Last week a CHADD volunteer questioned CHADD's outreach to underserved communities. We both agreed that AD/HD impacts all persons regardless of background, race, and culture, and that CHADD has a mission to make accurate information available to all. The volunteer disagreed with how CHADD’s national board of directors and I have set out to accomplish this goal.
In August 2001, the Surgeon General issued a report, Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity, as a supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. In July 2003, the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health issued its report, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. Both reports document the disparities in accessing science-based health, education, and social information and supports across racial and cultural groups.
To meet CHADD's objective of building a nationwide social movement to assist all persons with AD/HD and related disorders, we have organized and conducted 17 community forums targeted to the African-American and Hispanic/Latino communities. We have partnered with the National Medical Association , National Latino Behavioral Health Association (NLBHA), National Alliance for Hispanic Health (HHNA), Delta Sigma Theta Sorority , the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) , the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), Black Mental Health Alliance of Baltimore (BMHA), and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Multicultural Partner Coalition to bring science-based information on AD/HD to these communities. We constantly strive to translate our materials into Spanish.
We have listened. We have developed activities of outreach with respect. I am personally committed to making CHADD an effective partner and ally of those assisting persons with AD/HD and related disorders in our society as a whole. Given our history and limited resources, we support local programs that naturally develop and grow and we currently prioritize work with the African-American and Hispanic/Latino communities. We are unable to effectively outreach to all groups in society. This is a journey—a lifetime journey—to build trust, respect, and help. It is a respectful, planned, and sustained effort, relying on partners, to be helpful. It is a strategic priority of CHADD’s national board of directors.
Clarke
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Crises, Prevention and Health Promotion
Dealing with Crisis
The mass shootings at Virginia Tech again focus us on crises (and nightmares). CHADD expresses its deepest sympathies to the classmates, families, friends, university employees, and the greater community. Each of us turns to different natural supports—family, community, faith community—in locating places and people to help us mourn and cope. Our prayers are with the Blacksburg community.
Mental Health America, our sister association, issued thoughtful statements on the shootings: Virginia Tech Tragedy: Tips for Educators, Students and Parents. I refer you to these helpful documents, or you can call MHA at 800-969-6642 for more information.
I appreciated the comments Virginia Governor Tim Kaine made on CNN at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, April 17, in response to the already numerous policy and practice declarations by self-appointed experts. He said, "Take the crusade elsewhere and let us help Virginia Tech grieve." Why is it that as soon as a crisis hits, some have to declare their immediate understanding of why and what to do about it?
Shortly after hearing Gov. Kaine's observations I went to the Web site of the leading anti-psychiatry group. They had already posted a press release stating that the shooter “May Be 9th School Shooter Under the Influence of Psychiatric Drugs." It is so sad that in this time of mourning, we have the anti-psychiatry crusade declaring their monopoly on truth. In my church, mourning and bereavement take precedence over immediate press releases and posturing.
Prevention and Health Promotion
Last Friday, Tim MacGeorge, the director of the National Resource Center on AD/HD at CHADD and I attended the second annual open house at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD). CHADD's NRC is recognized and financed by CDC's NCBDDD. The mission of NCBDDD is to promote the health of babies, children, and adults and to enhance the potential for full productive living by all persons with challenges associated with disabilities. It is a pleasure to see a professionally trained work force attempting to increase the science and to translate the science into everyday practice.
The partnership between CHADD and the CDC promotes CHADD's mission to assist persons with AD/HD and related disorders. One of the current NCBDDD priorities is a campaign with the slogan, "Learn the Signs, Act Early." To date, CDC has done a good job of identifying the signs that possibly warrant responses, but they are still working on how to take meaningful action. We all have in common the effort to improve individual functioning and long-term outcomes for people with challenges in their lives.
"Science is the foundation that CDC is built on," one of the CDC officials stated. Their purpose is to take the science and promote healthy people and healthy places. CHADD is also science based. Our professional advisory board reaches consensus on what the published science states. This has led to some criticism of CHADD, as people of strong views and personal experience promote practices that are not grounded in the published science and accuse CHADD of being too inflexible. There is some truth to this description. But it quickly gets to be a slippery slope when practices not grounded in the published science are promoted.
We are trying to be more open, more understanding, and more flexible, while staying grounded in the published science. But sometimes we may not get the balance exactly correct. We use consensus decision-making, based on the published science expanded by the lived experience of consumers and their family members. We strive daily to be helpful and to get this balance right.
Ty and Yvonne Pennington at Conference
Looking ahead to CHADD's Annual International Conference, which will take place November 7-10, I am pleased to announce that Yvonne Pennington, mother of that lovable hunk-of-a-carpenter Ty Pennington, star of Extreme Makeover Home Edition and winner of two Emmys for outstanding reality programs, will talk about raising Ty and his brother in her presentation, Raising Amazing Kids. She will also accept the Ty Pennington Humanitarian Award at the 20th Anniversary Gala.
Clarke
The mass shootings at Virginia Tech again focus us on crises (and nightmares). CHADD expresses its deepest sympathies to the classmates, families, friends, university employees, and the greater community. Each of us turns to different natural supports—family, community, faith community—in locating places and people to help us mourn and cope. Our prayers are with the Blacksburg community.
Mental Health America, our sister association, issued thoughtful statements on the shootings: Virginia Tech Tragedy: Tips for Educators, Students and Parents. I refer you to these helpful documents, or you can call MHA at 800-969-6642 for more information.
I appreciated the comments Virginia Governor Tim Kaine made on CNN at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, April 17, in response to the already numerous policy and practice declarations by self-appointed experts. He said, "Take the crusade elsewhere and let us help Virginia Tech grieve." Why is it that as soon as a crisis hits, some have to declare their immediate understanding of why and what to do about it?
Shortly after hearing Gov. Kaine's observations I went to the Web site of the leading anti-psychiatry group. They had already posted a press release stating that the shooter “May Be 9th School Shooter Under the Influence of Psychiatric Drugs." It is so sad that in this time of mourning, we have the anti-psychiatry crusade declaring their monopoly on truth. In my church, mourning and bereavement take precedence over immediate press releases and posturing.
