Themes of Experience of Parent Advocates for Students with ADHD in School

Paper

Gifted students who also have ADHD need an advocate while they are in school in order to bridge the gap between their demonstration of high capacity for learning and creativity, and their implusivity, inconsistent focus and often distactible behavior. Advocates are usually the student's parents who must become advocates in response to the child’s need for support and a call for parental involvement from the school. Parent advocates are confronted with many challenges, the
primary being the daunting, often solitary task of advocating for a child who is often
viewed by teachers and peers as very intelligent yet choosing to behave in an unruly, disrespectful and underachieving manner. This study uses a phenomenological research method to further understand the experience of parent advocates, specifically by interviewing parent advocates of students with ADHD in school. Findings include several themes organized in the following four
categories: 1) Identifying and Treating ADHD in the School Context, 2) ADHD
Advocates Need more Support from Schools, 3) Advocate Experience with the School is
a Swinging Pendulum and 4) Advocates Struggle to Pave a Path for Success. The work presented in this research paper explores the experience of parent advocates of students with ADHD in school in an effort to understand and improve parent advocate
experience.