ADHD Awareness Month aims to educate the public about ADHD by sharing reliable information about the condition to clarify the facts and bust myths.
It also encourages people affected by ADHD to seek assessment, get appropriate treatment, and share resources.
Recite Me is an assistive technology company that helps people with disabilities and health conditions like ADHD to access information and services online.
So we are pleased to share information about the condition as part of ADHD Awareness Month 2019.
What is ADHD?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurobiological condition that has behavioural symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.
There are three different types of ADHD: Predominantly Inattentive Presentation; Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Presentation; and Combined Presentation.
ADHD affects 5% of children and 2.5% of adults in the UK according to ADHD Action, and most people with the condition are diagnosed between the ages of 6 to 12 years old.
Although the symptoms of ADHD normally lessen as people get older many adults continue to experience problems.
And whilst nearly 75,000 children aged between six and 17 received a prescription for ADHD drugs in England in 2017/18, some research suggests that children in England, especially girls, are being under-treated for the condition.
Myths and Facts about ADHD
ADHD is caused by bad parenting
Parents do not cause ADHD. The disorder comes from the accumulation of many environmental and genetic risk factors.
ADHD is just an excuse for being lazy
ADHD is a problem with the chemical dynamics of the brain and it’s not under voluntary control.
Children with ADHD just need more discipline
Discipline and relationship problems are the consequences of ADHD behaviour problems in the children, not the cause.
How technology can help people with ADHD access the Web
People who have ADHD can often also have a learning difficulty like dyslexia and ADHD is also known to affect people’s ability to read in itself.
This can make it difficult for people with ADHD to access information and services online, but accessibility software like Recite Me’s cloud-based assistive technology toolbar can help them enormously.
It can be installed on any website to offer a range of accessibility and language options to make reading information online easier, such as a ruler and screen mask which can be used in combination to focus on a small area of text.
Recite Me can also change a web page to plain text view or let the user choose the exact text and background colour combination.
These features help users to avoid distracting bright colours, images and graphics whilst reading web content.
There is also a dictionary built into Recite Me, which lets people quickly check the definitions of words they don’t understand.
Recite Me can even read web content aloud to users (aka text to speech) so they can listen to the content and avoid reading it altogether if it suits them.
Ultimately, Recite Me is part of a range of support measures people with ADHD can use to take an active part in life. Try out our free web page accessibility checker to see how you can improve your website today.
For more information about the treatment and support available for people with ADHD visit the NHS website.
