CHADD Vancouver Meeting Feeding Your ADHD Child May 19th

The next CHADD Vancouver meeting is, Tuesday May 19th.

Topic: Feeding Your Child who has ADHD

Speaker: Joy Kiddie, Registered Dietician. She’s done research on ADHD and nutrition with Dr. Margaret Weiss, head of the BC ADHD Clinic at Children’s Hospital. Here’s her website

Date: May 20th

Time: 6.30-8.30pm

Location: 2450 Ontario St. Raven Song Community Health Centre (between Broadway & West 8th Ave)

Joy has ADHD and has ADHD children. She’s spoken before at 2 CHADD Vancouver meetings before. She know’s her topic, is an engaging speaker, and we’ve had good audience feedback.

The next Vancouver Adult ADD support group meeting will be Tues June 2nd topic TBA.

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BC Liberal Party Is Violating BC Election Act Sec 223 on Election Day by Online Advertising

Update3 The Vancouver Sun today Wed may 13th 09 has linked to this post and covered the story on page A11.  Also The Victoria Times Colonist is also linking to this post on their story in todays paper on page B7.

The penalty for breaking the law could include up to a $10,000 fine and a year in jail. “The penalties are up to the chief electoral officer’s discretion,” said Ken Faris ( Elections B.C. spokesman). “Since the B.C. Liberals responded to our request (to take the offending tweets down), we’re not going to pursue the issue any further.”

Liberal spokesman Chad Pederson said the party removed the items after being contacted by Elections B.C.

“We think it’s a debatable point,” Pederson said, noting that the technology is new. But rather than argue the matter, he said, the party chose to take the items down and pursue the issue at a later date.

Update2 Looks like Green Party also breaking election laws advertising on Twitter on election day #bcelection #bcvotes2009 Like the liberals they’ve deleted their tweets from twitter via Georgia Straight here’s the tweet

Go Green - Be Green - Vote Green

BCGreens: Go Green - Be Green - Vote Green #bcelection
about 14 hours ago from Nambu
http://twitter.com/BCGreens/statuses/1773456965

and the same tweet 6 hours later

You can find it by searching twitter for the name of the tweet

Also BC Liberals violated the law 3 times not one, my mistake.

The Vancouver Suns @gillianshaw shows that Elections BC doesn’t really understand the internet that well and that Elections BC said the BC Liberals “were in contravention of the act” and ordered the BC Liberal party to delete their tweets at 10.30am. But the one I took a screenshot of was still there at 1.30pm

UPDATE: The BC Liberal party has deleted the tweet, without apology or explanation. I have i higher rez version if people are interested they can email me for it.

Around 9.30 this morning, Tuesday May 12th, 2009, The BC Liberal Party violated the BC elections act, section 223 by doing online advertising on Twitter.

The BC Liberal Party’s Offical Twitter account

published this tweet

The BC Liberals are the best choice to build B.C.: http://tinyurl.com/dmy3mq #bcelection
http://twitter.com/bcliberalparty/statuses/1775236510

clicking on that tinyURL link goes to this link on the BC Liberal Party’s official website titled “Improving and protecting vital public services” and talks about how much the govt has spent on health spending.

Rather ironic since the BC Liberals are TOTALLY Ignoring the BC Medical Associations 8 recommendations on ADHD in their February policy paper. It said that ADHD is costing BC half a billion annually but they only counted children with ADHD and ignored adults with ADHD, and there’s more adults with ADHD than kids with ADHD. So it’s costing BC multiple billions

I’ve tried asking several Liberals on twitter for their position on the BCMA ADHD policy paper and none have responded. The Liberals like the BC NDP, BC Greens & BC conservative party are basically using social media in an Anti-social manner, just one way advertising vs acutal conversations. I’ve asked many BC MLA candidates on twitter for their position on the BCMA ADHD policy paper and got either no response or some generic non answer avoidance strategy ie “whole system needs to be revamped”

I even asked 2 of their MLA candidates Colin Hansen and  Margaret MacDiarmid in person last Thursday at the Ridge and the responses I basically got was the Kim Campell quote ie an election is no time to discuss policy. They and NDP Mel Lehman all basically said there’s only a few days left in the campaign no time for policy discussions contact me after the election. Marget was the past president of the BC Medical Association and said as a doctor she’d be more open to dealing with that, and Mel seemed to be genuinely interested if my memory serves me correctly but still no policy response. I wish I had brought a tape recorder.