Prevention and Health Promotion
Last Friday, Tim MacGeorge, the director of the National Resource Center on AD/HD at CHADD and I attended the second annual open house at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD). CHADD's NRC is recognized and financed by CDC's NCBDDD. The mission of NCBDDD is to promote the health of babies, children, and adults and to enhance the potential for full productive living by all persons with challenges associated with disabilities. It is a pleasure to see a professionally trained work force attempting to increase the science and to translate the science into everyday practice.
The partnership between CHADD and the CDC promotes CHADD's mission to assist persons with AD/HD and related disorders. One of the current NCBDDD priorities is a campaign with the slogan, "Learn the Signs, Act Early." To date, CDC has done a good job of identifying the signs that possibly warrant responses, but they are still working on how to take meaningful action. We all have in common the effort to improve individual functioning and long-term outcomes for people with challenges in their lives.
"Science is the foundation that CDC is built on," one of the CDC officials stated. Their purpose is to take the science and promote healthy people and healthy places. CHADD is also science based. Our professional advisory board reaches consensus on what the published science states. This has led to some criticism of CHADD, as people of strong views and personal experience promote practices that are not grounded in the published science and accuse CHADD of being too inflexible. There is some truth to this description. But it quickly gets to be a slippery slope when practices not grounded in the published science are promoted.
We are trying to be more open, more understanding, and more flexible, while staying grounded in the published science. But sometimes we may not get the balance exactly correct. We use consensus decision-making, based on the published science expanded by the lived experience of consumers and their family members. We strive daily to be helpful and to get this balance right.
Ty and Yvonne Pennington at Conference
Looking ahead to CHADD's Annual International Conference, which will take place November 7-10, I am pleased to announce that Yvonne Pennington, mother of that lovable hunk-of-a-carpenter Ty Pennington, star of Extreme Makeover Home Edition and winner of two Emmys for outstanding reality programs, will talk about raising Ty and his brother in her presentation, Raising Amazing Kids. She will also accept the Ty Pennington Humanitarian Award at the 20th Anniversary Gala.
Clarke
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
A Powerful and Needed Alliance
What a Difference a Year Makes
My wife and I had a wonderful Easter with our 16-year-old son. This time last year, my son was socially isolated at his 2,000-student high school, on the verge of academic failure, so depressed over his situation that he did not want to see his two longtime friends on weekends, disinterested, and defiant and angry at home. He had lost his natural smile and our entire family was in crisis. This year, it has all changed, after we moved Andrew to a small high school that specializes in meeting the needs of kids with special learning challenges. This school has a student body of 75, half boys and half girls. Andrew has a group of friends to hang out with. He is learning to socialize with girls. He is passing all his classes. Like every child at this school, he is playing team sports, which he loves. He is fun to be with and he enjoys being with his family. And his natural smile and sense of humor have returned.
To me, this says we have to appreciate each positive moment, and when things are going poorly, if we take planned and careful action to change the circumstances, there may be good things later on. We greatly appreciate this moment. It could all fall apart tomorrow, although we believe that we are moving forward and should not return to where we were at last year. We are reasonably confident about the future, but we know many challenges remain. We never know the circumstances we will face, and each of us uses different strategies to cope. I wish you Godspeed as your circumstances change, hopefully for the better.
Dealing with Schools
At a parents' retreat at my son's school last month, several parents were in tears describing how many school employees, at the large public high schools their children previously attended, just don't understand the emotional toil children and families go through. We recognize that school employees can't get too involved in every child's situation, particularly in schools with large student bodies, but we do have great frustrations.
A CHADD chapter coordinator wrote us last week about her experience with her child's school. She wrote: "The meeting at [my daughter’s] school did not go well yesterday. I left there really frustrated after about only 20 minutes, [which was all the time] that they had planned to give me. Not all of my issues were addressed....I just want to make them aware of the fact that I am watching everything they do." Watching is unlikely to be enough.
Our upcoming annual conference has a one-day track for teachers, "Teachers as Allies," a philosophy expressed by a National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) publication. CHADD has been a wonderful advocate for the legal rights of kids with special needs. CHADD community support groups provide safe places where parents (and kids) can share their frustrations and experiences in dealing with schools. Sometimes teachers are part of these support groups. In a few model programs, CHADD chapters have become learning allies with teachers and school officials to improve education for children with special needs. Last fall we published the CHADD Educator's Manual, a guide mailed to every public school in America. The manual was written from a teacher’s perspective, to help teachers. We strive to be a resource and a help to school officials and teachers.
But we also need to motivate teachers and school officials to be more understanding and responsive to the emotions of kids and their families. Life can be so difficult, and an unresponsive and non-communicative teacher really adds to the burden of the child and family. An understanding and responsive teacher can make such a difference.
Anniversary Gala Dinner
This year marks CHADD's 20th anniversary. Part of our celebration will be a gala dinner event during our annual conference. The conference will be held November 7-10 and the gala dinner is November 8. The conference will be at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Virginia, just across the river from Washington, DC. We have an exciting program planned with a speaker lineup that includes leading national legislators and most of the CHADD Hall of Fame recipients.
I will be keeping blog readers informed regarding special speakers and conference participants. I hope that you can join us at conference. You can learn more and sign up to receive updates about the event through CHADD’s Web site. Registration begins in June.
Clarke
My wife and I had a wonderful Easter with our 16-year-old son. This time last year, my son was socially isolated at his 2,000-student high school, on the verge of academic failure, so depressed over his situation that he did not want to see his two longtime friends on weekends, disinterested, and defiant and angry at home. He had lost his natural smile and our entire family was in crisis. This year, it has all changed, after we moved Andrew to a small high school that specializes in meeting the needs of kids with special learning challenges. This school has a student body of 75, half boys and half girls. Andrew has a group of friends to hang out with. He is learning to socialize with girls. He is passing all his classes. Like every child at this school, he is playing team sports, which he loves. He is fun to be with and he enjoys being with his family. And his natural smile and sense of humor have returned.
To me, this says we have to appreciate each positive moment, and when things are going poorly, if we take planned and careful action to change the circumstances, there may be good things later on. We greatly appreciate this moment. It could all fall apart tomorrow, although we believe that we are moving forward and should not return to where we were at last year. We are reasonably confident about the future, but we know many challenges remain. We never know the circumstances we will face, and each of us uses different strategies to cope. I wish you Godspeed as your circumstances change, hopefully for the better.
Dealing with Schools
At a parents' retreat at my son's school last month, several parents were in tears describing how many school employees, at the large public high schools their children previously attended, just don't understand the emotional toil children and families go through. We recognize that school employees can't get too involved in every child's situation, particularly in schools with large student bodies, but we do have great frustrations.
