Services: ADHD and Parenting
ADHD Family life, parenting & solutions that work
Neurobiological and developmental
ADHD isn't anything you did or didn't do
ADHD isn’t the result of poor parenting, too much sugar or a lack of exercise (no more than being near-sighted is) and is no longer considered a ‘behavioural’ disorder, but now understood as a neurobiological, developmental disorder or cognitive difference.
ADHD is lifelong, present in its many forms in childhood, through to adulthood.
Symptoms ebb and flow, depending on how the person has managed to cope, the strength of the support network around them and the extent of any additional mental health challenges.
UNdiagnosed ADHD affects all aspects of family life and your experience as a parent.
If You've noticed challenges like these:
If you have ADHD, you may zone out during conversations, which can make your family feel ignored and devalued.
You may also miss important details or mindlessly agree to something you don’t remember later, which can be frustrating to your loved ones.
Even when someone with ADHD is paying attention, they may later forget what was promised or discussed.
When it’s someone’s birthday or the thing you said you’d pick up, your family may start to feel like you don’t care, or that you’re unreliable.
This can lead to difficulty finishing tasks, as well as general household chaos.
Partners may feel like they’re always cleaning up after the person(s) with ADHD and shouldering a disproportionate amount of the family duties.
If you have ADHD, you may blurt things out without thinking, which can cause hurt feelings.
This impulsivity can also lead to irresponsible and even reckless behaviour (for example, making a big purchase that isn’t in the budget, leading to fights over finances).
Many people with ADHD have trouble moderating their emotions.
Parents and kids alike may lose your temper easily, have trouble discussing issues calmly or come across as quite defensive.
You may feel like you have to walk on eggshells to avoid blowups.
Learning difficulties and dropping out of school prematurely.
Substance use problems, additional mental health conditions, more ER visits, accidents and injuries.
Conflicts with law enforcement, and even early death.
How did this happen?
Genetics and Heritability
Although we don’t know exactly what causes ADHD, we know that it tends to run in families.
ADHD is highly heritable, with estimates ranging from 74% to 88%, making it one of the most heritable mental health conditions. These estimates are based on family, twin, and adoption studies.
In terms of genetics, data from twin, adoption, and molecular genetic studies show ADHD to be highly heritable (as heritable as height!), and mutations in genes affecting dopaminergic regulation have been consistently associated with ADHD.
Studies during the past decade have also documented high levels of other mental health conditions within families, like mood and anxiety disorders, as well as learning disabilities and executive function deficits.
Heritability Statistics
- If one parent has ADHD, the chances of a child developing it shoot up to about 30%.
- If both parents have ADHD, the chances leap to more than 50%.
- It may also mean none of the children may inherit it, or all of the children in a family may inherit it.
- Boys are diagnosed at a rate of 3:1 to girls, but ADHD is equally present in both genders.
- It’s less likely that only one family member has it.
- Children with familial genetic risk for ADHD may show greater sensitivity to both positive and negative environmental influences.
- An enriched and nurturing home environment can enhance cognitive functioning and reduce ADHD symptoms in these children.
What about Parenting?
Parenting style matters
Parenting styles and home environments can both decrease and increase risks. For example, inconsistent parenting exacerbates ADHD symptoms in genetically susceptible children, while supportive parenting can mitigate these effects.
5 things Parents can do to help:
- Accepting your child has an ADHD brain. Accepting and being honest with ourselves is a big part of moving forward.
- Participating in evidenced-based treatments for managing the challenging symptoms of ADHD, such as medication, cognitive behavioural therapy, ADHD coaching, and parent behaviour training – the earlier the better.
- Identifying individual aptitudes (Finding high aptitude or talent in a particular ability, such as specific sports, art, music, inventor, entrepreneur, etc).
- Getting access to special resources that promote the talent or high aptitude (Gaining access to a club, gym, special technical school, highly recognized coach or other mentor that can further develop the talent or high aptitude).
- Family support: having loved ones who accept the adult’s ADHD, encourage and support them in constructive pursuits, work with them on controlling symptoms, and find ways to open doors (gain access) to special resources.
Learn all you can about ADHD
Everyone learns differently, and we’ve got you covered.
Advocating for your child at school
Knowing how to advocate for your child at school, or for yourself in post-secondary or in the workplace, is critical.
ADHD is a protected disability in Ontario – it’s important to know yours and/or your child’s rights. Our team is well equipped to give you the resources you need to inform your child’s teacher, principal, IEP accommodations and protections throughout your brains learning lifetime.
Family behaviour therapy and parent training assesses and plans for your family’s or your individual child’s needs, tailoring a plan, allowing the adults to implement positive and supportive strategies to address challenges with impulsivity, paying attention / distractibility, follow-through, hyperactivity, intense emotional responses / self-regulation, organizational and time management skills.
what kind of assessment Does your Child need?
A Psycho-educational Assessment
School psychoeducational assessments can describe attention or learning issues, but they can’t formally diagnose ADHD.
A psychoeducational assessment will provide more information about how your brain learns, and can be foundational for educational support (but is not necessary for a diagnosis). It helps to understand how ADHD may affect learning and school performance.
Because it’s often used for IEPs or extra school support, it’s recommended for anyone still in school, from elementary to post-secondary and graduate school.
