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ADHD Parent Education & Support Group Program Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurodivergence and developmental disability, with an estimated 5-10% of Australian children having this diagnosis (AIHW, 2018; Deloitte, 2019) . Despite this high prevalence, there is a significant gap in services. Children may receive this diagnosis from a paediatrician, but the family may not receive any follow-up information about ADHD or how to support their child.

Bringing Up Great Kids The BUGK Program focuses on building positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children. The program aims to support parents to reflect on and enhance their patterns of communication with their children and to promote more respectful interactions. It also aims to identify and address the sources of unhelpful or hurtful attitudes held by parents and supports self-reflection during this process. Our staff were trained this year in Bringing Up Great Kids – After the Storm, a program for parents re-establishing themselves after leaving a domestic violence relationship. This group has a reflective and restorative relationship focus between the parent and the children who have escaped the domestic violence. A parent that completed this program was very grateful for the support and one thing she took with her was the importance of connecting with her children. This mum has two children, escaped domestic violence over three years ago and had not received any support or counselling. She felt comfortable and opened up about her experience and wanted to help her children practice talking about their feelings. Building rapport and a sense of trust based on empathy showed her that she is safe, and she can build a better future for her and her children. This mum has anxiety and panic attacks and at times could not attend the session but gradually built trust and confidence to overcome her fear. She is now seeking counselling

Building confident children Kevin is a softly-spoken child who often plays quietly. He will respond when spoken to, but seldom initiates conversation with his peers or facilitator. He has shown a keen interest in playing with various small animal figure toys and often can be seen setting up small play scenarios with them, whether by himself or in a collaboration with the other children. He has begun bringing out multi-coloured animal toys to play with and, more recently, he brought his bucket to the facilitator and started identifying the animals by name and colour. He can clearly communicate the name of the animals and the different colours correctly. It is evident that he is feeling safe and secure in his learning environment. We can see an increase in both his social and communication skills. As his confidence is building, he is communicating and interacting more with both his peers and facilitator. At the end of the program, a father of an eight-year-old boy on a remote farm said: “[The group was] a great experience! I wasn’t too sure what to expect but it exceeded my expectations … information was very valuable. I loved connecting with parents in the same situation, knowing that we aren’t the only ones in this circumstance. This allowed me to make contacts and have support from other parents even after the program finishes.” And the mum of another eight-year-old said: “I’ve really enjoyed the practical things I can take away like the empathetic discipline skills and the morning routine charts. All the information you have given us is just armor so we can help people understand where our kids are coming from. This information has helped us be an advocate for our kid. Understanding more about it and being able to share that with [our son]. The race car analogy just hit the nail on the head and [our son] just loves race cars so that really helped him understand a lot better! Also connecting with other parents and other kids who are the same has been really valuable.”

To meet this identified need, in 2021-22 BUSHkids’ ADHD Parent Education and Support Group Program has been reviewed and redeveloped to be more strengths based, family-centred, neurodiversity- affirming, and to reflect current research and best practice. The five-week program is aimed not only at parents and carers of children with ADHD but also those with attention difficulties even if they don’t have a formal diagnosis. Parents learn about the ADHD brain, strategies to try at home and school, and learn from each other’s experiences in a small group, with lots of videos and discussions. It is based on research that parent-focused intervention is the most effective way to help children. The program is delivered in a range of formats to suit families’ needs – for example, face-to face in our centres, and also via telepractice, which enables parents to attend from home while caring for young children. This format also increases the reach of the program, as parents from around the state can attend the same group, so a range of timeslots can be offered to suit families’ busy schedules.

support for herself and her children to continue their healing journey.

eKindy BUSHkids and the Department of Education have worked in partnership to provide eKindy opportunities for children in rural and remote areas since 2016. For many years BUSHkids facilitated eKindy pods under a pilot programwithmultiple partners including the Brisbane School of Distance Education, the Department of Education, schools, and communities to ensure children had a face-to-face component of their distance education Kindy program. In late 2021 the Department of Education

What happens in an eKindy pod? The day at a BUSHkids eKindy pod includes a combination of indoor and outdoor play, group and individual activities, morning tea, lunch, and a rest. This is all part of a flexible routine which helps children feel safe, develop life skills, and build healthy habits. Children have the opportunity to develop physical, social, intellectual, language and emotional abilities through fun activities. Through these experiences children build on their knowledge, explore and express new ideas, learn to co-operate with others and make friends, and develop their confidence and coordination.

offered BUSHkids the opportunity to continue to provide the pod days in a different format, with a vision that children spend their pod days playing and developing social skills with peers. Children and their parents would complete the distance education program with the Brisbane School of Distance Education . BUSHkids is responsible for offering an in-person play day for children enrolled in distance education Kindy, employing an Lead Early Years Educator to plan age-appropriate play opportunities and support our facilitators in rural communities.

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