A Nanaimo parent hopes support for children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) will be on equal footing with autistic children.
Susan Handlen says daughter Lindsay was born with a complex neurodevelopmental disorder and suffers from ADHD, anxiety and has severe learning disabilities. While Lindsay is 10 years old, she reads at a Grade 1 level, Handlen said.
Lindsay needs one-on-one supervision and wasn't doing well at Uplands Elementary School where she was enrolled about two years ago. She had behavioural issues, was suspended seven times and didn't want to go to school anymore, prompting Handlen to withdraw her.
After enrolling Lindsay at Nanaimo Unique Kids Organization Learning Centre, where Handlen said there is a lower student-to-teacher ratio, she has thrived, but the $6,000 fee is prohibitive for her and her husband. If Lindsay suffered from autism, she would be eligible for provincial funding, said Handlen.
“I would like ADHD to be recognized like autism ... I'm looking for the funding,” said Handlen.
“Autism kids get a $6,000 fund to spend any way they need to and we pay a $6,000 parent portion to NUKO to have our child there, which I get no funding for. She gets the funding for a designation in H from the school district, but doesn't get any to pay for the school, which is $6,000 and what I'm looking for is some funding to cover that, so that it doesn't come out of our pockets.
Barbara Robinson, Nanaimo Unique Kids Organization supervisor, admits Lindsay had issues when she began in September 2015, but her behaviour has improved.
While Lindsay would start shouting, scratching and pulling the hair of staff and children and throw things and self-harm herself, poking herself with push pins. NUKO's approach has enabled Lindsay to act out less frequently.
Robinson said Lindsay “got herself to a much calmer state within the first two months” of attending Nanaimo Unique Kids Organization. Although she still has moments, she calms quicker as well. Lindsay fits in, said Robinson.
“She's doing more school work, she's getting a lot of her school work done and working hard ... she's really working well in a group, which is something she wasn't very successful at when she first came and now she's doing a lot of group activities, so we've seen great strides there,” said Robinson.
What is ADHD?
Lisa Van Bruggen, a Victoria-based clinical psychologist with Island Health, said ADHD is a disorder and in the case of children and adolescents, there is an ongoing pattern of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity and it's getting in the way of daily life or typical development.
Van Bruggen said the symptoms have to be seen not just at home and school, but in multiple places. Typically physicians and clinicians are looking for things such as fidgeting that's in excess of what would be expected for kids of that age.
“Really squirming in their seat a lot, leaving their seat when they're expected to be seated, and so that might be in the classroom, or let's say they're in the doctor's office ... they're up, they're touching everything, it's really hard for them,” said Van Bruggen “They kind of have that sense of they can't help it. They're kind of described as on-the-go almost as if they're driven by a motor.”
Funding situation
In an e-mail, the Ministry of Education said special education students are eligible for a full district operating grant in addition to supplementary special needs funding based on their special needs designation, however, it said money is not targeted to specific students, but are provided to boards of education to support student needs.
Decisions regarding planning and delivery of supports and services for students with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder are made by boards, the province said.
While Nanaimo Unique Kids Organization is situated in the Harbour City, it is in the purview of the Comox Valley school district's North Island Distance Education School, due to XXXXXXXXXX.
Jeff Stewart, Comox Valley district distributed learning principal, said
“We submit our Form 1701 submissions to the ministry every September that lists all the claimable students by designation and then that funding comes to the school district,” said Stewart. “That would be the same for Nanaimo, Comox Valley or Vancouver. It's the same formula. There's different levels of funding depending on the needs of the child and those are basically by designation ... there's only certain categories that get that kind of funding. Others don't.
“So what basically the ministry does is they envelope funding for special needs or special education, or learning support for all students, but using the low-incidence categories basically as the vehicle, is the best way to describe it.
“You don't get any funding for students with ADHD. You don't get any funding for students with Q or learning disabilities. Q's a designation, but it's a high incidence designation that doesn't receive funding.
Elizabeth Martin, coordinator for Vancouver Island Children's Assessment Network coordinator, a Ministry of Health program which diagnoses conditions like autism and ADHD, said it is trying to get away from the label dictating how much money children get in the school system. It's about need, she said.
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“Kids can meet criteria, they can have what's called the inattentive presentation, where predominantly the symptoms are really those struggles with paying attention and focus,” Van Bruggen said. “Kids can have a presentation that's primarily hyperactive-impulsive, or they can have a combined presentation.”
Van Bruggen said she and her colleagues are looking for things out of the norm for that age. Often times children with ADHD will have difficulty organizing, maintaining attention and holding information in mine, she said.
So typically physicians or clinicians will get information from both school and home and they want to see the kid as well.
“I would say she got herself to a much calmer state within the first two months of being here,” said xxxxx. “I mean she will still have
“She's got friends here. I know she's always planning play dates with other students who are in the program. She's doing more school work, she's getting a lot of her school work done and working hard ... she's really working well in a group, which is something she wasn't very successful at when she first came,” said xxxxx.