Here’s my screenshot of the BC Liberal Party’s tweet from my Flickr site

Found this on twitter from @lobbycanada on my #bcelction tweetdeck feed

RT @lobbycanada: Watch the @bcliberalparty break #bcelection law in real-time! Just follow them on Twitter as they tweet away in contravention of Section 233
http://twitter.com/lobbycanada/statuses/1775311783

then this

RT @lobbycanada: #BCElection Act, Section 233: On General Voting Day, election advertising must not be published, transmitted or broadcast. @BCliberalparty
http://twitter.com/lobbycanada/statuses/1775327696

Then I googled the elections act. The BC election site was limited to votefinder and election results all rest locked down.

So on BClaws.ca found this

Election Act
[RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 106

Part 11 — Election Communications
This Act is current to November 1, 2008

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I’m Restarting the Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group

I’m restarting the Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group, the local Adult ADHD support group that I started and ran for 3 years until we became homeless and the group stopped. It’s the adult group of CHADD Vancouver, which I’m on the board of.

We have found a new home for the group, the old home has become available, Thanks for the search & persistence Ed! Thanks also to those that were willing to help out with the group.

The first meeting will be Tuesday May 5th from 6.30 to 8.30pm

Location: Our old home Ravensong Community Healthcare Center, 2450 Ontario st, near main and Broadway, map on the group’s webpage.

Discussion Leader: Pete Quily
Topic: Direction of the group.

For those who attended our support group in the past, 2 questions.

* What worked well in our support group in the past?
* What didn’t work so well or what would you like to change about the group?

For everyone

* What do you want out of & what are you willing to put into the Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group?
* What topics would you like to see covered in the monthly meetings?
* Any news on BC politicians talking about/ignoring the BC Medical Association’s ADHD Policy Paper & 8 Recommendations, including requiring the BC govt to treat ADHD. I.e., what did your local candidate say when you asked them if they supported it, since no one else is asking?

Please help us get the word out there about the only Adult ADHD support group in BC. If you know of any organization or individual that might be interested in finding out about the group, please let them know.

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

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

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12 Ways to Fight Mental Health Stigma With Social Media

This is for a presentation I’m doing at Mental Health Camp Vancouver (a conference combining social media with mental health) called ADHD - Busting the myths, breaking the stigma, showing reality, one post and tweet at a time. While ADHD is especially stigmatized as the orphan of mental health conditions, especially Adult ADHD, it’s not the only one that suffers stigma.

12 Ways to Fight Mental Health Stigma With Social Media

Arranged from more anonymous to more personal, and less effort to more effort. There’s a choice for everyone.

1. Click on a factually correct, non stigmatizing mental health article, or personal story via a blog post, tweet, podcast, YouTube video, Facebook update, Friendfeed, web forum etc. Result will traffic to the site/account, encouragement for the creator to continue to create, possible revenue and good for SEO just from that one simple easy click.

2. Actually read/listen/watch above content. Assuming the content is non stigmatizing, and helpful, interesting, or entertaining do one or more of the following.

3. Vote on it /rate it, i.e. number of stars if available.

4. Socially bookmark it in site’s like Stumbleupon, Delicious, etc.

5. Submit it to sites like Digg, Yahoo Buzz, Reddit, Mixx, Propeller etc.

6. Forward the content to others either without a comment, or with a personal comment by :

a) Email
b) Twitter i.e. Retweet it, or on Facebook, Friendfeed etc

7. Comment on the original article, post, video etc in one of the following ways depending on your comfort level:

a) anonymously
b) with your first name
c) with your full name
d) with your full name and the name of your blog/website/Twitter account etc.

8. Do a response to the original content by a blog post, tweet, or video on your blog or social media account

9. Respond to someone lying, stigmatizing, minimizing, trivializing, or shaming a person with a mental health condition or the actual condition itself. This can be done in a wide variety of creative ways depending on your personality, subject knowledge, and comfort level with conflict, some of us occasionally enjoy conflict for a good cause:) Perhaps involve your social media friends in the effort.

