Welcome

Welcome to the Chelmsford ADHD Support group.  This support group is run by volunteer parents of children with ADHD who want to have the opportunity to help each other and professionals learn more about the condition and cope with the day to day struggles.

Our Successes
In addition to support group meetings we also provide parents with help via telephone, email and in person.  Our aim is to improve the lives of parents and those with ADHD, and our advice is of a practical nature based on personal experience.  As such we cannot guarantee that all the advice can help everyone however we believe that our success shows that the advice is effective.

A week after a two hours introduction course, a mum, who has a 7 year old daughter with ADHD, informed us:

Thank you for meeting with me, so far it has been very helpful ... Good news though although not actually going to sleep until 9pm she has been staying in her room and when told 'no this is it' has finally gone to sleep and I have had to wake her for school in the morning - very unheard of!!

After a number of sessions a mum, who has a 14 year old son with ADHD, informed us:

Your information has been very helpful. You have made me rethink my approach to my son's behaviour and made me feel more positive about his future.  He was and is still a little negative about having ADHD, but was impressed with the amount of famous people who have or have had it. The most invaluable help is knowing you are at the end of a computer if I need any support, and that there can be a positive outcome with ADHD.

Let us know if you've been helped by our advice, by sending an email to steve@adhdsupport.org.uk.

Who we are
Our two key workers, who are unpaid volunteers, are Stephen Challen and Heidi Mussell; however we also have help from parents with varying ages of children and/or teenagers who have ADHD.

Stephen himself was diagnosed by Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children as having ADD & Hyperactivity caused by Food-Related Hypersensitivity approx 21 years ago.  The condition is now widely known as ADHD.  He also has three beautiful daughters who also have the same condition.  Stephen is available during our forums to obtain advice and help from both a parent's point of view as well as being someone who has grown up with the condition himself.  He currently works in the IT industry working with high level server systems, data recovery and website design.  His father was a haematologist and immunologist, his uncle was a leading Bio-Chemist and many members of his family are involved is some form of science.  This upbringing allows Stephen to understand a wide range of medical and scientific issues which to others sound like a foreign language.  Needless to say his daughters also love science.  "It's a family thing!"

Heidi currently works at Broomfield Primary School as a teacher assistant working specifically with children with ADHD and/or Asperger's Syndrome.  She is therefore able to provide useful practical help and advice for working with such children in a school environment.

All are welcome
We welcome everyone whether you have ADHD, ADD, Hyperactivity, Hypersensitivity or other related condition, you are a parent of a child or teenager who has it or are a professional or teacher looking to know more about the condition.  We also welcome anyone who lives or works in the Chelmsford area, and even welcome others from around Essex looking for a support group that will meet their needs.