The Upward Trend of Autism and ADHD Diagnoses
- Details
- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
In the 25-odd years I have been involved in ADHD, the question of excessive diagnoses has been raised periodically.
Trophim Laptev/UnsplashThis is, of course, a good thing; making sure that people who do not qualify to wear the badge aren´t draining away valuable resources and skewing the numbers.
In September of this year (2025), an international conference on preventing overdiagnosis was held at Oxford University. The conference looked at overdiagnosing, especially ‟its harms and impact on individuals’ health, on health care and the practice of medicine, and on society.” From Oxford University
I am inspired to write this article by a piece I found on Substack titled Sensible Medicine. Please read through the whole piece as I simplify the complex medical terminology at the end.
I have written a few times before on this topic because some people complained about the large increases in diagnoses of ADHD and autism. My point was then–and remains–that in the northern hemisphere countries, which are leaders in medical care, being concerned about overdiagnosing was pertinent. However, in countries that are still developing their medical care facilities, this is a fallacy. South Africa falls into this category.
When it comes to ADHD and autism, Sweden has the most comprehensive and accurate statistics. The information on which this article is based comes from large twin studies–one each for children and adults–looking to determine whether variable autistic-like-traits were a risk factor for ADHD and other mental conditions.
The results were conclusive. Even the lowest level of autistic-like-traits increased the risk for all other types of mental conditions.
What this means is that every child and adult who has autistic-like-traits, no matter how mild or insignificant, runs the risk of developing other mental conditions.
This is information that must be taken note of and acted upon.
Any mental health condition is serious enough, but this study adds another whole dimension to those of us who have them.
For those who want to read the Sensible Medicine article, it has a lot more detail not relevant to this article.
In the future, I will write more articles based on the many interesting points raised in this article.
A New Coach Adds More Skills for Our Clients
- Details
- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
I am immensely proud to announce that Pat, my wife and partner, will be launching her own coaching program. Everyone who knows her has experienced her exceptional care and insight —the perfect characteristics required to be a magical coach.
Pat will focus on women who need her unique coaching care. I will continue to provide coaching to everyone who lives with and alongside ADHD. I will also do ADHD Impairments Assessments for any clients who would like one. Should the client opt for the coaching programme, the fee will be deducted from the coaching total price.
Pat has divided her coaching into four areas of focus, or themes. This quartet of broad topics is where Pat has significant expertise and knowledge, and of course, where her primary interest lies.
- The woman you want to be. This is a theme of imagination and goals, some of which may not yet be developed or even established.
- Women who are neurodivergent. These are women who think differently from others and frequently feel that they do not fit in.
- Many women have suffered childhood trauma. Every trauma experienced in childhood is serious; there is no way to compare, nor should there be.
- The fourth focus area is the least well-known of the foursome; it´s known as co-dependency. This is where - usually a woman - becomes addicted to someone else's addiction or trauma. Co-dependency is equally as destructive as the other three.
If you are a woman trying to find out what value you bring to life, if you never feel good enough, or if you find it easier to deal with other people´s lives rather than own, or you take risks, or you take up causes to some degree of activism, or if you are carrying some childhood trauma, then Pat can help you deal with those issues.
Blindsided by the Doctor's Question
- Details
- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
Photo by Ashkan ForouzaniThe tall doctor strode into the consulting room wearing a surgical mask. Glancing at the junior doctor to his right, he perched on a credenza, and mumbled a question in my direction
‟Sorry doctor, I couldn´t hear what you said,” I said, inexplicably nervous
‟I can do the scope, it´s quick,” he said. ‟What if I find cancer, at your age, what are going to do?”
I stared at his eyes above the mask, for once in my life lost for words - I was stupefied, and horrified
I looked at my wife to my left, then back at the doctor, and stared for a few long seconds. I tried to process the three parts of his question quickly before I responded, but this question couldn´t - and shouldn´t be answered in a hurry
‟What if I find cancer,” there it was, the big C word. I don´t know if there is anything more frightening a doctor can say. There probably is, but for me it is right up there
‟At my age…” I am just past my 3-score-and-ten in years. In today´s world I am still relatively young. But age is relative, I have lived a rich and full life - many people close to me would call it punishing. Four hours sleep a night was par for the course, many years of stressful and often dangerous hard-news journalism in Southern Africa as it transitioned into democracy which was not always peaceful
Alcohol was a raucous refuge with other hacks, PTSD experiences occurred with monotonous regularity, that they happened consistently was the only thing monotonous about them
My 71 years are probably worth more than many others of 90 and older. From being the only English-speaking kid in a rural village primary school where a school outing was a trip to the abattoir, to my parachute not opening on my first sky dive, to having a rifle barrel shoved up my nose when covering a farm murder, to having my skull cracked by a brick hurled at me when covering the 1976 riots, to being arrested in Gaborone when we were not supposed to be in Botswana, and so on
Our New Road Addition
- Details
- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
Like all things new, our new road we are travelling along finds holes and cross roads to explore. These are often irresistable to ignore.
So we are adding a fourth website to the mix of three we talked about in the last article: Travelling The New Road Ahead. One of our first websites from way back when, Creative Change, will be revitalised to deal with all the change that is required.
I realised that this addition is vtial because "change" is one of those things that most people fear and steer clear of. ADDers, with our love of change are different, but due to impulsivity, the change is often wrong on one level or another.
So the square - no longer the triangle - will look like this:
LivingADDventure.com will contain all the information about the condition and the co-occurring conditions.
Davepugheparry.com will contain the real life stories about people with ADHD. All communication with clients, about-to-be clients, and other interested people will come via email from Davepugheparry.com only, but the news and information will be from all three sites.
LivingADDventuretraining.com is a specialist training site. The software used to create the website is used by thousands of universities, colleges and schools around the world.
I intend to continue one-on-one ADHD Coaching but in limited numbers of clients. Everything I do with clients is done over Zoom, I have found that this method is superior to doing sessions physically face-to-face!
Travelling The New Road Ahead
- Details
- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
I have been coaching people with ADHD for over 2½ decades. I have also trained more than 7 000 parents of ADHD children. I have trained about 2 500 educators and teachers, and probably around 600 medical professionals.
I have written and recorded a multi-media book on ADHD and started two others, created and maintained a variety of websites, as well as sending hundreds of newsletters.
There is a lot of my ADHD content that has been made available to thousands of people over the years. Some people haven´t realised how much information there is.
That is my fault. Mine alone. But I have the solution I think.
There are basically three groups of people who use our content and services. One group wants to read about the condition - this group tend to spend upwards of 2 hours reading and re-reading articles. Sometimes they will read with a partner or a friend.
The second group want to read about it affects other people. This stems from being unable to believe that they are the only one who behave so eccentrically, they also question why they can´t do the simple and routine things in life - yet they are very bright.
The third group have graduated from groups one and two and enrol in one-on-one ADHD Coaching, or do a training course on their own or in a small group.
Page 1 of 2
Print Edition is long since sold out, the revised pdf version is available now at only R75