Everybody tries to ask me...
Yeah.
Like, what do you like about school?
Yeah.
But I don't really know.
Yes.
Yeah.
He just finds it really difficult
to talk about and he just is so...
He can't talk about anything
personal.
This is Henry.
He was diagnosed with ADHD
when he was six-years-old.
Goodmorning.
I've made it into an omelette today
Henry, did you want cheese on it?
Right, could you take them for me.
Good boy.
All at once, woah.
Henry had always been sort of a,
I guess if you call it an on-the-go
sort of child.
He verbalises his
anxieties,
sensory needs.
Can I just stick some to my
skin?
It's everything through
big emotions.
I'm about to do a fart.
Oh my gosh, Henry.
Seriously.
Henry is the youngest of three kids.
Nine-year-old boys.
His older sister, Elouise,
is off to school for the day.
Bye.
Bye sweetheart.
Henry would be too
but he's been suspended
for three weeks.
This is his old school,
where my other kids all went.
They just basically,
oh, let's just put him in a separate
room that he can't go outside of.
Like, so I can't see any of my friends.
Yeah.
Because they thought it was safer.
So, the first day of school this year
when we got the call...
He was threatening teachers,
using sticks as a weapon,
when he picked up a pair of scissors
his teacher dialled triple zero.
It'd be my worst fear
that this was going to happen.
By the time the police arrived,
students had been evacuated
to safety in the school hall.
He was in such a state of
heightened distress
to flight and flight response,
that they had to restrain him
with handcuffs.
My nine-year-old boy.
Like Henry,
a quarter of students with ADHD
have been suspended for their
behaviour.
And nearly half of those suspended,
were under seven.
Teddy's going, what is that?
My god.
11-year-old Ashton was diagnosed
four years ago.
When Ashton was diagnosed,
his mother Cat discovered
she too would need treatment
for ADHD.
Now that was good.
Ashton has had his issues
in the classroom too.
Keep the eye on the ball.
Imagine you're Miss A teaching you,
how do you think Miss A feels?
So if I was Miss A I'd probably be
annoyed because,
you know, I usually just call out
and then
you know,
it makes her really annoyed.
Something and then...
and then everyone just gets all
worked up and then
I just feel like
I just want to kill myself,
sometimes.
And yeah.
I went through a very similar thing
at that age as well and it's
really hard.
And that's why I've been
fighting so hard.
With ADHD a lot of
people don't survive,
if you know what I mean.
Cat's right.
The rate of suicide is 10 times
higher for people with ADHD.
Kids with ADHD
often get in trouble.
But their problems don't arise
from the way that they're parented,
their problems arise from differences,
within, in the way that their
brain develops.
So what we see here Marty is
the combined scans
from 2000 children and adults
with ADHD, compared to 2000
healthy controls.
It leaves no doubt that ADHD is a
biological disorder and a biological
disorder of the brain.
Should ADHD be considered in the
same way as other disabilities?
Is it a disability?
I think ADHD is a disability.
The real impacts of not being
noticed, not being recognised,
means that you don't get the
support that you need.
In the US and the UK,
you can receive disability support
for the condition.
But in Australia,
a diagnosis of just ADHD
doesn't qualify for the NDIS,
which means appointments with
doctors, psychiatrists and
paediatricians aren't subsidised.
So Ashton's mum is,
left to go it alone.
No we don't receive any support
for his ADHD.
The psychologists
are actually very expensive.
You know you could have just done,
before you could have done that
or that.
Henry does get support,
but that's only because
he was also diagnosed with
autism late last year.
All of a sudden it was like,
oh, he's autistic,
well that explains everything.
He's not just a naughty kid
with ADHD.
Here's your lunch sweetheart.
Who's winning?
Yum.
And all of a sudden these doors
open.
But, since Henry's suspension,
school remains out of reach
and Annabel is now preparing
to homeschool him.
We just want him to be,
you know...
We just want him to be happy.
I don't need him to get awards,
I don't need
him to win running races,
I don't need anything but
just to go to school
from nine till three,
play at lunch,
feel safe.