10. Create some original content that’s factual, anti stigma or a personal story or story about someone you know, or all of the above on one or more of your social media accounts.

11. Participate in a social media mental health campaign. I.e., anti stigma, awareness, fund raising, political action, online petition, contacting politicians etc. Could be all online or a combination of online and offline i.e. involving traditional media.

12. Create a social media mental health campaign.

If you know of any other ones or some good examples of the above, please share them in the comments for others. If you think this was useful, please do one of the above for this post:)

Hopefully some of you might take one action now and ask your BC MLA candidate if they support the 8 Recommendations of the BC Medical Association in their February policy paper on ADHD. Currently BC has NO Strategy at all on ADHD, Adults with ADHD are especially ignored, ADHD is costing BC billions annually, and the BC Liberal Party, the BC NDP, and the BC Green Party have all ignored the recommendations, they have nothing at all in their platforms for ADHD. Hopefully BC ADDers won’t be abandoned again.

If you don’t know your riding use the BC MLA finder

List of  BC Liberal Party candidates

List of BC NDP candidates

List of BC Green Party candidates

List of BC MLA candidates on twitter

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John Scrivin’s Response to His Vancouver Sun Adult ADHD Article

I received this from John Scrivin, its his response the the Vancouver Sun article that profiled him and Adult ADHD, I’m posting it in full. My apologies for misspelling your name before John.

The Article is now in 2 place on the Vancouver Sun’s website, different headlines but same article, both with many comments. Some denying ADHD exists or minimizing it’s impact and some real stories from people with ADHD, quite moving ones. I guess John’s courage to tell his story inspired other adults with ADHD to do the same. More of those and maybe the BC politicians might take Adult ADHD, currently NONE of the BC political parties mention ADHD in their platform. Looks like they’re going to ignore the BC medical Association’s 8 ADHD policy recommendation’s unless enough ADDers convince em otherwise. I’d encourage everyone to read both of them.

B.C. lacks resources to treat, diagnose adults with ADHD

Man turns life around after ADHD diagnosis at age 55

Here’s John Scrivin’s response.

In response to the article in the Vancouver Sun, April 13 profiling my ADD issues, I would like to add the following. I felt it was a bit unfortunate for the comments on ADDers being accident prone and the fact that I am a professional bus driver and have been for the last thirty some odd years. Several issues need to be brought up here. First, the medications ADDers take should to be very carefully chosen by the prescribing doctor. In my case, several medications were selected and tested out separately on minimal strengths until the best was selected. Each test took about six to eight weeks. After the best (for me) was chosen, the strength was increased to the appropriate level. In my case, they needed to provide focus and not easily and negate distraction when performing the task at hand. However there was also a need not to hyperfocus either. A delicate balance. I would suggest also that the selection of appropriate medications or other therapeutic interventions is critical for all ADDers. I have heard too often that ‘my meds don’t work’ or ‘I can’t handle the side effects’. Perhaps these are indications that the therapies need to be revisited and/or reassessed as to the validity for that particular ADDer. What is true for all people, especially ADDers is to be in the right environment, occupationally, romantically and one’s other associations. We do not fit well in boxes designed by others and therefore often exhibit the well-known characteristics of the stereo-type ADDer that the world seems to know. What is so missing are demonstrations of the positives of ADD. There are thousands of ADDers who have done wonderful things not in spite of their ADD, BUT BECAUSE OF IT. Many entrepreneurs are ADDers who have followed their passion. Perhaps Leonardo da Vinci was the most prolific of all. Steve Jobs is another and I could go on and on. Perhaps we cannot totally emulate these high profile ADDers, but when our environments are right for us, we can soar. ADD is a gift One really needs to enjoy what we do and who we associate with on a day to basis. What are the results? We are infinitely happier. ‘Anger Management courses’ are not required. Our senses of humour are even sharper, others enjoy our company much more and unkind comments either by ourselves or others are minimal. We need not rely on illicit drugs or alcohol to make the world go away. We need not to be aggressive in a negative way. Our physical health improves. Our job satisfaction and performance soars and our relationships are joyful. Need I go on? I remember many years ago an advertisement in a national magazine from an employer who said, “Send me someone who reads.” I look forward to the day when the statement will be “Send me an ADDer.”

