One special way of helping mom this Mother’s Day is to provide a little help and understanding, especially for the mothers of children with ADHD. ADHD is a debilitating mental health condition commonly misperceived to only affect children. In fact, new studies show that at least nine million adults have ADHD, and many of them go undiagnosed. To discuss this very important issue is the President of the National Center for Gender Issues and ADHD, Dr. Patricia Quinn. She is joined by Mary Robertson, a nurse who has ADHD and mother to a son and daughter with ADHD.
Mary was also formerly the President of CHADD – Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
* If your child has ADHD, your risk for having the disorder is 31 to 44 %
* If you have a parent with ADHD, your risk for having the disorder is over 50 %
* People with ADHD are twice as likely to be divorced or separated
* People with ADHD are 20% less likely to say they can provide emotional support to their spouse than those without the disorder
More about Dr. Patricia Quinn:
Dr. Patricia Quinn is a developmental pediatrician in the Washington, D.C. area. A graduate of the Georgetown University Medical School, she specializes in child development and psychopharmacology. Dr. Quinn has worked for more than 28 years in the areas of ADHD and learning disabilities. She gives workshops nationwide and has appeared on Lifetime TV’s New Attitudes and the PBS show To the Contrary discussing the issue of girls and women with ADD. Dr. Quinn also appeared in the video aired on PBS titled, Outside In: A Look at Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder. Dr. Quinn is the author of several other books on ADHD. These include the best-selling book Putting on the Brakes: A Young People’s Guide to Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, for children in the 8- to 12-year-old group, and the companion workbook The “Putting on the Brakes” Activity Book for Young People with ADHD, and The Best of Brakes Activity Book. She is editor of ADD and the College Student: A Guide for High School and College Students with ADD and author of Adolescence and ADD: Gaining the Advantage. Dr. Quinn is also co-editor of ADDvance: A Magazine for Women with ADD. Her books, Attention Deficit Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment from Infancy to Adulthood and Voices from Fatherhood: Fathers, Sons, and ADHD have been well received. Her latest book, Understanding Girls with ADHD, was coauthored with Drs. Nadeau and Littman and is groundbreaking in its presentation of this population.
Dr. Quinn lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and four children, two of whom have ADHD. She may be contacted by calling or faxing 202-966-1561. All of her books may be ordered through Advantage Books by calling (toll free) 888-238-8588. More about Mary Robertson, RN, BSN: Mary Robertson, RN, BSN is a Kentucky state licensed nurse and was the manager of the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the University of Kentucky Medical Center (1982-1990). She later co-founded Lexington’s Bluegrass Chapter of CHADD (1992) and founded the CHADD State Council (1994). Robertson successfully advocated for changes in two state laws that directly impact children with ADHD and became CHADD’s National Coordinator of the Year (1994) and CHADD’s National President (1999) Robertson has ADHD and is a mother of two children, a son diagnosed with ADHD-C and learning disabilities and a daughter with ADHD-I and anxiety, who has also been home schooled. Currently, Robertson is a member of the Bluegrass Chapter of CHADD’s Professional Advisory Board, local and national speaker, consultant and advocate for families living with ADHD.
