Why Me? A guest post from Chris Churchill

Here’s a guest post from Chris Churchill: Oakville, Ontario writer and Dad.

Since this is the first of what I hope to be many postings as a contributor to the Totally ADD blog, I thought it would be a good idea to tell you a little bit about me and where I’m coming from. I won’t bore you with details like where I live (in Oakville, by the way) nor about my beautiful wife and family whom I love dearly (can you tell I spent a few years in politics?). Instead, I’ll explain why I agreed to do this.

Any parent who has been faced with the news that their child has been diagnosed with a disability understands the emotional impact it can have on the entire family. We never want anything bad to happen to our kids and we want them to grow up to lead healthy and happy lives. Finding out that there is a roadblock in the way of their potential success is hard to accept. “Why me?” is often one of the first questions that leaps to mind. Or, perhaps, more accurately, “why my child?”

Eventually, of course, we work through the steps toward acceptance. We find a way to make the best of a difficult situation. This web site, and other organizations, goes a long way in helping individuals, and their families, come to terms with their challenges. In one sense, this blog is a way for me and my family to do the same.

These days, society is much more open about many health and personal difficulties. Sharing them can educate and shed light on issues and encourage public support. There was a time when diseases like AIDS where marginalized. But high profile support, particularly from the entertainment industry, helped people understand what it was all about. That helped to encourage public funding for research, educated individuals on ways to avoid transmission, and went a long way to help individuals receive the support they needed.

Awareness about ADHD and ADD can help build the same kind of public understanding and support. But that awareness requires people and families to be open about their personal challenges. Families who have children with ADHD must be prepared to advocate on their behalf in the school system, with doctors, camp councilors, team coaches, and even friends. Adults who are open about their challenges can improve conditions in their workplace by working with employers to find solutions and help them be more productive. Advocating with policy makers can improve funding for research, development of new medical solutions and other supports. Taking ownership of ADHD and ADD is necessary to achieve these goals.

When my son was diagnosed with ADHD, we struggled for a while with fear and anxiety. But the more we learned and the more we talked with him about it, the more I came to realize that the diagnosis was really a saving grace because it provided answers to a lot of troubling questions. Knowing what we were facing, together as a family, made a huge difference. And, we discovered that the more open we were with others, the more supportive people became. I’m still amazed at how many people volunteer that they, too, struggle with ADD when I say “Sorry that Matt was disruptive today. Just so you know, he has ADHD…”.

While ADHD will be my son’s personal life-long challenge, it is also our family’s reality. As a father, mother or sister, we all want to be there to support him as much as we can. Working together, we can help to ease his burden. After all, isn’t that what families do?

I’m contributing to this blog because I hope that by sharing my challenges as a father who has a child with ADHD I can help others. Of course, I hope it will help me and my son, too. (I’m not really that altruistic!) But it is “why me”.

Me and Matt

Chris Churchill has been a communications professional and consultant for 20 years writing and editing articles and material on a variety of topics in every sector from health care to politics. His son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and since then he and his family have been educating themselves about how best to live happily with the challenges individuals and families face dealing with this condition. Contact Chris at: TorontoADHD@gmail.com