Learning Disability Support
It is important for parents to understand how to advocate for their children’s needs in school. Special accommodations within the school system can be implemented and be maintained as children with ADHD transition from primary school through to a post-secondary institution.
An ADHD Assessment
There are separate and specific tests for ADHD. This can be can be done by a neuropsychologist, an experienced mental health Nurse Practitioner, or an experienced family physician.
It can confirm whether you meet the criteria for ADHD or another mental health condition based on symptoms and impact.
A Psychological Assessment
Conducted by a Psychologist, or supervised psychological associated.
May or may not assess for ADHD therefore may not include a diagnosis; reports will just describe findings and refer for follow-up.
Supportive Advice for teachers and other educators
Supporting your teen or young adult's goals
Big kid leaving home for the first time?
Financial supports
ADHD and the Disability Tax Credit
ADHD does qualify as a disability across Canada, provided that the impairment is severe enough. Many cases of ADHD are mild or moderate in nature. With multi-modal treatment, the majority of those affected can live happy and fulfilling lives.
We know ADHD can have different impacts on an individual’s life, which can vary across the lifespan. Given that we do have multi-modal treatments that are very effective with both child and adult ADHD, it is fortunate that it qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit.
It’s important to know, the diagnosis of ADHD is not the sole qualifier for The Disability Tax Credit. The severity of the condition and its effects on the daily life of the sufferer are the major deciding factors.
Whether or not your ADHD qualifies as disabling will depend on how it affects your life and the advice of medical professionals.
Additional resources
- Child Disability Tax Credit Guide
- A Parents’ Guide To ADHD & The Disability Tax Credit
- Disability Tax Credit Calculator
- DCCI Scholarship for Canadian Students with Disabilities
Grants and Bursaries
DCCI Scholarship for Canadian Students with Disabilities
For Students in a full-time program of study in health care, criminal justice or community & social services for the upcoming school year.
Scholarship Partners Canada
The Mattinson Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities (Applicable towards full-time studies of a first undergraduate degree)
Canada ADHD Scholarship
The Shire Canada ADHD Scholarship Program supports people diagnosed with ADHD who are pursuing higher education.
OSAP Grant
Headed to College or University in Ontario?
Check out the Ontario Bursary for Students with Disabilities (BSWD) – like ADHD! You may be eligible for funding to help pay for postsecondary studies.
The costs of a psycho-educational assessment (upfront or reimbursement) or other disability assessments (reimbursement only) may also be considered.
ADHD Academic Coaching – Eligible for Ontario BSWD Funding
Our ADHD academic coaching services are structured to support postsecondary students with documented ADHD who are accessing the Ontario Bursary for Students with Disabilities (BSWD) through OSAP.
Services focus on disability-related functional barriers that affect academic participation, including:
- Executive functioning challenges
- Task initiation and completion
- Time management and planning
- Academic organization systems
- Sustaining attention and reducing overwhelm
- Translating accommodation plans into daily academic practice
Students may include our services in their BSWD application with a formal cost estimate. We provide detailed documentation, receipts, and time logs to support reimbursement requirements.
Students are responsible for confirming eligibility and approval with their institution’s Accessibility Services Office prior to booking.
Resource Article recommendations for Parents
Thought-provoking articles on family and ADHD
- Growing up with ADHD: findings from an 18-year longitudinal follow-up study of adults with childhood ADHD, their siblings, and controls
- ADHD medication improves parenting skills
- Race and ADHD: How People of Color Get Left Behind
- Dear Fathers: Don’t Let a Condition Your Son Didn’t Ask for Define Your Relationship With Him
- The Unique Effects of Maternal ADHD Symptoms and Emotion Dysregulation on Parenting Behavior
- Parenting ADHD Truths: You Are the Problem, Not Your Child
- Never Punish a Child for Bad Behavior Outside Their Control
- 5 Pieces of ADHD Advice Every Parent Should Hear
ADHD and substance use
- Substance Use Disorders and ADHD: 5 Key Facts and Additional Resources.
- The Impact of Pharmacotherapy of Childhood-Onset Psychiatric Disorders on the Development of Substance Use Disorders.
- From the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) 31st Annual Meeting in 2020: ADHD Meds May Boost Treatment Retention in Comorbid Addiction.
- ADHD Medication and Substance-Related Problems, “Rather, medication was associated with lower concurrent risk of substance-related events and, at least among men, lower long-term risk of future substance-related events.”
- ADHD & Recreational Marijuana: What’s the Attraction?
- The Canadian ADHD Resource Alliance (CADDRA) has published a position statement on the use of Cannabis in ADHD, and can be reviewed here.
ADHD and friendship
ADHD and teen life: what else should you know?
- ADHD as a Risk Factor for Infection With Covid-19
- Hair Pulling! Skin Picking! Nail Biting! Oh, My!
- Considerations in the Care of Athletes With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Surprising Link Between TBI and ADHD
- ADHD & Lying: Fight, Flight, Freeze… or Fib?
- Teens With ADHD and Lying: Why It’s Common and How to Respond
- ADHD may be more common among elite athletes
- The Link Between Concussions and Attention Deficit Disorder
Canadian ADHD Patient Advocacy Associations
- For patients & families: Centre for ADHD Awareness, Canada (CADDAC)
- What you need to know about Early Childhood ADHD.
- CADDAC’s What teens and adolescents need to know about ADHD.
- ADHD and Post-Secondary students: Accommodations, Templates and more.
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