I recently learnt a valuable lesson, pay attention to calls from the school. When I see the school’s number on my phone, I often ignore it because I assume it is because my child was late for class or attendance related.  When I eventually check my voicemail, it is often an automated recordings from the school board.  I go through and delete them one at a time. Then, on April 13^th, I received a voicemail from the school board superintendent advising he had been trying to contact me and needed to speak with me as soon as possible. He left his personal cell number and requested I call as soon as possible.  I am going to assume he was one or more of my declined school boards calls. I proceeded to check my emails to find two emails also requesting that I contact him; he needed to speak with me it was important.  This was an unexpected turn of events; maybe he was a person “above their pay grade” the school administration had been referring to.  All I know is that I had gotten someone’s attention.  I had become the squeaky wheel.

I graciously (possibly feeling a little smug, if I am being honest) returned the call. He was very friendly and quickly asked if I felt my childs academic needs were being met by the school. I think he was surprised when I told him my child’s needs were unmet. I explained that if my child’s ADHD was not recognized, his learning could not be addressed.  He advised that the school would do whatever is needed to manage my son’s learning needs including his ADHD, and asked that I make another appointment to meet with the school to develop a plan. I thanked him but said I still wanted to speak at the SEAC committee meeting. I explained that it is great we are addressing my child, but he is not the only child with ADHD and without support. CADDAC (Center for ADHD Awareness Canada) reports that approximately 9% of children are affected by ADHD. This translates into in a class of 30 students a minimum of three students per class learn differently.  This is without considering additional mental health issues, especially since the pandemic. It leaves me to wonder why the rights of those who learn differently are worth less.

For context and to understand my fight. The Ontario Ministry of Education does not recognize ADHD as qualifying within one of its five categories of exceptionality. The five categories are communication, behaviour, intellectual, physical, and multiple.  What that means is that if you have ADHD, you do not qualify for academic support.  At a time of inclusivity, diversity and inclusion, this is where the board of education has chosen to draw a line in the sand.

The SEAC meeting occurred on May 11^th, but I had to provide the superintendent with a copy of my presentation a week prior.  I assumed so he could prepare to rebut, and I was right. However, he, like the school administration, was unaware of my ADHD diagnosis, life experience and post-graduate levelled knowledge of ADHD. The SEAC committee comprises community members from various mental health and community organizations not affiliated with the school board.  I was allocated ten minutes of the Zoom meeting to present my information, followed by an opportunity for questions. It was a deafeningly silent ten minutes.  As I spoke, I thought these people are either tuned out or listening intently.  The meeting mediator warned me at two minutes, indicating I would be cut off at the ten-minute mark and not a second longer. The committee questions were not questions but the sharing stories of family and friends who suffered through the education system that would not recognize their ADHD, impacting their academic opportunities and chalking it up to bad behaviours.

The meeting mediator eventually shut down the discussion, and the superintendent, with a draft of my presentation in hand for over a week, attempted to counter my points. He tried to explain away all my concerns and advised that ‘his’ school board recognizes and supports ADHD regardless of the ministry policy. Advised I was not to participate because I had exhausted my ten minutes, I raised my hand to speak. I asked if he had shared this information with his staff, who had verbatim advised me that ADHD does not qualify under one of the five categories of exceptionality. He assured me they were aware. I replied that I was not convinced and without ADHD being officially recognized, nothing would change because parents do not have the time to fight at every turn, nor should they need to.

Those who know me will tell you, I am not a warm-fuzzy person but, I must admit this meeting ended with tears of happiness and utter shock.  A committee member brought forth a motion to have the SEAC committee send a letter to the ministry recommending ADHD be recognized within the communication category of exceptionality.  Not one member voted against the motion, it unanimously passed also with the support of the superintendent.

Will anything change?  Who knows?  I do know that I am not the only person who feels the education system continues to fail students with an ADHD diagnosis. Fingers crossed, more change happens.

On March 30, 2023, a private bill was brought before and passed the first reading. This act is intended to establish a national framework respecting ADHD.

– https://www.parl.ca/LegisInfo/en/bill/44-1/C-329