A CHADD chapter coordinator wrote us last week about her experience with her child's school. She wrote: "The meeting at [my daughter’s] school did not go well yesterday. I left there really frustrated after about only 20 minutes, [which was all the time] that they had planned to give me. Not all of my issues were addressed....I just want to make them aware of the fact that I am watching everything they do." Watching is unlikely to be enough.
Our upcoming annual conference has a one-day track for teachers, "Teachers as Allies," a philosophy expressed by a National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) publication. CHADD has been a wonderful advocate for the legal rights of kids with special needs. CHADD community support groups provide safe places where parents (and kids) can share their frustrations and experiences in dealing with schools. Sometimes teachers are part of these support groups. In a few model programs, CHADD chapters have become learning allies with teachers and school officials to improve education for children with special needs. Last fall we published the CHADD Educator's Manual, a guide mailed to every public school in America. The manual was written from a teacher’s perspective, to help teachers. We strive to be a resource and a help to school officials and teachers.
But we also need to motivate teachers and school officials to be more understanding and responsive to the emotions of kids and their families. Life can be so difficult, and an unresponsive and non-communicative teacher really adds to the burden of the child and family. An understanding and responsive teacher can make such a difference.
Anniversary Gala Dinner
This year marks CHADD's 20th anniversary. Part of our celebration will be a gala dinner event during our annual conference. The conference will be held November 7-10 and the gala dinner is November 8. The conference will be at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Virginia, just across the river from Washington, DC. We have an exciting program planned with a speaker lineup that includes leading national legislators and most of the CHADD Hall of Fame recipients.
I will be keeping blog readers informed regarding special speakers and conference participants. I hope that you can join us at conference. You can learn more and sign up to receive updates about the event through CHADD’s Web site. Registration begins in June.
Clarke
Monday, April 2, 2007
Organizational Purposes and Priorities
Meeting with Our Board
The CHADD national board of directors met for two and a half days last week to outline the organization’s priorities for 2007-2008. Before and after the board meeting, the annual conference workgroup met to continue planning the November 7-10, 2007 annual conference. This year’s conference will be held in the Washington, DC area at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, near Reagan National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia.
This is the essence of non-profit voluntary health agencies in America. Uncompensated volunteers, who represent a cross-section of Americans, work significant hours to plan, govern, and oversee a national association’s work. This particular board and this particular staff have a very positive, respectful, and productive relationship. We enjoy each other.
Updated Purposes
The board spent time updating the association’s by-laws. In doing this, the board expanded the purposes of CHADD, which are:
1. To maintain support groups for parents, family members, and other caregivers of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and related disorders, and adults with AD/HD and related disorders.
2. To provide a forum for continuing education about AD/HD for parents, family members, and other caregivers of children with AD/HD and related disorders, adults with AD/HD and related disorders, and health professionals.
3. To serve as a resource for science-based information on AD/HD.
4. To serve as an advocate for persons with AD/HD and related disorders.
5. To encourage discussion, dialogue, and understanding among persons in the community who have an interest in AD/HD, such as educators, health professionals, public officials, parents of children with AD/HD and related disorders, and adults with AD/HD and related disorders.
6. To foster the objective that the best educational experiences should be available to children with AD/HD and related disorders, so their specific difficulties will be recognized and appropriately responded to within educational settings.
7. To engage in activities intended to fulfill the stated mission of CHADD, which is to improve the lives of people affected by AD/HD and related disorders.
8. To build a social movement to promote the welfare of all persons with AD/HD and related disorders.
9. To work toward the elimination of stigma, discrimination, and barriers to the diagnosis and treatment of AD/HD and related disorders through the lifespan.
10. To advocate for increased research funding to better understand, prevent, and treat AD/HD and related disorders through the lifespan.
Living up to these lofty goals is always difficult. In addition to the CHADD volunteer board, their committees and work groups, and the staff, hundreds of uncompensated volunteers across America work every day to assist people with AD/HD and related disorders. These volunteers work in the CHADD chapters and support groups and work as certified teachers of the seven-session Parent to Parent: Living with AD/HD intensive training program. We know that we need to better support and better recognize their efforts.
Strategic Priorities
To achieve the purpose of CHADD within a 12-month budget, the board also adopted the following strategic priorities.
Priority One: To provide information to and services for people affected by AD/HD, we will strive to
• Develop and implement a membership plan that addresses the defined needs of CHADD’s target audiences
• Develop a plan to implement recommendations from an outside consultant for developing a branding strategy for CHADD
• Promote diversity and cultural competence and integrate them into all of CHADD’s major functions
• Use CHADD publications strategically to provide a support network for parents, caregivers, and adults with AD/HD
• Enhance and promote the CHADD annual conference using the 20th anniversary celebration
• Increase the number of support groups available to CHADD members and strengthen existing CHADD community groups
• Provide education and training for people affected by AD/HD
• Increase subsidies available to support persons unable to pay CHADD membership fees
Priority Two: To increase public awareness, understanding, and acceptance of AD/HD, we will strive to
• Serve as a resource for accurate, evidence-based information, through such vehicles as the National Resource Center on AD/HD and the National AD/HD Education Initiative
• Disseminate and increase information about AD/HD to target audiences
• Focus on CHADD’s Web presence by integrating more effectively the CHADD/NRC Web sites, and adding more content to the CHADD Web site, while increasing consistency of appearance between its sections
• Increase name recognition and visibility of the organization
Priority Three: To influence national, state, and local public policies to build a social movement to assist persons with AD/HD, we will strive to
• Maintain funding for the National Resource Center on AD/HD
• Enhance CHADD involvement in state and local public-policy work
• Implement the adult and child public-policy agendas
• Develop a plan for increased federal funding of research to better understand, prevent, and treat AD/HD and related disorders
Listening to Our Members
CHADD was fortunate enough to have contracted with a leading membership and marketing consultant to randomly survey CHADD members to determine member priorities in joining CHADD. The consultant terms this research “determining the value of a CHADD membership.”
