October is ADHD Awareness Month – an international movement to educate the public and create greater awareness and understanding about attention deficit disorder.
I am committed to spreading the word, and invite you to join me and help spread the word too!
The ADHD Awareness Month Coalition has made it easy for us. The coalition has put together a calendar listing 31 ways (in 31 days) to spread the word. Here’s their suggestion for Day Two of ADHD Awareness Month:
DAY 2 AWARENESS ACTIVITY
Contact your city council member(s) and one or more state legislators letting them know that October is ADHD Awareness Month. By contacting them, you can raise their awareness of ADHD as well as ask if they can attend or sponsor an activity or perhaps help spread the word in some other way.
Here’s one link you can use to find your state legislator: http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/
Here’s a link to some ADHD Awareness events, both online and in various geographic regions, that you could share: event listings
You might also want to share some facts about ADHD with your council person or legislator. Here are some you could use from a fact sheet put together by the ADHD Awareness Month Coalition (link to the full fact sheet here).
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that affects children, adolescents, and adults. It is characterized by problems with attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
- The prevalence of ADHD among U.S. school-age children is about 9% (up to 5 million children). ADHD is more common in boys than in girls, and more common in non-Hispanic White and African-American children than in Hispanic children. More often than not, ADHD continues in the adult years, and some adults are even diagnosed in adulthood. The prevalence of ADHD in the U.S. adult population is 4.4%.
- People with ADHD have more difficulties in school, at work, and in social relationships than those without the disorder. They have higher rates of emergency room visits and automobile accidents, are at greater risk for substance abuse, and experience higher rates of job turnover. The economic cost to society is huge: the cost to the American economy for ADHD has been estimated at between $36 billion and $52 billion annually.
Reaching out to a council person or legislator can be done in just a few minutes – try a quick copy and paste of some of the above information into an email and SEND!
Thank you for helping to raise awareness of ADHD!