S.P.A.C.E. ADHD Group

ADHD Parent Support Group

SPACE Stockport

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Claire’s Christmas Message

As we come to the end of the year and all the chaos that Christmas can generate, I’d like to wish a happy and peaceful Christmas to all our families. The hype, excitement and changes in routine doesn’t always suit children and young people with ADHD, so the Christmas holidays can be a stressful time.

There is no right way to be a parent, but there are definitely lots of wrong ways. Techniques that suit many children, may not work with those who are neurodiverse. Much of the parenting advice that our parents were raised with, is at best outdated and in some cases illegal! I hope that our parents trust themselves in the face of well meaning advice from friends and relatives. I hope that they recognise that they know their children, better than anybody else.

Our charity was set up by parents, who looked for support and found that what they needed didn’t exist – so they created it. If you are parenting a child with ADHD, then you are welcome to join us for our monthly meet ups or join our private online community. There is no charge and no need to book in advance. You don’t have to share medical information or provide proof of diagnosis. We are relaxed and informal and do our best to offer a warm welcome.

As a parent I went to my first S.P.A.C.E. meeting after my child was diagnosed with a condition that I’d never even heard of! I know how it feels to be scared to walk into an unfamiliar place, looking for strangers that might help me make sense of this condition. The relief I felt when I met people who understood how this one gorgeous child created so much chaos at home, and who genuinely knew how it felt spending my days fighting both with and for my then twelve year old.

I didn’t realise that night that I’d still be part of that group 20 years later, or that I’d help to support lots of other families and eventually go on to become Chair of this amazing small charity, which was set up by a lady that I’m now so proud to call a friend. That cold, dark, winter night when I walked into the Arden Arms changed my life and I know that S.P.A.C.E. has done the same for many others.

Our goal for 2025 is to continue being there for our families and to make sure that they get access to all the information they need to make informed decisions about their children. The team are here to provide information and signpost to other relevant services and organisations, but one of our biggest strengths is that through our small charity, people get to meet other other parents and carers with similar challenges.

S.P.A.C.E. were here supporting the ADHD community before it was cool. On the one hand it’s amazing that the profile of ADHD has grown and that there are lots of other organisations out there, but unfortunately not all of these organisations are as good as their marketing. We know our own worth, so we focus on our families and continue to do what we do, because being our authentic selves matters and makes a difference.

Here at S.P.A.C.E. we are constantly thinking of ways to raise awareness about ADHD. Our advent calendar is a seasonal reminder about the work we do to help provide information and support to parents and carers.

We have lots of ideas for other ways to share useful content, but at our core, we are a parent support group so we will always put our limited resources into that ahead of generating amazing content for social media. Unlike lots of organisations we don’t have financial targets. We’re an independent charity and our goal is to ensure that any local parent of a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) that wants to get information and support knows that we exist. That’s it. We just want families to know that we’re here if they want to join us.

We’ll be at the Dog and Partridge on the second Tuesday of the month throughout 2025, so feel free to pop the dates into your brand new diaries or share our content with friends and family that may be interested.

  • ADHD Advent Calendar
    • Our advent calendar includes a new piece of information every day during the run up to Christmas.
  • Monthly meet ups for parents and carers of children with ADHD
  • Social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
    • We’re also on TikTok, Threads and X but don’t share a great deal on those platforms at the moment
  • Information sessions for those working with children and young people
  • Spotify playlist of artists with ADHD
    • Our Spotify playlist covers a wide range of artists covering everything from hip hop to country

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

Claire

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Why We Don’t Want To Be Kim Kardashian

What does the world famous reality star Kim Kardashian have to do with a small Stockport based ADHD childrens’ charity? The answer to that is very little (as far as we know) other than the fact that we are both harnessing the power of social media to let people know that we exist.

Just like Kim, SPACE Stockport are on Instagram, but if you happen to follow us both, you’ll notice that she has a lot more followers than us and we’re totally OK with that. We are 100% fine with the fact that Kim has over 360 million Instagram followers whilst we only have 848, because Kim’s marketing goals are different to ours.

SPACE Stockport is run by parents of children with ADHD for parents of children with ADHD and as such we won’t be getting any celebrity endorsement deals. We don’t have our own cosmetic products, skincare range or clothing line. We don’t even have our own fragrance, but despite the lack of branded products we are on a mission. We’re on a mission to make sure that Stockport parents of children with ADHD know that we’re here. We are looking for what marketing professionals would call a niche market. If you live in Stockport and have a child with ADHD, then we are looking for you because we want you to know that we exist.

Our marketing goals are quite straight forward. We’re a non-profit organisation so the number of people that attend our monthly meetings and engage with us on social media doesn’t generate us any income. The committee is made up of volunteers, so nobody gets a new BMW if more people join us for a coffee and getting a 100,000 likes on Facebook or a million followers on TikTok won’t get any of us a bonus, but we’re still on a mission. If you are from Stockport and your child, or a child that you care for, has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder then we want you to know that we exist, that’s it. That’s our mission.