What did we learn? We learned that CHADD members highly value a CHADD that delivers
• Science-based information about AD/HD
• Advocacy activities that promote the interests and welfare of persons with AD/HD
• Advocacy activities that support research into the understanding, prevention, and treatment of AD/HD
• Local community support for dealing with their daily struggles and local opportunities to discuss and share experiences
• Greater resources for members on the Internet and Web
An Ambitious but Achievable Agenda
Like most organizations, we do some of this; some of this well, some of this poorly, and some we don’t do much of. We have limited resources, limited staff, limited volunteers, and limited community resources. We collectively try our best. We constantly plan and implement improvements and enhancements. We use the management principles of management by objective and continuous quality improvement.
We need to hear from our members, potential and prospective members, and people who are interested in AD/HD but don’t want to be our members. CHADD is building a social movement to assist all persons with AD/HD. We can better do this with more members and more donors. But we are here to help as best as we can. As the father of a sixteen-year-old son with the inattentive form of AD/HD and related challenges, I know we need organizations like CHADD to work each day to assist us. CHADD has hundreds of volunteers and a staff dedicated to providing this support.
Clarke
The CHADD national board of directors met for two and a half days last week to outline the organization’s priorities for 2007-2008. Before and after the board meeting, the annual conference workgroup met to continue planning the November 7-10, 2007 annual conference. This year’s conference will be held in the Washington, DC area at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, near Reagan National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia.
This is the essence of non-profit voluntary health agencies in America. Uncompensated volunteers, who represent a cross-section of Americans, work significant hours to plan, govern, and oversee a national association’s work. This particular board and this particular staff have a very positive, respectful, and productive relationship. We enjoy each other.
Updated Purposes
The board spent time updating the association’s by-laws. In doing this, the board expanded the purposes of CHADD, which are:
1. To maintain support groups for parents, family members, and other caregivers of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and related disorders, and adults with AD/HD and related disorders.
2. To provide a forum for continuing education about AD/HD for parents, family members, and other caregivers of children with AD/HD and related disorders, adults with AD/HD and related disorders, and health professionals.
3. To serve as a resource for science-based information on AD/HD.
4. To serve as an advocate for persons with AD/HD and related disorders.
5. To encourage discussion, dialogue, and understanding among persons in the community who have an interest in AD/HD, such as educators, health professionals, public officials, parents of children with AD/HD and related disorders, and adults with AD/HD and related disorders.
6. To foster the objective that the best educational experiences should be available to children with AD/HD and related disorders, so their specific difficulties will be recognized and appropriately responded to within educational settings.
7. To engage in activities intended to fulfill the stated mission of CHADD, which is to improve the lives of people affected by AD/HD and related disorders.
8. To build a social movement to promote the welfare of all persons with AD/HD and related disorders.
9. To work toward the elimination of stigma, discrimination, and barriers to the diagnosis and treatment of AD/HD and related disorders through the lifespan.
10. To advocate for increased research funding to better understand, prevent, and treat AD/HD and related disorders through the lifespan.
Living up to these lofty goals is always difficult. In addition to the CHADD volunteer board, their committees and work groups, and the staff, hundreds of uncompensated volunteers across America work every day to assist people with AD/HD and related disorders. These volunteers work in the CHADD chapters and support groups and work as certified teachers of the seven-session Parent to Parent: Living with AD/HD intensive training program. We know that we need to better support and better recognize their efforts.
Strategic Priorities
To achieve the purpose of CHADD within a 12-month budget, the board also adopted the following strategic priorities.
Priority One: To provide information to and services for people affected by AD/HD, we will strive to
• Develop and implement a membership plan that addresses the defined needs of CHADD’s target audiences
• Develop a plan to implement recommendations from an outside consultant for developing a branding strategy for CHADD
• Promote diversity and cultural competence and integrate them into all of CHADD’s major functions
• Use CHADD publications strategically to provide a support network for parents, caregivers, and adults with AD/HD
• Enhance and promote the CHADD annual conference using the 20th anniversary celebration
• Increase the number of support groups available to CHADD members and strengthen existing CHADD community groups
• Provide education and training for people affected by AD/HD
• Increase subsidies available to support persons unable to pay CHADD membership fees
Priority Two: To increase public awareness, understanding, and acceptance of AD/HD, we will strive to
• Serve as a resource for accurate, evidence-based information, through such vehicles as the National Resource Center on AD/HD and the National AD/HD Education Initiative
• Disseminate and increase information about AD/HD to target audiences
• Focus on CHADD’s Web presence by integrating more effectively the CHADD/NRC Web sites, and adding more content to the CHADD Web site, while increasing consistency of appearance between its sections
• Increase name recognition and visibility of the organization
Priority Three: To influence national, state, and local public policies to build a social movement to assist persons with AD/HD, we will strive to
• Maintain funding for the National Resource Center on AD/HD
• Enhance CHADD involvement in state and local public-policy work
• Implement the adult and child public-policy agendas
• Develop a plan for increased federal funding of research to better understand, prevent, and treat AD/HD and related disorders
Listening to Our Members
CHADD was fortunate enough to have contracted with a leading membership and marketing consultant to randomly survey CHADD members to determine member priorities in joining CHADD. The consultant terms this research “determining the value of a CHADD membership.”
What did we learn? We learned that CHADD members highly value a CHADD that delivers
• Science-based information about AD/HD
• Advocacy activities that promote the interests and welfare of persons with AD/HD
• Advocacy activities that support research into the understanding, prevention, and treatment of AD/HD
• Local community support for dealing with their daily struggles and local opportunities to discuss and share experiences
• Greater resources for members on the Internet and Web
An Ambitious but Achievable Agenda
Like most organizations, we do some of this; some of this well, some of this poorly, and some we don’t do much of. We have limited resources, limited staff, limited volunteers, and limited community resources. We collectively try our best. We constantly plan and implement improvements and enhancements. We use the management principles of management by objective and continuous quality improvement.
We need to hear from our members, potential and prospective members, and people who are interested in AD/HD but don’t want to be our members. CHADD is building a social movement to assist all persons with AD/HD. We can better do this with more members and more donors. But we are here to help as best as we can. As the father of a sixteen-year-old son with the inattentive form of AD/HD and related challenges, I know we need organizations like CHADD to work each day to assist us. CHADD has hundreds of volunteers and a staff dedicated to providing this support.