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My CFAX Victoria Radio Station Adult ADHD Interview

I was interviewed on Victoria BC’s CFAX 1070 radio station on adult ADHD monday April 13th. The host was Dave Dixson and I really enjoyed it. Hope to have the audio from the show sometime next week, and will upload it when I do.

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Searching Health Information Online Free Vancouver, Surrey Public Forum

UBC and SFU are hosting two free public forums titled “Searching Health Information Online” as part of the Technologies for Better Health project.

It’s led by an experienced medical librarian.

Free, but you need to register online.

When we use the Internet as a source of information about health and wellness, how do we know that what we are finding is appropriate, reliable and trustworthy? The following FREE learning events are offered as part of a joint SFU-UBC initiative which explores how information technologies in health can best benefit us all. Register in either or both:

Interactive Presentation
April 29, 2009, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Lecture Theatre 1020
G. & L. Diamond Health Care Centre
(at Vancouver General Hospital)
2775 Laurel St. (& Oak), Vancouver

Hands-On Session
May 13, 2009, 6:30 to 8:30 pm
Room 3300
Simon Fraser University Surrey
(at Surrey Central SkyTrain Station)
13450 102nd Ave., Surrey

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I’m Profiled in The Georgia Straight Newspaper. ADHD Coach Improves Focus

I was profiled in this week’s Georgia Straight Newspaper, a very popular newspaper in my hometown of Vancouver on page 31.

The title of the article is ADHD Coach Improves Focus

Let me know what you think of it in the comments section on their website.
Thanks to Gail Johnson for a great article. I’m glad the Straight is helping to get the word out on Adult ADHD and Adult ADHD coaching. I’ve got some minor corrections below on the article but first here’s a few quotes.

After he learned he had the disorder, Quily researched approaches to managing it and found many that worked for him, including exercise, personal coaching, talk therapy, support groups, and spiritual exploration. He’s come a long way since the early ’90s, when he was diagnosed.

What helped Quily the most was personal coaching. He got so much out of the one-on-one sessions, in fact, that he became a coach himself. Now he specializes in helping adults with ADD who, like him, have a natural curiosity but who might be overwhelmed by paper clutter or unable to finish tasks, or find it hard to handle stress.

Quily helps others focus on the positive aspects of ADD. “People with ADD are creative; they think out of the box,” he says. “The thing that bothers me is that ADD is a mixed bag. It can really drag people down if you don’t know how to manage it, but it can propel you to great heights if you do manage it.…Coaching helps with the practical, day-to-day challenges: work, relationships, social things…time management, underemployment, job-hopping.…But there has to be an openness to change.”

Here are some minor clarifications.

• I didn’t always do well in school, but overall did reasonably well, and made the dean’s honour’s list in University & got one of my essays published.

• ADHD is not a neurobehavioural condition, it’s a neurobiological condition.

Gail said post in the comments she got it from another site.

• Many ADDers do drop out of school, though not all, and some do very well in it, there are PHd’s with ADHD and billionaires with ADHD

• You can have learning disabilities and high intelligence. They’re not mutually exclusive at all. LD has nothing to do with IQ. Some people with LD, like ADDers have very high IQ’s.

Gail just corrected the above on her post in the comments

• Dr. Derryck Smith is correct that people with ADHD are statistically prone to accidents and speeding, and some are terrible drivers, but not all. Some make their living as professional drivers, and are quite good at it, they hyperfocus when driving. I know adults with ADHD that are bus drivers, limo drivers, stunt drivers, etc and are quite good at it. It’s like there’s statistically much higher rates of alcohol and drug addiction for people with ADHD and society should wake up & deal with this, but we’re not all drug addicts.

