Thank you. I say this with gratitude to all those who read my blog and with whom I spoke today.  Today felt like a milestone.  Today, I felt heard, supported, and recognized. You may wonder what she is going on about, especially given the gaps in my posts.  For that, I apologize. I promise to try to do better. 

Today, the Council for Exceptional Children conference provided me with a platform to share my auto-ethnographic research, advocacy, and the need for change.  My poster presentation is titled the same as my blog. It focuses on the need to not just recognize ADHD as qualifying within one of the five categories of exceptionality but also to move away from the behavioural category that it usually gets shoved into.  It is not a behaviour and belongs with autism and learning disability, both that fit within the communication category and share an approximate 45% comorbidity.  

Several individuals approached me to discuss this perspective; many agreed and encouraged me to keep up the fight.  Some even stated they had my presentation marked off as one they needed to hear; they attended the conference, and I was one of the individuals they wanted to speak with.  Who knew? This still seems unreal to me.   Many could relate to not just my experience as a person with ADHD but also as a parent of children with ADHD. This makes me feel the fight is just beginning, although I know it’s already been decades. Change can happen, and although change is slow and may occur one child at a time, it remains an important fight.

The individual with ADHD is brilliant, and this brillance can be seen when we stop labelling ADHD as a behavioural issue and focus on the positives.

Overall, the weekend was good.  I find these conferences emotionally exhausting yet satisfying at the same time. The fight for me is personal. It is part of who I am as an individual, a parent and an academic. I hope I caught the ear of at least a few individuals over the weekend.