Clarke
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Dealing with Perceptions
Media Frenzy
An interesting situation occurred this past week involving the anti-psychiatry groups (those who deny the existence of mental illness and mental disorders). A British newspaper reported that Dr. Robert Spitzer of Columbia University, chairman of the task force that created the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), supposedly stated that between 20 and 30 percent of persons with AD/HD may have an incorrect diagnosis. News outlets around the globe repeated the supposed statement. The anti-psychiatry groups claimed that this affirms that AD/HD is a "fraud," that it is a "made-up" diagnosis, and that medication treatment for AD/HD leads to "dependency on toxic drugs" and "cardiac death." (The only factual statement in these declarations is that for persons with cardiac problems, stimulant medications may create serious side effects. One needs to discuss this possibility with one's physician and other prescribing medical professionals.)
Now the really interesting development: Media Watch reported that Dr. Spitzer never said this (see the story titled "Fact Deficit Disorder"). Dr. Spitzer was speaking to the British reporter about adult anxiety disorders, not AD/HD. And he never used the figure 20 to 30 percent; rather, the reporter used the 20 to 30 percent figure in Dr. Spitzer's presence. Most of the anti-psychiatry crowd has remained silent on what Dr. Spitzer actually said. One anti-psychiatry group stated that they merely used the British press report—and besides, maybe adult anxiety disorders don't exist, and these folks may be prescribed "psychotropic drugs with no justification."
This reinforces for me the need for people facing possible AD/HD in their families to dialogue with medical professionals who practice evidence-based AD/HD diagnosis and treatment guidelines, such as those used by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. There are side effects, some serious for some people, with medications used to treat AD/HD. Previous CHADD CEO blogs have addressed some of these dilemmas and science-based conclusions, such as the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health. Potential users of these medications need to research the medications on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site, and related Web sites such as the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It also teaches me the lesson of not being sucked in by media hype spurred by anti-psychiatry media machines. These are serious challenges for many people. These are serious decisions by all families. The science tells us that multimodal treatment works for between 75 and 90 percent of children with AD/HD. Rely on your medical professional, assuming you have confidence that they practice evidence-based medicine, and don't get wrapped up in media frenzies.
Insurance Policy Established by Perceptions
Last week we received a complaint from a physician whose health plan had denied an adult patient with AD/HD medication on the basis that the patient was not a child. This is a decision based on perceptions from a decade ago that AD/HD disappears at some magical adolescent age. This perception does not recognize the evidence that AD/HD is a life-span disorder and continues into adulthood for many, but not all, people with the diagnosis in childhood. I wrote the health plan and encouraged its medical advisory panel to examine the National Resource Center's "What We Know" information sheets on adult issues (papers 9 and 10). An effective approach to changing health plan benefit programs is frequently a discussion of the science with the plan's medical advisory board. Before going to health insurance regulations, legislators, professional societies, and the media, CHADD hopes a discussion of the science with the plan will change benefit design. I won't reveal the health plan until our efforts to discuss the science have concluded. This usually takes months of discussion. If unsuccessful, we will engage in direct public advocacy efforts.
If you experience health plan discrimination, please let us know.
Coming Soon—Comedy Movie on Suicide
CHADD has joined with the Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN USA) and 14 other national mental health associations, in writing Liongate Entertainment Corporation and After Dark Films to object to their planned marketing campaign showing graphic depictions of suicide to advertise their forthcoming movie, Wristcutters. One of the most devastating occasions of my life was when my best man's wife, an active member of our church, concluded that her depression was so grave and prolonged that she gave up the will to live, and committed suicide. I try not to think about this, for when I do I become very upset. I have known this couple since 1973. This is not a comedy. This is not behavior to encourage. This is perception at its worst, with the most serious consequences.
This week has been a difficult one for me, dealing with public perceptions that undermine the health and welfare of persons with difficult challenges. CHADD is here to build a social movement to articulate and defend the needs of persons with AD/HD and related disorders. Thanks for listening. Thanks for supporting our efforts.
Clarke
An interesting situation occurred this past week involving the anti-psychiatry groups (those who deny the existence of mental illness and mental disorders). A British newspaper reported that Dr. Robert Spitzer of Columbia University, chairman of the task force that created the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), supposedly stated that between 20 and 30 percent of persons with AD/HD may have an incorrect diagnosis. News outlets around the globe repeated the supposed statement. The anti-psychiatry groups claimed that this affirms that AD/HD is a "fraud," that it is a "made-up" diagnosis, and that medication treatment for AD/HD leads to "dependency on toxic drugs" and "cardiac death." (The only factual statement in these declarations is that for persons with cardiac problems, stimulant medications may create serious side effects. One needs to discuss this possibility with one's physician and other prescribing medical professionals.)
Now the really interesting development: Media Watch reported that Dr. Spitzer never said this (see the story titled "Fact Deficit Disorder"). Dr. Spitzer was speaking to the British reporter about adult anxiety disorders, not AD/HD. And he never used the figure 20 to 30 percent; rather, the reporter used the 20 to 30 percent figure in Dr. Spitzer's presence. Most of the anti-psychiatry crowd has remained silent on what Dr. Spitzer actually said. One anti-psychiatry group stated that they merely used the British press report—and besides, maybe adult anxiety disorders don't exist, and these folks may be prescribed "psychotropic drugs with no justification."
This reinforces for me the need for people facing possible AD/HD in their families to dialogue with medical professionals who practice evidence-based AD/HD diagnosis and treatment guidelines, such as those used by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. There are side effects, some serious for some people, with medications used to treat AD/HD. Previous CHADD CEO blogs have addressed some of these dilemmas and science-based conclusions, such as the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health. Potential users of these medications need to research the medications on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site, and related Web sites such as the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It also teaches me the lesson of not being sucked in by media hype spurred by anti-psychiatry media machines. These are serious challenges for many people. These are serious decisions by all families. The science tells us that multimodal treatment works for between 75 and 90 percent of children with AD/HD. Rely on your medical professional, assuming you have confidence that they practice evidence-based medicine, and don't get wrapped up in media frenzies.
Insurance Policy Established by Perceptions
Last week we received a complaint from a physician whose health plan had denied an adult patient with AD/HD medication on the basis that the patient was not a child. This is a decision based on perceptions from a decade ago that AD/HD disappears at some magical adolescent age. This perception does not recognize the evidence that AD/HD is a life-span disorder and continues into adulthood for many, but not all, people with the diagnosis in childhood. I wrote the health plan and encouraged its medical advisory panel to examine the National Resource Center's "What We Know" information sheets on adult issues (papers 9 and 10). An effective approach to changing health plan benefit programs is frequently a discussion of the science with the plan's medical advisory board. Before going to health insurance regulations, legislators, professional societies, and the media, CHADD hopes a discussion of the science with the plan will change benefit design. I won't reveal the health plan until our efforts to discuss the science have concluded. This usually takes months of discussion. If unsuccessful, we will engage in direct public advocacy efforts.
