Mother speaks up

By Callan Date
A HAMPTON Park mother has spoken publicly about the daily battle she faces raising her son who has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Lucinda Balcombe Quick has detailed the struggle she and her seven-year-old son Daniel have had – in the hope it may help a family in a similar situation.
Ms Balcombe Quick said the support and ideas she had received from members of the Narre Warren ADHD Support Group had been invaluable.
“I have attended every month for the last two years,” she said. “It is something you really look forward to because you can speak to other people and bounce ideas off one another.”
The mother of one said she had to give up her full-time job to provide care for Daniel who also suffers from Asperger’s syndrome.
“I suspected he had ADHD when he was three but he was clinically diagnosed at five years old.
“He is very socially inept. It is a full-time job just caring for your child. You have to think for them a lot of the time.”
Ms Balcombe Quick talks about the frustration that comes with not letting her son take part in normal activities.
“It is not even safe for him to go riding the bike because he just rides on the road and he forgets that just because a car stopped for him once, it will not always stop the next time.
“It’s very hard for him to stick to one task. He was doing gymnastics but lost interest in that and the same with swimming lessons,” she said.
ADHD is generally considered to be a developmental disorder that is evident during childhood.
Sufferers generally present with a persistent pattern of inattention and hyperactivity.
But it is just not parents and their children that have to deal with the disorder. Teachers, childcare workers and members of the wider family can also need to know how to work with ADHD sufferers.
And it is those people who are being encouraged to attend an ADHD forum in Cranbourne next month.
A leading psychologist will speak on a range of issues with participants set to get a better understanding of ADHD.
Anyone wanting more information on the Narre Warren ADHD Support Group can contact founder Flora Warren on 0413 695 192.
For more information about the ADHD Forum contact Connections on 5990 8400.