If people with ADHD are interested in trying out Adult ADHD coaching to see how it can help improve their work and personal lives there are some benefits to it here and I do offer a 30 minute free sample session of ADHD coaching

Again I’m glad the straight is shedding some light on this much ignored real condition. The Vancouver Sun recently had a great article on Adult ADHD, hope more of the BC media start covering the condition and if you live in BC remember during this provinical election to ask your campaigning politicians if they support the BC Medical Association’s 8 recomendations on ADHD in their February ADHD policy paper. One of those recommendations is to get the province to actually diagnose and treat Adult ADHD, and have a strategy on ADHD. Currently the govt has no strategy at all and NONE of the 3 parties mention ADHD in their campaign platforms.

The politicians will continue to ignore ADHD until ADDers and their families and friends start telling them why they should start taking it seriously and help us.

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B.C. Lacks Resources to Treat, Diagnose Adults with ADHD - Vancouver Sun

Today’s Vancouver Sun Monday April 13th 2009 has an article on Adult ADHD on p A5. The title is B.C. lacks resources to treat, diagnose adults with ADHD by Amy O’Brian. Web version is here.
They interviewed a local adult with ADHD, John Scrivin.

Please check it out and let others that might be interested in it know about it.

If you have any opinion about the article you might want to express it in the comments section at the end of the article. Here’s a few excerpts.

John Scrivin spent his whole life feeling like he didn’t fit in — like he never quite understood what was going on.

As a teenager and an adult, he identified as an outsider. Angry outbursts were common and he was eventually diagnosed with depression.

But Scrivin always suspected there was something more going on.

It wasn’t until he was 55 that he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD, a disorder most commonly associated with children, but also highly prevalent in adults.”

Finding out it had a name and treatment was huge,” he said.

“Even at the tender age of 55, it made a world of difference in terms of my happiness.”

How many more people will have to wait 5 decades or more to get diagnosed with ADHD?

John Scriven: “There is no doubt I would have been diagnosed sooner if there had been more resources.”

Yes this is a very common problem for adults with ADHD in BC. As an Vancouver based adult ADHD coach, I get calls and emails on a regular basis from people trying to find someone that knows enough about ADHD to diagnose it, especially in adults. Some say their doctor says they can’t have ADHD because they did well in school or work, which show their ignorance of the condition since there’s a MENSA ADHD group with 500 people in it and billionaires with ADHD. But there’s also a lot of addicts with ADHD, people in jail with ADHD and many in between

Medical student’s & psychologists aren’t properly taught about ADHD in University according to many BC based doctors, psychiatrists & psychologists I’ve talked to who DO know about ADHD because they went out of their way to learn about the condition on their own time and dime.

“There are few resources for adults with ADHD and not enough awareness about symptoms and diagnosis, says Dr. Derryck Smith, a Vancouver-based psychiatrist who treats people of all ages with ADHD — including some in their “geriatric years.”

“There’s nowhere to send these people for treatment,” Smith said.

“We want more resources in the adult treatment sector. We want Pharmacare to cover some of the longer-acting, more modern medications. And we want the government to have a treatment strategy for dealing with this as a public health issue.”

The BC government currently has NO STRATEGY for ADHD. None.

Also there’s no sign that the NDP will be any better at dealing with ADHD. The Green party leader is pretty clueless about ADHD.

Expecting people with a condition that’s known for having problems with distraction, impulsivity, poor time management, and forgetfullness to take a pill 3 times a day every day on a regular schedule? Isn’t that sadistic? Even without the problems of the rebound effect of short term ADHD medications? Maybe one day BC will catch up to Saskatchewan, Ontario & Quebec that do cover long acting ADHD medication.

The only public Adult ADHD clinic in the province, the BC adult ADHD clinic at Children’s hospital had a year long wait list for an entire year for adults. They asked the government for money to deal with the waiting list, the BC Liberal government refused and they closed the clinic in 2007, and didn’t reopen the clinic at another hospital, they abandoned adults with ADHD because the long wait list was politically embarrassing.

Hopefully people with ADHD & their family members will ask their potential MLA’s if they will implement the 8 recommendations of the BCMA’s ADHD policy paper. Best time to get a politician’s attention is when they want your vote. There’s a BC election May 12 next month.

contact your local NDP candidate

contact your local Liberal candidate

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