Norwalk, ‘A Community in Support,’ marks ADHD Awareness month

NORWALK, Conn. — City officials, educators and others gathered Thursday afternoon at the library to recognize October as ADHD Awareness Month.

Norwalk Deputy Corporation Counsel Jeffry Spahr, who serves on the Advisory and Public Policy Committee of Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), a nationwide awareness group, said the theme of this year’s recognition is “A Community in Support.”

“The aim is to provide information and support not only to those with ADHD, but also those who work, live, and love those with ADHD,” he said. “Increasing the knowledge of what ADHD is and how it impacts people can only help everyone to function better together.”

Spahr thanked Norwalk Public Library Director Sherelle Harris for hosting Thursday‘s event, as well as a display near the front of the building featuring several books about ADHD and pamphlets with information on the condition.

ADHD, which stands for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. It affects about 11 percent of school-aged children, according to CHADD.

But as Spahr noted during Thursday’s event, in recent years the number of adults diagnosed with ADHD “has increased dramatically.” That’s particularly true among women and people of color, he said, who have historically been underdiagnosed.

Though some people with ADHD have fewer symptoms as they age, many adults continue to have major symptoms that interfere with their daily functioning. At the same time, he said, those with ADHD “bring many assets, ways of viewing things, and levels of energy to the table that the community profits from.”

Those with the condition include Olympic athletes Simone Biles and Michael Phelps, musicians Justin Timberlake and Adam Levine, and actors Emma Watson, Channing Tatum and Ryan Gosling. 

State Sen. Bob Duff presented a proclamation signed by Gov. Ned Lamont celebrating ADHD Awareness Month, and said that while it’s good to bring awareness to the condition, “we should not view these as disorders as much as we should view these as ways in which people are able to be more productive in society.”

Mayor Barbara Smyth recalled her time as an English teacher before reading her own proclamation in honor of ADHD awareness.

“One of the things that we know as educators is that we want to meet our kids where they are, and we want to meet all of our citizens and neighbors where they are, and this is a way that we can assure this kind of awareness and can assure that everyone has the support … and the resources that they need,” she said.

Norwalk Public Schools Interim Superintendent Sandra Faioes said ADHD diagnoses are becoming more common because people are getting better at recognizing the symptoms.

“The more that teachers can support students in their learning and being able to recognize the things that work for them and the things that help them grow more, the more successful those students are,” she said. 

Board of Education member Ashley Gulyas said she was proud of the ways the school district supports its neurodiverse students, and said she knows many adults who are discovering they have ADHD themselves while making sure their children have the resources they need.

“I’m really glad that we’re starting to recognize the spectrum of ADHD because I think kids who grew up in the 80s and 90s have like a very narrow idea of what an ADHD child is, and I am really grateful that now we have an understanding that that’s a very broad view, and it looks very different,” she said.