Girl Scouts launch training program to educate about ADHD

COURTESY
BEDFORD — The Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains partnered with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield New Hampshire, the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester and with Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Hampshire on May 17 to educate staff and volunteers on the “invisible disabilities” of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a press release.

Rik Cornell, vice president of community relations for the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester presented a training session at the Girl Scouts’ office in Bedford. Cornell said he’s trying to “make it cool to talk about mental health.”

Groups like the Girl Scouts and Big Brothers Big Sisters are finding that children with such needs present volunteers with the question of how best to help. They hope to provide additional support and resources to volunteers by giving them the training they need to understand invisible disabilities.

Cornell said it’s important to understand the disability and its limits, and to feel comfortable talking about it. Volunteers can then help build resilience in children, understand its effects on families, and look at the positives in children with ADD and ADHD, he said.

“As a council, we want to train our leaders and volunteers to identify certain indicative behaviors,” said Anne Marie Yorio of GSGWM. “Many leaders have not previously been open to learning more about subject. If we can provide helpful training and education, leaders may become more comfortable.”

Families see Girl Scouting as a safe space for their daughters to explore and make friends, so it’s good to let parents know that volunteers and troop leaders have the knowledge and tools to work with girls diagnosed with ADD / ADHD and anxiety. Participants from Big Brothers Big Sisters also found the training helpful, all according to the press release.

“This training, for me as a psychology major, is a great review of information about ADHD and anxiety,” said Lis Reis, community-based programs coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Claremont and Keene area. “This is a good reminder about the issues and how to help understand the challenges that kids, parents and families face. It’s helpful to have this information and provide the tools to the Bigs (adult volunteers) who may not know how to interact with kids with ADHD or anxiety, as well as to help parents or family members. It’s important to help everyone set goals for these kids and to be flexible in our programming.”

Mike James of Anthem said he is hopeful the training will reduce attrition among volunteers and reduce the stigma of mental illness with this new initiative.