Parents of children with ADHD are regularly told what they should be doing. We’re told that we are parenting our children incorrectly. We’re told that our children will grow out of it. We’re told that our children are eating the wrong foods. We’re told that our children just need a firm hand. We’re told that ADHD doesn’t exist and that our children are just badly behaved. Parents of children with ADHD are told lots of things. We’re not here to tell you anything. We’re here to provide information. We’re here to share our experiences. We’re here to signpost agencies that we have found useful. We’re here to make sure that you know you are not the only family going through some of the day to day challenges that you face. Even if local parents of children with ADHD never contact us, our marketing mission is that they know we exist, because if they know that we are here, then they know that they can get in touch if they want to.

Using Instagram and Facebook to spread the word about our existence may be relatively new, but we’ve been on a mission to support other parents for almost two decades. The venue has changed over time, as have the volunteers and the parents joining us every month, but the mission has always been the same, to make sure that people know that we exist. Stockport has less than 300,000 residents so if we manage to get a million followers then the chances are that most of them aren’t really interested in us and vice versa. We love having our Facebook posts shared and being retweeted on Twitter because somewhere amongst those extra readers will be more of the people we’re looking for.

If local parents know that we exist, then that means that they know they’re not the only parents going through the challenge of raising a child with ADHD. It means that if they have a bad day, they know that they can vent to us privately on Facebook. It means that they know that there is a network of other parents they can talk to. It means that they can find out about local conferences. It means that we can provide a source of information. It means that they are able to attend our specialist presentations. It means that once a month they can join us for a drink and a chat if they want to.

The bigger picture is that we want to fight the ongoing stream of ignorance about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. We want to dispel the myths and ensure that our children are not penalised by schools for things that they cannot control, but our priority is to support families. If you have a child with challenging behaviour, the playground can be a lonely place. We can’t do anything about that, but when you’ve had one of those days we can be there to reassure you that you are not alone. We can’t do anything about the fact that raising a child with ADHD can lead to family disagreements on the best way forward, but we can be there to let you know that you are not the only family with those problems.

The reason our mission is to let people know that we exist is because if local parents know that we exist, then it means that they know that we’re here if they want us. It means that they know that they are not the only one and some days that’s enough. SPACE Stockport may officially only be three people on paper but we’re part of a much bigger community. A community of other parents who want the best for their children. Kim can keep her 360 million followers because we’ve got each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SPACE Take On The Titan – Sponsored Zipwire

On October the 7th the SPACE Team are travelling to Wales to take on the Titan.

Titan is a four person zipwire that flies 2000 metres down a Welsh valley, which raises the question of why four women, three of whom are terrified of heights, are driving to Wales to put themselves through that ordeal. The answer to that question is that they are raising money for SPACE Stockport, the ADHD parent support group they run.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition which is regularly characterised by hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be challenging, especially if children and young people have problems managing their behaviour or experience difficulties at school.

Despite all the scientific research there is a lot of misinformation about ADHD, which leads to ignorance and negative stereotypes. To help combat these problems and raise awareness of the facts, we’re challenging the misinformation about ADHD by challenging our fear of heights. October is ADHD Awareness month so we decided to celebrate and raise funds for our group with a sponsored Zipwire.

ADHD is still stigmatised and parents and carers often find themselves on the front line. SPACE provides information, advice and support for parents in a friendly open environment, with others in a similar situation.We share information on a variety of topics including school conflicts, medication, and the diagnosis process. We are also able to signpost parents to services which can help them and their children. As a community of ADHD parents we are able to share personal experiences, which can especially helpful for those with a new diagnosis who may feel overwhelmed.

SPACE holds regular monthly meet ups and provides online support, but we’d like to extend the range of services we offer and unfortunately that costs money, so we’re taking on the Titan and we’d appreciate your support. If you’d like to make a donation to our zipwire challenge please visit our Just Giving page where you can donate securely.

If you happen to be in Wales on the 7th of October and hear screaming, don’t worry it’s just the SPACE Team supporting parents, abolishing myths and fighting sterotypes.

Wish us luck.

https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/s-p-a-c-e/adhd

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SPACE Stockport ADHD Parent Support Group Meetings 2017

SPACE Stockport hold their ADHD parent support group meetings on the second Wednesday of the month at a coffee shop in Stockport called The Funky Monkey Coffee Company.

If you have a child with ADHD and would like to spend a couple of hours with other local parents in the same position, why not join us?

Wednesday 11th January 2017
Wednesday 8th February 2017
Wednesday 8th March 2017
Wednesday 12th April 2017
Wednesday 10th May 2017
Wednesday 14th June 2017
Wednesday 12th July 2017
No Meeting In August
Wednesday 13th September 2017
Wednesday 11th October 2017
Wednesday 8th November 2017
Wednesday 13th December 2017

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Leyland ADHD Conference

Last month ADDISS, the national ADHD charity, held a series of regional conferences and a member of the SPACE team went along. Those of you that follow us on Twitter will have noticed that we took over your timeline for a couple of days by live tweeting as much as we could fit into 140 characters at a time.