If you experience health plan discrimination, please let us know.
Coming Soon—Comedy Movie on Suicide
CHADD has joined with the Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN USA) and 14 other national mental health associations, in writing Liongate Entertainment Corporation and After Dark Films to object to their planned marketing campaign showing graphic depictions of suicide to advertise their forthcoming movie, Wristcutters. One of the most devastating occasions of my life was when my best man's wife, an active member of our church, concluded that her depression was so grave and prolonged that she gave up the will to live, and committed suicide. I try not to think about this, for when I do I become very upset. I have known this couple since 1973. This is not a comedy. This is not behavior to encourage. This is perception at its worst, with the most serious consequences.
This week has been a difficult one for me, dealing with public perceptions that undermine the health and welfare of persons with difficult challenges. CHADD is here to build a social movement to articulate and defend the needs of persons with AD/HD and related disorders. Thanks for listening. Thanks for supporting our efforts.
Clarke
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Dealing with Attitudes
A recent professional journal article reported on a study that asked a random sample of parents about their attitudes toward their children playing with children who had symptoms of asthma, AD/HD, depression, and “normal troubles.” The interviewers, sociologists at Indiana University, did not use diagnostic labels with the parents they interviewed and instead used descriptive vignettes. A summary of the article is available from the free electronic newsletter, Attention Research Update, by Duke University faculty member David Rabiner, Ph.D. (to subscribe, go to www.helpforadd.com). The article, “The Construction of Fear: Americans’ Preferences for Social Distance from Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Problems,” by Jack K. Martin and colleagues, originally appeared in the March 2007 issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior (Volume 48, pages 50-67).
Out of 1,393 parents, 30% stated that they would not want their children to become friends with a child with depression, and 25% stated that they would not want their children to become friends with a child with AD/HD. Only 10% expressed such views about children with asthma and 5% about children with “normal troubles.” The core message is that some parents do not want their children spending time with children who have these challenges. The researchers conclude that “a substantial minority of American adults are reluctant to interact with or to have their children interact with children described in ways consistent with ADHD or depression.”
My personal experiences with our now 16-year-old son, Andrew, are really not a problem with parental attitudes. Parents in our community seemed to have no problems with Andrew playing with their sons. Parents were generally open and receptive. The problem was that Andrew’s interests and abilities generally did not match those of the other boys, and thus Andrew became lonely. Scouts, community sports, and church were arenas where Andrew could participate with other children. He was still different and still not an equal peer, but with some exceptions, he was treated decently. There are always the boys who say harsh and unkind things. There are also enough boys with special needs in our community so that Andrew developed a handful of friends with whom he was comfortable. Parents of kids with special needs organized special outings and gatherings so their children could have regular and normal fun.
The Microsoft dictionary defines “stigma” as “shame and disgrace attached to something regarded as socially unacceptable.” Stigma leads to loss of self-esteem, internalization of negative self-images, anxiety, and social isolation. Andrew has experienced all of these growing up, but I don’t attribute them to parental attitudes in our community. I attribute them to his “differentness” and how regular boys think and act. Of course, when a kid told Andrew at soccer practice, “Andrew, you stink; why don’t you go home,” and his dad was standing there, I did wish his dad had said that was no way to act. But I also did not comment to the father about his son’s comment.
We each have to determine our own comfort level with attitudes about disabilities and how to deal with them. My wife and I have tried to be honest with everyone. Neither of us is assertive with other parents. Church, scouts, and community sports have presented positive opportunities for Andrew to be accepted and integrated into regular activities.
Social rejection is a highly painful life experience for the child and the family. Support groups, such as CHADD support groups, can be helpful coping mechanisms.
An Update About Baseball
Andrew and I just returned from our first baseball spring training experience in Florida – six games in six days. Andrew’s highlights were meeting with Cincinnati Reds player Jeff Conine and attending an autograph session with Boston Red Sox players. One of Jeff’s sons has AD/HD and the Conine family was featured as the cover story in the October 2006 issue of Attention!® magazine. Andrew has matured a lot since he entered his new school this year. He was a good traveling partner and we have grown much closer. Life, of course, always throws “curve balls.” I severely sprained my lower back and Andrew came down with shingles, thus delaying his return to school. But we have to be flexible and adaptable in life. The memory of six games in six days as father and son will be with us for a lifetime.
Blog Comments
Three comments were submitted in response to my last blog. One was the relationship of sleep disorders to AD/HD. Our National Resource Center on AD/HD “What We Know” papers discuss these issues in passing, but we do not yet have a dedicated paper on this topic. We know that sleep problems are a side effect of some AD/HD medications. We know that sleep disorders can sometimes cause symptoms of AD/HD. The CHADD professional advisory board will be developing a clearer and separate statement on this problem. We will also be consulting with the National Sleep Foundation.
Comments continue coming in about the role of faith communities and churches in dealing with folks with special needs. A parent wrote: “Make sure your child is getting all the interventions necessary” to help in these situations.
One commentator raised questions about a medical doctor’s prescribing recommendations. When you are in doubt about a recommendation, first ask the doctor questions. If you are still unsatisfied, second and third opinions must be sought. These are difficult and challenging decisions. You need to know what the Food and Drug Administration recommends. You need to know the logic of the prescribing doctor. Whenever you are in doubt, ask not only physicians, but pharmacists and non-physician professionals who have a history of treating your family member. Physicians and pharmacists use the Physicians Desk Reference. This guide is not available for free, but you can ask your doctor and pharmacist to let you see the appropriate sections. You must have confidence and comfort that a medication recommendation is right for your family member.
Clarke
Out of 1,393 parents, 30% stated that they would not want their children to become friends with a child with depression, and 25% stated that they would not want their children to become friends with a child with AD/HD. Only 10% expressed such views about children with asthma and 5% about children with “normal troubles.” The core message is that some parents do not want their children spending time with children who have these challenges. The researchers conclude that “a substantial minority of American adults are reluctant to interact with or to have their children interact with children described in ways consistent with ADHD or depression.”
