As part of CWA of NSW Awareness Week, the Maclean Branch will be hosting our monthly Sconversations on Wednesday September 6 with the theme “Awareness – Neurodiversity”. 

Members and interested people from our community are welcome to attend. The start time is 11.30am.

Our guest speaker is Dee Thompson, clinical psychologist from Luna Clinic, Maclean. Savoury and sweet scones will be served for lunch. RSVP by Monday September 4 would be appreciated.

Contact: cwamaclean@gmail.com

The Country Women’s Association (CWA) of NSW is using its annual Awareness Week campaign to highlight the issue of neurodiversity and neurodivergent conditions, with a particular emphasis on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the growing number of adult women who are being diagnosed with the condition.

The 2023 campaign will run from September 3 to 9, focused on increasing awareness around neurodiversity and neurodivergent conditions (which includes ADHD, autism, dyslexia and Tourette syndrome), and is calling for urgent changes to improve diagnosis and treatment options around ADHD, with rural, regional and remote NSW residents particularly impacted.

With an increase in the number of adults, many of them women, who are being diagnosed with, or seeking diagnosis, for ADHD, demand is currently exceeding the services available. Costs for diagnosis are rising, medication supplies are periodically stretched, and out-of-pocket treatment costs are putting pressure on household budgets. Rural and regional residents are really feeling this impact, with their options often fewer than those in our major cities.

This year, the CWA of NSW is partnering with the Australian ADHD Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation committed to providing help and support to people living with or supporting someone with ADHD, and ultimately, working to make the lives of people with ADHD easier and simpler.

The ADHD Foundation has reported a spike in demand for their services from 35 to 50-year-olds, many of them women, which was putting additional pressure on the health system, with people struggling to obtain a diagnosis in the first place and certain types of medication at times in short supply.

• Increased recruitment, training and retention of, and support for, health care professionals to ensure client access to timely diagnosis and management of ADHD, particularly in rural, regional, and remote areas;
• New ways to reduce the costs of diagnosing and treating adult ADHD;
• Extension of access to all long-acting medications on the PBS for late diagnosis ADHD; and
• More research into long-term outcomes of ADHD in girls and women – especially work that investigates how and why the disorder contributes to difficulties across the life span.
• More awareness of ADHD in girls and women to ensure early diagnosis, leading to better treatment and support.

Chris Johnstone