Let’s Talk Schools: how can we help ADHD children to flourish?

Imagine this. You go to collect your child from school and you’re waiting with all the other parents. Dread sets in.

You can predict what will happen. The teacher will ask you if they could “just have a word”. So begins the humiliating walk of shame.

It is really tough being a parent of a child with ADHD. I should know. My son was diagnosed when he was eight and he is now approaching 36.

Back in 1996 no one was talking about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It was very lonely as I felt like a rubbish parent and couldn’t understand why my son couldn’t sit still, was easily distracted, totally impulsive and a little bundle of energy that never stopped. No matter how often I wagged my finger, it didn’t change his behaviour.

I felt angry, confused and isolated. I needed help but didn’t know where to turn. Fast forward to 2024.

Fortunately, we now understand that ADHD is a neurological condition where the brain chemistry is behaving in a different way. Thankfully, there are also many professionals, organisations and charities that offer help and support to families. When I delivered an online workshop to parents and carers for PaJeS on ADHD in March, I was utterly flabbergasted that 770 families registered for it.

This was a huge wake-up call that this is a real issue within our Jewish community. There are so many families that are struggling at home and battling with schools. Parents feel the shame of having a child that the world may perceive as naughty an.