My personal experiences with our now 16-year-old son, Andrew, are really not a problem with parental attitudes. Parents in our community seemed to have no problems with Andrew playing with their sons. Parents were generally open and receptive. The problem was that Andrew’s interests and abilities generally did not match those of the other boys, and thus Andrew became lonely. Scouts, community sports, and church were arenas where Andrew could participate with other children. He was still different and still not an equal peer, but with some exceptions, he was treated decently. There are always the boys who say harsh and unkind things. There are also enough boys with special needs in our community so that Andrew developed a handful of friends with whom he was comfortable. Parents of kids with special needs organized special outings and gatherings so their children could have regular and normal fun.
The Microsoft dictionary defines “stigma” as “shame and disgrace attached to something regarded as socially unacceptable.” Stigma leads to loss of self-esteem, internalization of negative self-images, anxiety, and social isolation. Andrew has experienced all of these growing up, but I don’t attribute them to parental attitudes in our community. I attribute them to his “differentness” and how regular boys think and act. Of course, when a kid told Andrew at soccer practice, “Andrew, you stink; why don’t you go home,” and his dad was standing there, I did wish his dad had said that was no way to act. But I also did not comment to the father about his son’s comment.
We each have to determine our own comfort level with attitudes about disabilities and how to deal with them. My wife and I have tried to be honest with everyone. Neither of us is assertive with other parents. Church, scouts, and community sports have presented positive opportunities for Andrew to be accepted and integrated into regular activities.
Social rejection is a highly painful life experience for the child and the family. Support groups, such as CHADD support groups, can be helpful coping mechanisms.
An Update About Baseball
Andrew and I just returned from our first baseball spring training experience in Florida – six games in six days. Andrew’s highlights were meeting with Cincinnati Reds player Jeff Conine and attending an autograph session with Boston Red Sox players. One of Jeff’s sons has AD/HD and the Conine family was featured as the cover story in the October 2006 issue of Attention!® magazine. Andrew has matured a lot since he entered his new school this year. He was a good traveling partner and we have grown much closer. Life, of course, always throws “curve balls.” I severely sprained my lower back and Andrew came down with shingles, thus delaying his return to school. But we have to be flexible and adaptable in life. The memory of six games in six days as father and son will be with us for a lifetime.
Blog Comments
Three comments were submitted in response to my last blog. One was the relationship of sleep disorders to AD/HD. Our National Resource Center on AD/HD “What We Know” papers discuss these issues in passing, but we do not yet have a dedicated paper on this topic. We know that sleep problems are a side effect of some AD/HD medications. We know that sleep disorders can sometimes cause symptoms of AD/HD. The CHADD professional advisory board will be developing a clearer and separate statement on this problem. We will also be consulting with the National Sleep Foundation.
Comments continue coming in about the role of faith communities and churches in dealing with folks with special needs. A parent wrote: “Make sure your child is getting all the interventions necessary” to help in these situations.
One commentator raised questions about a medical doctor’s prescribing recommendations. When you are in doubt about a recommendation, first ask the doctor questions. If you are still unsatisfied, second and third opinions must be sought. These are difficult and challenging decisions. You need to know what the Food and Drug Administration recommends. You need to know the logic of the prescribing doctor. Whenever you are in doubt, ask not only physicians, but pharmacists and non-physician professionals who have a history of treating your family member. Physicians and pharmacists use the Physicians Desk Reference. This guide is not available for free, but you can ask your doctor and pharmacist to let you see the appropriate sections. You must have confidence and comfort that a medication recommendation is right for your family member.
Clarke
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Collaborations and Challenges
Collaborating To Improve Child Mental Health
Last Friday, CHADD national president Anne Teeter Ellison and I attended our third children's mental health family summit. Facilitated by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the summit meets twice a year, and workgroups meet between meetings. Besides the AACAP and CHADD, associations collaborating through the summit include the Autism Society of America (ASA), Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health (FFCMH, Mental Health America (MHA), and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Our objectives are to enhance access to and knowledge of science-based treatments and supports, and to counter anti-psychiatry attacks on the legitimacy of such treatments and supports. The summit is one of those opportunities that national association leadership offers. One of our priorities is to encourage and support such collaborations at the state and local level. Families and professionals need better understanding and more respectful dialogue. These meetings complement CHADD’s efforts to build a social movement to assist persons with AD/HD and related disorders.
AACAP has just produced materials, including a booklet, video, and practice parameter on AD/HD.
Challenges in the Faith Community
Part of my family’s success in dealing with AD/HD in our family has been due to our church. Four boys with special needs, including our pastor’s son—all within two years of age of each other—grew up and came through the church together. Our church community was an important natural support for our son and family.
Two events occurred last week that saddened me, as a Presbyterian, and reinforced how much more CHADD needs to do to more effectively educate the public about AD/HD and related disorders. The published science states that AD/HD is a neurobiological disorder, a biologically based disorder of the brain. Go to the National Resource Center on AD/HD Web site to see the CHADD professional advisory board consensus statements summarizing the published science on AD/HD.
Last week, the NAMI Multicultural Action Center shared a February 23 Chicago Tribune article reporting the following incident. A minister had been talking with God and he told a member of his church, who said that she had depression, that she was cursed due to her sin. The good reverend advised the woman to stop taking her medications and pray for forgiveness. She complied, and soon thereafter threw herself down a flight of stairs in an effort to commit suicide.
A day or two later, we received an e-mail from a distressed CHADD member. She and her husband had attended a Christian marriage enrichment weekend and reported that the one booklet resource available to all conference attendees described AD/HD as a "spiritual problem," meaning a sin. CHADD will write the conference organizers and attempt to begin a dialogue.
CHADD has developed and will be expanding our outreach efforts to better inform faith communities about the science of AD/HD. And we are attempting to better understand the importance of faith for some people in dealing with their AD/HD. Several CHADD community forums have included faith communities in the presentations. At last year's CHADD annual conference, we offered our first session on natural supports, including the potential role of faith for some families with AD/HD. Faith communities and CHADD have as our shared goal the promotion of healthy individuals and families. There is much we can do to enhance dialogue and overcome artificial barriers to accessing science-based assistance. A social movement supporting individuals with AD/HD not only advocates legal protections and government assistance when warranted, but also puts in place peer and community supports, including nonprofessional natural supports.
