Without further ado, I'll leave you to it, Antonella. I'm conscious you probably won't be able to bring up slides or you may do, but Sure. I'll I'd love to hear from you and and what's going on with ADHD WA.

Okay. Fantastic. Fantastic. So just wanna say hello to everyone. My name is Antonella Segre. I'm the CEO of ADHD WA in Western Australia. I'd like to start by acknowledging the Noongar people as the traditional custodians of the land on which I'm presenting from today, and I pay my respects to the elders past and present. I recognize their enduring connection to this land and their rich cultural heritage. I also extend my respect to all indigenous people that may be present today and to indigenous people elsewhere. And finally, do wish to acknowledge all of those with a lived experience of ADHD. I cannot express how thrilled I am, especially since I am actually online finally.

To be able to participate in this global conference, and my thanks go to the extensive work from the organizers to have put this together. We cannot underestimate the the level of work that this has taken. It I I found that it's really opportunistic that I present after professor Michael Kahn that spoke to the need for wraparound services and models that are researched, informed, and around more contemporary approaches. As my presentation, we'll really be sharing a holistic approach within a social enterprise context with a very strong person centered approach. So I think I need to start by telling you the story of ADHD WA. So it was established thirty years ago in 1993, and as is in the case of setting up a not for profit.

It started through a vision of a parent that saw a gap and wanted to support others like herself in ensuring that they and their child could have a safe and nonjudgmental space to come together where they would not be considered the naughty child and the parent unable to parent. So from the very beginning, it had professionals to be part of that journey. And that's what the conversation I'm having with you today is that wonderful link within clinicians and non clinicians taking that person centered approach. Its name was initially LADS, which stood for Learning and Attentional Disorders of WA, and eventually it moved to ADHD WA. It did manage at that initial time to access funding from government, to conduct a research program.

That demonstrated that services for those diagnosed with ADHD were inadequate, poorly coordinated and unable to cope with public demand. It also highlighted the insufficient levels of support and information available to people with ADHD. So as I tell the story of 1993 and thirty years on, unfortunately, it appears that it is the same narrative. It still exists. Lack of accessible services, lack of true understanding of the neurological condition, lack of effective practices in the schools to enable children to have equal opportunities for success, lack of adjustments in the workplace to enable persons to showcase their skill sets and remain actively engaged in employment, lack of clinicians. And so in Australia.

We are really holding our breath to see if the senate inquiry into the barriers to consistent and timely and best practice assessment of ADHD and support services for people with ADHD will finally be a game changer. For those that have been around for a long time, they may well see this as a as a here we go again, moment. I see this as a potential for a roadmap for advocating government at individual state levels for change. Not to hide the fact, that I think we're all ready to march on parliament demanding that change. So ADHD has played a pivotal role in advancing government change. It's contributed to the establishment of ADHD Australia, the ADHD, Foundation, and also ADPA, the Australian ADHD Professional Association.

It is considered a peak and longest existing body working collaborative with professionals, government, and community, advocating for changing the stigma and the paradigm. We recently presented, as did ADHD Australia, at the senate inquiry and also previously at the state parliamentary committee around the lack of childhood and adolescent services. What it has done, which sets it apart, is that it started to do through service provision to demonstrate that there is a cost effective solution for government to invest in. And to that end, we are working towards an SRI, which is a social reinvestment on return framework that will inform our state pre budget submission.

So I think we just need to start to have those levels of alignment and collaborative approaches and and to be able to formulate the information that government needs to have outside of their senate inquiries, which then regardless of the input that those with the lived experiences and agencies apply, that we can give them the solutions within a monetary framework. For every dollar you invest in a not for profit, this is the result and the benefits you'll have in the long term. So back to our story. So since the initial funding, ADHD has been unsuccessful in securing recurring funding for government or corporate sponsorships, and is still here today due to its innovative, practices.

Its dedicated and expert board of management and volunteers. I am, in fact, their first CEO. And I do, as mentioned, come in with twenty years of experience within the not for profit sector specializing in business development, but this has been my very serious first touch point with ADHD. So I am a newbie, and I'm not a researcher and I'm not a clinician and I do not come from a place of lived experience. But what I am is not a newbie in understanding and implementing that the work that we do do is driven by lived experience. And to that end, we have two lived experience advisory groups. One is youth, and that work hand by hand and side by side with us and with the professional advisory body, which is made up of psychiatrists.

