ADHD Stories
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- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
Dave Pughe-Parry
This information applies to our sister site Living ADDventure Training
He was diagnosed with ADHD in his mid forties after a working life of spectacular successes and devastating failures. The ultimate ADHD rebel child who attended 15 schools found much needed structure in the army where he qualified as an officer.
His background as a professional news photographer, a pioneer of industrial theatre, multi-media large scale productions, and corporate training were unwittingly ideal career choices for an ADDer who is highly imaginative and creative and thrives on constant change and challenges.
With his customary passion, once he was diagnosed with ADHD, he set about finding out how to manage this complex condition. He set up weekly Support groups and quickly realised that ADHD Coaching – new at the time - offered excellent results. He formed Living ADDventure™ offering coaching services to adults with the condition.
Our 60's style weddingIn 2007 after his marriage to Pat who was also diagnosed late in life with ADHD they focused their passion on the education and training of parents, educators and medical professionals about ADHD by running talks, workshops and courses throughout South Africa using schools as venues. Dave has been a guest on radio talk shows and a speaker at ADHASA conferences.
Their first book which they wrote, edited and self published, "I'm Audacious, Original and Innovative .... I Have ADHD" is sold as a package with the book recorded on 2 audio cds for those who don't like or can't read. It sold out within the first year of publication
Dave Is busy with a multimedia book covering his ADHD lifes-work, which includes is uniques Impairments Assessment, all of the approxiamtely 40 coaching modules he has created, all the writing and illustrations,, plus all of his public presentations, a large body of work.
Living ADDventure is registered as a supplier of services to PANDA (the Paediatric and Neurological Development Association of South Africa).
Dave was diagnosed with ADHD at age of 45, and since then has committed his life to researching the condition in all its complexities.Through his research he discovered why his enormous successes were sometimes matched by spectacular failures and how they impacted on his family and other relationships.
Dedicated to helping others living with - or along side ADHD, Dave created a successful ADHD Coaching Programme and training courses for Educators and Parents. He raises awareness about ADHD through radio interviews and informational talks at schools and other public events.
About Pat Pughe-Parry
One of the greatest benefits of having ADHD is our curiosity and our willingness to try new careers and explore new places. I love meeting new people - everyone has a story to tell.
No-one gets to 70 without making loads of mistakes, a fair share of successes and endured the loss of loved ones or battled long term illness and other trauma.
I try not to judge and I do my best to listen. Their stories inspire me to weave the different stories together and I have several novels in various stages of construction. Keeping focus is hard as my brain churns with many new ideas at 3am in the morning.
I have been writing for more than 40 years - marketing material for companies I have worked for, blogs on many different topics, social media content and email newsletters.
Dave creates ADHD courses and coaching content and I am tasked with getting his hard work out there and bringing in clients.
Together we have run numerous ADHD Talks, Workshops and Conferences for parents, educators, teens and medical professionals around South Africa.
My Writing Portfolio is on my website.
- Details
- Written by: Pat Pughe-Parry
Do children still need to learn their number bonds and tables by rote?
As an elderly person with ADHD I am feeling rather conflicted about a conversation I had with a very lively 76 year old, who still does relief teaching to Junior Primary children.
For privacy purposes I will call her Helen. She has just completed a 3 month relief posting at a private school where the majority of the grade 3 children do not have English as their mother tongue.
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- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
Should people who have ADHD be allowed to own guns? It's a good question with no easy answer.
It set me to thinking yet again, should people who have ADHD be allowed to own guns, any kind of gun, in fact any weapon capable of killing?
If we look at some of the symptoms and impairments of ADHD, the answer is a no-brainer. We are impulsive, don't always understand consequences, have low self esteem, are anxious, and probably depressed. We also experience life in terms of ourselves - we take things terribly personally. The recipe is ideal for a disaster.
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- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
As the last sounds of the final school bell on a Friday fade away, so everything fades out of an ADHD child's brain. This has serious effects on our ADHD children's schooling.
In effect this means that Mondays for ADHD kids are "Start-over days." When they arrive back at school on Monday morning, the activities of weekend is still paramount in their minds.
In the USA studies have shown that the long 3 month summer holiday has serious effects on all children unless they are stimulated during that period. The group left to their own devices fall behind and keep falling behind!
Since June of last year, South Africa has been smothered in public holidays. The 5 weeks during the World Cup, the long summer holidays, and now nearly a month over this Easter time, and to crown it all, another day to go and vote.
The effect of these holidays on ADHD children is more severe than non-ADHD children.
Some good ways to counteract this are:
- Get your children to go over their work in short bursts - not longer than 30 minutes at a time! Short bursts more frequently will deliver much better results.
- Educational camps or tours
- Have study parties - don't laugh - you can create your own peer pressure!
- Get them to do non-school related projects in areas they have a passion for.
Point is, strive for balance in everything. Too many holidays are just as bad as too few!
Image by Dimitri Vetsikas
- Details
- Written by: Dave Pughe-Parry
I was diagnosed in 1999 with ADHD. This was a fortuitous time as the condition enjoyed a lot of attention compared to other neurological conditions.
By way of example within 3 years in 2002 I attended a massive International ADHD conference with more than 400 medical professionals, hundreds of teachers and even more parents filling every conference venue in the hotel.
Other neurological conditions such as Autism and Aspergers and even Bi-polar faded into tiny fine print if they were on the same page.
For the last few years the same has happened with Autism, there is far more coverage, but probably not as much as ADHD in it´s heyday.
I hear you ask me, ‟is there a point to this comparison?”
Print Edition is long since sold out, the revised pdf version available soon
I have been coaching people with ADHD for 20-plus years, and I know that they either have lots of money or hardly any.