There are resources to assist persons with mental disorders in communities of faith. These include www.faithnetnami.org (a program of the National Alliance on Mental Illness); www.keyministry.org (a listing of churches with special programs for persons with mental disorders through the Key Ministry Foundation); www.mentalhealthministries.net (another program that lists churches with special programs through the Pathways to Promise program); and www.ncccusa.org (the National Council of Churches, which produced a video, “Shadow Voices: Funding Hope in Mental Illness”).
Challenge: Avoiding Conflict of Interest
CHADD board of directors' policy stresses that CHADD does not endorse services, publications, medications, treatments, or professionals. We clearly state this in ATTENTION!® magazine and on our Web site. To diversify our revenue and to allow access to community resources without endorsing, CHADD allows paid advertisements in our magazine and on our Web site. National volunteers sign conflict of interest avoidance statements.
Many of us are vulnerable to non-scientific claims as we search for assistance. During the past year, several situations have arisen with individual CHADD chapter leaders. CHADD chapter leaders are required to sign conflict of interest avoidance statements whereby they will not use CHADD chapter meetings or lists of CHADD members to advertise and promote their services or products. Almost all CHADD chapter leaders are volunteers whose motivation is to provide a community resource to persons with AD/HD and related disorders, without personal gain. Their motivation is what makes America great: uncompensated voluntary work to organize and run a community resource for persons in need. For those of us at the national level—both paid staff and uncompensated volunteers—this is an inspirational and motivating force in our daily lives, role-model volunteers helping others. We apologize when a few individuals misuse their position of assistance to sell products and services. CHADD members and CHADD leaders take possible conflicts of interest very seriously.
No CEO Blog Next Week
My son has a break from school and he and I are off to our very first spring baseball training games in Florida. Every parent and child needs some areas of common interest to better bond. Baseball is one of those areas for Andrew and me.
Clarke
Last Friday, CHADD national president Anne Teeter Ellison and I attended our third children's mental health family summit. Facilitated by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the summit meets twice a year, and workgroups meet between meetings. Besides the AACAP and CHADD, associations collaborating through the summit include the Autism Society of America (ASA), Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health (FFCMH, Mental Health America (MHA), and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Our objectives are to enhance access to and knowledge of science-based treatments and supports, and to counter anti-psychiatry attacks on the legitimacy of such treatments and supports. The summit is one of those opportunities that national association leadership offers. One of our priorities is to encourage and support such collaborations at the state and local level. Families and professionals need better understanding and more respectful dialogue. These meetings complement CHADD’s efforts to build a social movement to assist persons with AD/HD and related disorders.
AACAP has just produced materials, including a booklet, video, and practice parameter on AD/HD.
Challenges in the Faith Community
Part of my family’s success in dealing with AD/HD in our family has been due to our church. Four boys with special needs, including our pastor’s son—all within two years of age of each other—grew up and came through the church together. Our church community was an important natural support for our son and family.
Two events occurred last week that saddened me, as a Presbyterian, and reinforced how much more CHADD needs to do to more effectively educate the public about AD/HD and related disorders. The published science states that AD/HD is a neurobiological disorder, a biologically based disorder of the brain. Go to the National Resource Center on AD/HD Web site to see the CHADD professional advisory board consensus statements summarizing the published science on AD/HD.
Last week, the NAMI Multicultural Action Center shared a February 23 Chicago Tribune article reporting the following incident. A minister had been talking with God and he told a member of his church, who said that she had depression, that she was cursed due to her sin. The good reverend advised the woman to stop taking her medications and pray for forgiveness. She complied, and soon thereafter threw herself down a flight of stairs in an effort to commit suicide.
A day or two later, we received an e-mail from a distressed CHADD member. She and her husband had attended a Christian marriage enrichment weekend and reported that the one booklet resource available to all conference attendees described AD/HD as a "spiritual problem," meaning a sin. CHADD will write the conference organizers and attempt to begin a dialogue.
CHADD has developed and will be expanding our outreach efforts to better inform faith communities about the science of AD/HD. And we are attempting to better understand the importance of faith for some people in dealing with their AD/HD. Several CHADD community forums have included faith communities in the presentations. At last year's CHADD annual conference, we offered our first session on natural supports, including the potential role of faith for some families with AD/HD. Faith communities and CHADD have as our shared goal the promotion of healthy individuals and families. There is much we can do to enhance dialogue and overcome artificial barriers to accessing science-based assistance. A social movement supporting individuals with AD/HD not only advocates legal protections and government assistance when warranted, but also puts in place peer and community supports, including nonprofessional natural supports.
There are resources to assist persons with mental disorders in communities of faith. These include www.faithnetnami.org (a program of the National Alliance on Mental Illness); www.keyministry.org (a listing of churches with special programs for persons with mental disorders through the Key Ministry Foundation); www.mentalhealthministries.net (another program that lists churches with special programs through the Pathways to Promise program); and www.ncccusa.org (the National Council of Churches, which produced a video, “Shadow Voices: Funding Hope in Mental Illness”).
Challenge: Avoiding Conflict of Interest
CHADD board of directors' policy stresses that CHADD does not endorse services, publications, medications, treatments, or professionals. We clearly state this in ATTENTION!® magazine and on our Web site. To diversify our revenue and to allow access to community resources without endorsing, CHADD allows paid advertisements in our magazine and on our Web site. National volunteers sign conflict of interest avoidance statements.
Many of us are vulnerable to non-scientific claims as we search for assistance. During the past year, several situations have arisen with individual CHADD chapter leaders. CHADD chapter leaders are required to sign conflict of interest avoidance statements whereby they will not use CHADD chapter meetings or lists of CHADD members to advertise and promote their services or products. Almost all CHADD chapter leaders are volunteers whose motivation is to provide a community resource to persons with AD/HD and related disorders, without personal gain. Their motivation is what makes America great: uncompensated voluntary work to organize and run a community resource for persons in need. For those of us at the national level—both paid staff and uncompensated volunteers—this is an inspirational and motivating force in our daily lives, role-model volunteers helping others. We apologize when a few individuals misuse their position of assistance to sell products and services. CHADD members and CHADD leaders take possible conflicts of interest very seriously.
No CEO Blog Next Week
My son has a break from school and he and I are off to our very first spring baseball training games in Florida. Every parent and child needs some areas of common interest to better bond. Baseball is one of those areas for Andrew and me.
Clarke
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