Pediatricians, OT, psychologists, teachers and ADHD coaches. So for those that are not familiar with the social enterprise model, their aim is to achieve both social and economic goals. It uses business principles and strategies to address social, environmental, and community challenges. And the benefits of social enterprises are numerous and they're impactful and they extend to individuals and then communities and society as a whole. In ADHD WA's case, it was a way to address individuals' needs and to ensure that we could actually continue to provide advocacy and free services to those in need. So our model has now been running effectively for three years and we are in the process of becoming officially accredited.

As a social as a social enterprise. And and had this not been implemented, I can say that ADHD WA would not be here today, but not you know, it would have continued from, just purely an advocacy, but would not be here today to deliver the services that it actually does. So the ongoing lack of funding and the reliance on a volunteer board had started to take its toll. And as mentioned, the board of management led by doctor Michelle Toner took this innovative approach. And as you all know, innovation does come with risk. And what we also know is that government often asks, you know, through their tender processes, they ask for innovative approaches, and then when they're presented they're told, well that's just too risky. So.

Why a holistic approach and why is it effective for those impacted by ADHD? So a holistic social enterprise model for addressing ADHD does offer numerous benefits that can significantly improve the well-being and outcomes for individuals, children, adults, parents. So the model offered through ADHD WA looks at the physical, emotional, and social aspects that may be impacting on that unique individual. The approach does not take an off the shelf one fit all model or approach. So I'd just like to list some of those benefits, and probably throughout the morning and those that attended also yesterday, you'll be aware of. So apologies if there's repetition. So comprehensive care. A holistic approach does consider the whole person.

Addressing not only the clinical symptoms but also the emotional, social, and lifestyle aspects of ADHD. This comprehensive care can lead to more effective and well rounded support. Then we look at the individualized treatment. Holistic models prioritize person centered care, tailoring, interventions and services to be unique needs and preferences, of everyone with ADHD. And this personalized approach really does enhance the engagement and the overall outcome desired by the individual. You know, we talked a lot about reducing stigma. So by promoting this person centered approach and focusing on strength rather than deficits, holistic models, do play that part as mentioned in reducing the stigma and often that is often associated with ADHD.

And encouraging individuals to seek help without fear of judgment. This then leads to what we always want, is that improved self esteem, self confidence, you know, by recognizing and nurturing their strength and talents rather than just focusing on those deficits. So, basically, we're talking about giving them agency. The holistic model looks also at that enhancing of coping skills, such as skill development, coaching, and peer support can equally support an individual with their coping strategies to manage their symptoms effectively across various life domains. What can this do? How can it support? It can lead to better academic and occupational performance because it addresses that educational and occupational challenges.

Which are often associated with ADHD by providing tutoring accommodations and skill building to basically improve performance and productivity. So what we're trying to achieve is that stronger social and emotional well-being. So social skills training and emotional support, within a holistic model can help individuals with ADHD build healthier relationships, manage their emotions, and reduce feelings of isolation. So I'm just going to go into the model itself, which is simple and replicable. We start by not seeing those that walk through our doors seeking support as patients or client, but as our members. And those that access our services must be members.

Those entering into our space are not welcomed within a clinical and sterile environment. We take into consideration plants and greenery, good lighting, noise control, accessibility, those small little tweaks that can make a difference. Now we offer services that, can be seen as linear or interchangeable that one can pop in and out as required based where they are in their journey. If we take a linear approach, we start by offering ADHD assessments by qualified neuropsychologists under the supervision of our clinical lead, and we're about to offer, we can offer between eight and nine, but we still have about a thousand people on our waiting list. We then move on to be able to offer therapy. We have two psychologists specialized in ADHD.

And we also bring in students to sort of give a better variety of levels of based on their financial capability and availability. We also simultaneously offer ADHD coaching where we have two of our ADHD coaches on board and mentored through Doctor. Michelle Toner. So as part of that journey, we move into group therapy courses where they're developed internally by our clinicians, they're signed off by a professional advisory body, and this is what ensures them to be research informed and current with all the IPs staying with ADHD WA. We're talking about emotional regulation, relationships, getting better sleep, boosting productivity, mindfulness, self compassion.

And also courses specifically to ensure that university students can ace university. If we take it from a child perspective, we offer series of group therapies with the aim of building their confidence, their independence, and useful skills to manage their ADHD. And where where especially in adolescents they tend to be not wishing to join, then we offer those to their parents. What we do is we offer them as small groups so that they can access Medicare rebates. And for those that are joining us from overseas, we're looking at that government, health subsidy that we can do. Members can also access our own resources and and pop in for, to our library. So as you can see, there's numerous points of entry.

