADHD (CogMed)
Presentation Title: “Development and Training of Working Memory in Children”

Rosemary Tannock Canada Research Chair in Special Education & Adaptive Technology, Univ. of Toronto Professor of Special Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education ( OISE), Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto & Senior Scientist, Neuroscience & Mental Health Program, Hospital for Sick Children
a pioneer in ADHD research and co-developer of integrated multimedia resources on ADHD for teachers
Presentation Title: “ADHD: Beyond Behavior & Curriculum Connections”

There will also be famous speakers and researchers on resilience in the face of depression, anxiety, trauma, or abuse.

Neuroplasticity I think is the hope for mankind. It’s the idea that

…thinking, learning, and acting actually change the brain’s functional anatomy from top to bottom, if not also its physical anatomy.

ADHD is a neurobiological condition. So if you have it, you might want to learn about the neurobiology of ADHD. Or if your doctor/psychiatrist/psychologist hasn’t been adequately trained on ADHD (unfortunately the norm not the exception it seems according to medical professionals who are experienced in dealing with  ADHD) you might want to suggest that they check it out.

There will be tutorials in Neuroanatomy, Functional Neuroimaging (fMRI). Here are some other interesting presentations

• A Specialized Systems for Working Memory in the Prefrontal Cortex
• Stress, the Immune System, and Disease: Tales from Psychoneuroimmunology
• Helping Children Become Masters of their Own Behavior through Improving their Cognitive Control, dependent on Prefrontal Cortex
• The Plastic Human Brain: Implications for Translational Neuroscience and Education.

Here’s who’s organizing it.

Adele Diamond -Ph.D. Conference Organizer
Canada Research Chair Tier 1 & Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience in the Dept. of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia (UBC) & the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, BC Children’s Hospital Member of the Brain Research Centre, & the Neuroscience & Cognitive Science Programs

Jana Davidson – Conference Co-Organizer MD, FRCP(C)

Acting Head, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, UBC Director, Continuing Professional Development, & Consulting Psychiatrist, Emergency Unit, in the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, BC Children’s Hospital Acting Medical Director, Child & Youth Mental Health & Addictions Programs, PHSA

Check it out.

Dr. Ed Hallowell is Doing an ADHD Workshop in Vancouver Nov 8, Calgary Nov 7th

Post from: Adult ADD Strengths

ADD guru Dr. Ed Hallowell will be doing a workshop for children and teenagers with ADHD in Vancouver on November the 8th, and in Calgary November the 7th. He’s brought here by Jack Hirose and Associates who do mental health workshops all across Canada.

He’s the author of several books on ADHD, ie Delivered from Distraction, Driven to Distraction, and other mental health topics.

Delivered from Distraction is the first book I suggest my ADD coaching clients read.

He taught at Harvard medical school and is a great speaker (I’ve seen him speak in Seattle). He also doesn’t see ADD as 98% pathology unlike some ADD authors. He sees the negatives and positives of people with ADHD.

So if you have a child or teenager with ADHD and have the time and the money, I’d highly recommend you go.

Time: 9:00am – 4:00pm

Place: Norman Rothstein Theatre (Jewish Community Centre)
950 West 41st Ave

Workshop Agenda

Morning AM Session

1. Diagnosis, which should include identification of talents and strengths.

2. Implementation of a five-step plan that promotes talents and strengths: Connect, Play, Practice, Mastery and Recognition.

3. Education about ADD.

4. Changes in lifestyle that promote a healthier mental and physical life.

Afternoon PM Session

5. Structures and other non-medical interventions that augment your lifestyle and needs.

6. Counseling of some kind, such as coaching, psychotherapy, career counseling, couples therapy, family therapy.

7. Various other therapies that can augment the effectiveness of medication or replace the use of medication altogether, such as an exercise program that stimulates the cerebellum, targeted tutoring, physical exercise, or nutritional or occupational therapy

8. Medication (only if desired)

If you go to the workshop, maybe ask him to come back to Vancouver to do a workshop on Adults with ADHD. If there’s enough demand he might return and do one.

ADD Resources Annual ADHD Conference in Seattle October 13th

Post from: Adult ADD Strengths

ADD Resources is having their 5th annual conference in Seattle October 13th. The Keynote speaker is Dr. Thomas Brown. He’s done extensive research on ADHD and has written several books on ADHD, his latest is Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults. It will only cost you $25 for members of ADD Resources and $50 for non–members before October 7th, quite a good deal. After that  it’s $65 at the door.

Here’s a list of the topics that will be covered at the conference

• AD/HD and Relationships: Essential Facts and Essential Strategies
• AD/HD: A Doctor’s Perspective
• Conquering Clutter with Clarity
• Natural Approaches to Healing ADD/ADHD
• Optimization of Treatment for AD/HD
• Out of Our Minds: Using Visual Arts as a Path to Focus-—Part I and II
• Panel Discussion: Success Strategies for Addressing AD/HD and TS in Personal and Professional Life
• Seven Habits of Successful ADDish People
• Strategies to S.T.E.P. into an Organized Life
• The Tourette Syndrome–ADHD Combined Type: Strengths and Challenges over the Lifespan
• Using Your AD/HD Strenghts for Career Success: Strategies and Tools