A lot of the conference focused on adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In the United Kingdom there is estimated to be between 2  and 3.3 million adults with the condition. Here at SPACE we focus on providing support to parents of children and do very little relating to adults, but since being a parent is an ongoing thing, understanding how adults are affected is obviously of interest.

Children with ADHD mature into adults with ADHD. The presentation of symptoms may be different but, despite what you may have been told, children do not grow out of it. It doesn’t magically disappear on their 18th birthday. If you have a ten year old with ADHD then you’re going to have a 20 year old with ADHD and eventually a forty year old with ADHD, so with this in mind understanding adults with the condition is pretty vital.

The theme of the conference was early Interventions and Outcomes. It focused on the importance of getting things right for children with ADHD, to help them grow into happy healthy adults with productive lives, because statistically our children are less likely to get there without that extra help and support. The conference showed the best things about ADHD but also balanced it out by highlighting the very worst things.

One of the speakers Phil Anderton PhD, Author of The Tipping Points, is a former police officer who provided some very sobering statistics including

  • Children with ADHD are 14 times more likely to be run over crossing the road
  • The risk of being arrested for most young adults is 20% for young adults with ADHD this doubles to 40%
  • 25% of the 80,000 prison population have ADHD as opposed to a conservative estimate of 5% of the general population

Although ADHD is generally considered a behavioural problem, the negative behaviours exist for a physiological reason and one of the many differences between children with and without ADHD is their emotional maturity. Although one child may be 6 months older chronologically, their brain may actually be less mature than a child who is considerably younger than they are. Physically your son or daughter may be 17 years of age but it’s possible that emotionally they are only 14 and emotional maturity matters.

“Some people have a built in need for exploratory behaviour and risk taking” Kevin Roberts

A need for friends, low self esteem, a built in predisposition towards risk taking behaviour and low emotional maturity can be a disaster for some young people. It can make them very vulnerable and lead to a variety of different problems including issues at school, dangerous activities and inappropriate sexual activity.

If the treatment of ADHD in a young person isn’t right then the likelihood of their involvement in crime is much higher and for those of us with older children, dealing with the police can become a part of day to day parenting. Realistically a lot of parents need to have a plan of exactly what to do if your child is arrested and needs you to attend the police station.

During the conference we had the opportunity to see a role play with a serving police officer and a gentleman called Gary, an adult with ADHD. During the session Gary provided the audience with additional comments based on instances from his own past and gave examples of how he would have tried to speed up proceedings by not mentioning that he had a condition or refusing to answer any questions in his own defence, so that he could get out of the police station quicker. None of it was real, but it gave us a tiny glimpse of exactly what could happen if our sons or daughters are arrested, particularly if they are over 18.

It is both sobering and frightening to think that your lively young child may have a higher risk of substance abuse, assault, unplanned pregnancy and being arrested than their counterparts, but unfortunately children with ADHD are at greater risk and this is why the information in this conference was so important.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is an 80% inheritable factor, so not only do we want to understand adult ADHD as a parent, but also because it’s fairly obvious that some of us have it too. We may not all have been formally diagnosed and we may not present in the same ways as our children, but there are lots of parents out there who recognise themselves and their own childhoods in the literature they read on their journey through their child’s diagnosis.

Scary statistics aside, most of the conference was very upbeat and highlighted the very positive side of attention deficit, including some magnificient high energy speakers. If you ever get the opportunity to hear Kevin Roberts and Jerry Mills speak about ADHD then you should definitely jump at the chance. The team of speakers are chosen because they are experts in their field and use their unique skills and personal experiences to bring the subject to life. Most of the speakers are published authors who have chosen to support ADDISS as a way of sharing information with parents, professionals and adults with ADHD. The conference line up also included an ADHD Coach working with young adults who discussed the difference between empowering others and enabling them and author Marko Ferek who urged us all to replace the word disorder with difference. The word disorder can only ever be considered a bad thing and not everything about ADHD is bad. Some of it is amazing and exciting, even being a risk taker isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s only bad if you can’t control it.

Although having ADHD can limit a child’s potential, the theme of the conference was that if we get things right during childhood that it doesn’t have to. If we get things right at school, education doesn’t have to suffer. If we understand about emotional maturity, we can make decisions based on the child and not a child of their age. If we can bolster self esteem and manage risk taking, we can reduce the negative effects of dangerous and impulsive behaviours. The conference encouraged us all to change our thoughts and feelings about ADHD. Together we can help children with ADHD find positive ways to use their power, intensity and genetic predisposition and means that next generation of adults with ADHD won’t have such a difficult journey.