On October 4, 2025, as part of the program series organized for Murmo’s birthday celebration, participants had the opportunity to attend experiential workshops. These events were attended primarily by parents, but also by professionals and educators, who not only gained useful information, but were also able to ask questions and, through various exercises, briefly immerse themselves in topics related to their own self-awareness. One such workshop was ‘How Should I Talk to My Child About Their ADHD Diagnosis?’, led by clinical psychologist Judit Jantner, which attracted considerable interest.

The workshop was inspired by the fact that many parents struggle with how to talk to their child about an ADHD diagnosis. Parents often report that they themselves have many unanswered questions, so their focus tends to be directed toward the diagnosis itself, everyday challenges, and short-term problem solving. When ADHD is first suspected, families often experience overwhelm and helplessness due to the flood of contradictory information coming from their environment, social media, and sometimes even professionals. As a result, families must devote much of their energy to assessments, therapies, and seeking information, which naturally leaves little capacity for meaningful conversations with the child. In addition to discussing the diagnosis and its implications, parents often find emotionally intense situations especially challenging — moments filled with strong emotions, when it becomes very difficult to remain calm and provide creative solutions or explanations for the child.

One of the workshop’s main goals was to highlight the importance of education, which should begin from a very early age. Not only the child, but also the parents should educate themselves through a limited number of reliable sources (books written for affected families, podcasts, online and offline lectures, parent support groups). These resources can help parents better understand what everyday experiences — such as getting ready in the morning, using public transportation, or spending a day at school — may feel like for their child. Understanding makes a significant difference in emotionally charged situations, as it becomes easier to empathize with the child.

This understanding also helps parents explain concepts such as executive function difficulties in a creative and age-appropriate way (“It’s like an air traffic control tower directing airplanes, but there are too many planes and only one person working in the tower”) or impulsivity (“It’s like the brakes on a bicycle. When they don’t work, I act before I think — for example, I say yes to something before realizing later that I don’t actually have time for it.”). Through these explanations, parents can help children understand what is happening inside them in different situations. At the same time, parents can model healthy emotional regulation through their words and behaviour (“Let me think about it, I need some time.” “I’m very angry right now, and I need to step away and calm down.”), while also helping reduce stigma and feelings of shame.

It is also important to recognize situations that are particularly overwhelming for the child, so calming techniques (such as jumping or physical movement) can be learned in advance, or the environment can be modified to help prevent problematic behaviour (for example, keeping smartphones or tablets out of sight). These topics are worth discussing frequently with the child, because this is how they learn about themselves, their strengths, and their limits. To help prevent the development of mood disorders alongside ADHD, children should also be taught — through direct guidance and parental modelling — that it is okay to ask for help when something feels too difficult to manage alone.

Another aim of the workshop was to work with parents’ own beliefs and attitudes regarding ADHD. Children affected by ADHD often have a fragile self-image and tend to remember negative feedback more strongly than positive experiences. Therefore, positive moments and achievements should always be clearly acknowledged, and the desired behaviour should be explicitly reinforced. Parents’ beliefs and attitudes strongly influence how children perceive ADHD and evaluate themselves, making it important for parents to become more conscious of how they think and talk about their child’s behaviour, difficulties, and strengths. Age-appropriate metaphors and comparisons can be especially useful — for example, using animals with positive traits as examples.

Parents and children can also talk together about reframing behaviours commonly associated with ADHD — such as creativity, curiosity, and originality — and about the areas in which these abilities can become strengths.

Overall, the workshop emphasized that parents can best support their child by gathering information from reliable sources, engaging in self-reflection, and practicing parental self-care.

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