Recently, ADHD New Zealand hosted informative events in Auckland and Wellington, partnering with the Australian ADHD Professional Association (aadpa) to learn about their new clinical guidelines for ADHD. Several of Runway's Team members attended the presentation which highlighted where the evidence of the research led in terms of changing practice, and how NZ clinicians can be supported in the adoption of best practice.
There was thorough, insightful, relevant information for our Runway Team that we are working through to direct and inform the services we offer and how we go about these. Of particular confirmation was that the non-medicated support services of equipping parents with training, & ADHD coaching support for children & youth, is highly important for the child's success and the whole families wellbeing. Support in school is also essential, highlighting the importance of students diagnosed with ADHD to be under the care of the Schools learning support co-ordinators. These are all services we love to provide & advocate for at Runway through our ADDventurers programmes, so it's great to know that officially, and clinically, according to this report – we are on target!
In discussion with the other professionals at the event, it was obvious that New Zealand has a long way to go to be able to provide the diagnosis and treatment services that our families need, so that they are available to all throughout the country. It is something that we need to be working on together to improve. We are grateful to have an organisation such as ADHD NZ to be advocating for all of our families on this journey, at a national government level. They are pushing forward, and we encourage their support in any way you can. Joining them as a member helps them to be able to have the financial resource to move faster, for the benefit of us all.
In days to come, we will be providing a platform of information and discussion on these new guidelines through our Parent Support Group. We encourage you to take a look at them, and join in the discussion to learn more about what is available, and what works, adding our own Kiwi flavour and context to the korero. Knowledge is power, and we need this power to build the 'runway' for our kids together, so that they can fly.
The new Australian guidelines can be downloaded at this address: https://adhdguideline.aadpa.com.au/.
Would you like to know more about ADHD NZ? You can find them here: https://www.adhd.org.nz/