Polish ADHD Association
Polish ADHD Association is the biggest Polish off-government organisation involving parents of hyperactive children, psychologists, pedagogues, psychiatrists, neurologists, other specialists any people concerned about ADHD problems. The main head office of the Association is in Krakow and the members are associated in several centres nationwide. We are taking initiatives aiming at drawing attention to the ADHD problem within both - a society and amongst authorities responsible for the health and education in Poland .
The mission and foremost aim of the Association is to trigger the changes in Polish education, health and social care system, and the law as well as in the perception of ADHD, so that people suffering form that disorder could participate in every single sphere of life. We are trying to create a positive image of ADHD.
We organise a set of conferences and workshops in addition to the campaign in the media. In March 2006 we initiated a campaign "ADHD - the world is not enough!". So far we have organised five big conferences in a variety of places in Poland. They were prepared for teachers, doctors, parents and personal assistants to children suffering from ADHD. The conferences appeared very popular - there participated 450 people on average (there were around 1000 participants on a conference in Krakow). We plan other conferences for the future.
Apart from conferences we conduct a variety of workshops for smaller groups of parents or teachers, support groups for parents and teachers of hyperactive children as well as therapeutic groups for children suffering from this disorder. Additionally, we offer psychological and psychiatric counselling. In the autumn 2006, we plan launching a therapy group for adults with ADHD.
In order to improve the negative image of ADHD person associating with aggression and bad manners we invited for cooperation several Polish celebrities suffering from ADHD - amongst them the actress Joanna Szczepkowska and the most popular Polish showman - Szymon Majewski.
We currently monitor the actions of Polish authorities on the subject of ADHD.
We are insisting on implementing some improvements for ADHD people. We are keeping in touch with representatives of a variety of offices, ministries.
We articulate our opinions on legal solutions. We assess the drafts of changes in policies of various institutions. We mediate in some individual cases mainly in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Justice.
In March 2006 we launched The Foundation for Supporting Diagnostics and therapy of ADHD.
Because of a very small number of specialists in Poland, we decided to collect money to organize courses and workshops for doctors, psychologists and other specialists. The money is banked on a special account and come form donators and fro selling gadgets (bricks), silicone bands and badges. They may be purchased in the PTADHD or through the internet site
www.ptadhd.pl.