And all that we do not do is we do not do medication management. So we take that real comprehensive approach and as we know that early intervention is critical in ensuring that the individual will strive. We are talking about improved outcomes whether that be in education, health and social development. So when we just think of children with ADHD, it means that that early intervention can promote health, physical, cognitive and emotional development. So as part of our social enterprise model, we also are able to expand our advocacy, but we also value educating others and to break down the myths and stigma that surround that. So we also run education programs for teachers and school psychologists.

We run-in house training in schools and within the corporate sector. And these are run by ADHD coaches, school psychs, and teachers with a lived experience. And where we required, we bring in members of the professional advisory body such as our recent training at Banksy Youth Detention Center. So ADHD WA has wanted to create a one stop shop to limit the runaround, to limit persons from having to retell their stories, and to do that within a space that specializes in ADHD and cares and wants to authentically support. And to that end, we have recently secured, a wonderful house, and it's gonna be called the ADHD hub. And this will enable us to run a drop in center and reestablish a telephone helpline.

And it will equally support us in increasing our visibility with the state government. I know that we're running out of time, so I just want to say that the social enterprise model allows us to do is to have the resources to advocate for change, advocate for reforms, and advocate for those that continue to be unheard with the with the overall aim to ensure that all of the training programs and group therapy courses become subsidized by government enabling all to be able to access them. And we've had some, do I have two minutes left? Yeah. I can go on. And we've had some successes that I really would love to share with you. So, you know, the Department of Communities of WA has now is now funding.

Their foster carers program to enable them to access our membership for free. We've applied for a grant that if successful, 288 248 children and adolescent will access the parent the the the program specifically for them for free, and this will enable low socioeconomic regional areas and those on extended waiting list to join. We're working in partnership with large NGOs who they themselves have sought funding from us to deliver our programs in the regions for free, and we're part of a model that's seeking funding from the health department in WA for a GP pilot, really introducing that GP co prescribing in WA as we can only medication can only be available for psychiatrists and from psychiatrists and pediatricians.

There is still a lot of work to be done in ensuring that programs and clinical services across Australia are culturally appropriate and address our indigenous community needs. We cannot shy away from the data that says states forty seven percent of those within the prison system have undiagnosed ADHD when seventy five percent of them are indigenous. And I applaud the work that has been done in Queensland in the development of a culturally appropriate diagnostic tool using dream time and feedback from elders, and we look forward to implementing that in our practices. Equally, work needs to be done to ensure we are addressing the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse communities. And in both cases, we need to take into consideration.

Language barriers, cultural norms and expression, stigma, awareness, and cultural bias. So I'd like to close by inviting you to look at establishing a similar model where holistic social enterprise model for addressing ADHD that works alongside the clinical treatment to provide a more comprehensive person centered and supportive approach. And this approach can lead to improved overall well-being, reduced stigma, and better long term outcomes for individuals. Last opportunity to thank and acknowledge that all of the all the knowledge that has been shared to me by those with the lived experience.

Thank you for sharing your stories and letting me into your lives. It's been an absolute honors to have crossed their paths in the last fourteen months. Thanks to the excellent clinicians that work with us, to the staff. And we are really small. You know, we sound really big, but from an FTE equivalent, we're only three. And to the amazing board of management that have put me in such a place of privilege to lead this organization and support the WA ADHD community. Thank you so much for listening.

Oh, wonderful. Thank you, Antonella. And, gosh, you say three people with all of that that you've been able to achieve. It's it's truly wonderful. And, what I wanted to do whilst I was on mute, was to ask a question to you. And, again, not wanting to speed you up, but, unfortunately, we do have to stick to time. And this question was, just, and I will ask it just just as as I think it's important because the, the overall stream, you know, we've welcomed Cambodia to this stream in terms of time differences. They've just come online. We're gonna have The UK back shortly at the end of the day.

What I wanna do is talk about that quickly is that your model and setting up around the world because Hong Kong and Singapore are doing the same things, specifically Hong Kong. What would be your one piece of advice? And if we could keep it succinct, just in the interest of time, what would be your one piece of advice to other countries?

Do not fear. It can be done. Doesn't it it does not need, you know, what I always say is, baby steps and don't think that you need a lot of funding to do it. The whole point of a social enterprise model is to just do the planning effectively and just don't fear because risk needs to be taken when you're implementing innovation. And think of the end user, and that will motivate you and push you forward.

Wonderful. Well, gosh, I thank you for your time. You know, we got there in the end with technical difficulties which cut your time down. So I I appreciate the hustle, in making this work for, the conference today and the overarching stream and and getting your message out. So thank you for joining, Antonella.