Month: November 2016

Building your tribe

It is so important to have people around you who understand what you are going through, and the ones who have walked the road before you are often the in the best position to fill that role.

It took me 9 months from diagnosis to go to my first ADHD support group meeting. Within 5 minutes of being there I felt totally at home, totally at ease. A feeling that was alien to someone as socially awkward as me!

Every special needs parent needs that. The people you go to when times get tough, and they do get tough. The people who won’t judge or think badly of you. The people who don’t need an explanation first. The people who just ‘get it’. They nod along because they have been there too, they recognise your problems in their own children. They have ‘been there’, and come out the other side. They give you hope.

They are your tribe.

I am very fortunate to have the majority of my tribe in my local town but there are also lots of options to build an online tribe and they can be just as supportive.

This is a list of some of the blogs I read and pages I follow.

ADHD Kids Rock Written by ADHD teen Jeff

ADDitude  A magazine about ADHD

Child Mind Institute

There are also some really good Facebook pages and groups where other share their lives.

Looking In Looking Out, Our Autism And Adhd Family

My Little Villagers

DCA Warriors

This is a far from exhaustive list, it’s only the start! The online special needs community is massive and I’m sure I will revisit this topic again as I learn more.

Warriors Together

The recent DCA Warriors conference was exactly what I needed. It has revitalised the ‘fight’ in me. Having so many men and women together in one room, all having gone through the same thing as you, really has a positive effect on the spirit.

Listening to other share their experiences, both positive and negative, pulls at the heart strings.

It was a really pleasure to meet Debbie in particular who, last year, chained herself to the Department of Education to get an extra year of help for her son. She got it too.

The lengths some parents have to go through is shocking. Being turned away constantly, being passed from one service to another and back again, it’s so unfair on the children we are trying to help and care for.

All we want is the best for your kids and the majority of time we get shut down at every turn. It is entirely frustrating.

A group like DCA Warriors helps. Knowing there are other people out there fighting the same fight helps. Knowing there are others out there who have fought and won helps.