lack of understanding

[ginaphillips]

Hi,

Im new to this group. Im from the UK, seems majority are from US. Just wondering what acceptance is like over theer? over here its still I

n the dark ages, parents fault or excuse for naughty behaviour. I feel like there is lack of knowledge concerning adhd with thegenral public, I'm constantly educating strangers (and family members) about adhd.

[Pablo9999]

I can only share my experiences with California. In general, I find people are not very accepting of ADHD symptoms.

I find the least amount of acceptance in the workplace. In California, many employers are afraid to hire people with disabilities because of the Americans With Disabilities Act and stricter laws in California that protect people with disabilities in the workplace. There is a lot of litigation in California and a great fear of litigation by employers.

As far as people accepting people with ADHD, it depends on the symptoms. There are so many forms of ADHD with different combinations of symptoms. It seems that people who are predominately inattentive ADHD are shown a lot less hostility than those who are predominately hyper/impulsive.

There seems to be a stereotype that people with ADHD are stupid and uneducated.

[ScatteredMommy]

I think it is getting better but I still get a lot of inane comments too. And then there is the anti meds crowd who clearly have no idea how debilitating that would be for me and for my child.

[Pablo9999 in reply to ScatteredMommy]

I learned a long time ago to not discuss my meds. That’s how I avoid the anti-med people’s arguments.

[MaudQ]

I would say it’s 70/30 for us. 70% of the people I know get it and 30% are not accepting. That’s enough of a balance for me - we have a team of therapists/doctors etc who are great and I can choose to spend time with people who mainly are supportive. Of course you can’t avoid everyone so there will be the classroom teacher or soccer coach who is a problem. But overall it’s ok. I also teach at a college and have occasional students who have learning or emotional disabilities and it is normalized at my school. I would say it’s getting better but we are not totally there yet. In any event, the main thing in my opinion is to seek out people who are supportive and to spend as little time as possible educating people who are not.