The Forums › Forums › Emotional Journey › Other › Who is going to the ADHD Workshop in Toronto on February 27th? › Re: Who is going to the ADHD Workshop in Toronto on February 27th?
The workshop was amazing! We sold out. A week before the attendance was so low we came close to canceling it!
Suggestion for future reference: Book early. Yes, I know you’ve got ADHD. You can spend the 10 minutes now, or spend 20 minutes the day before when the booking website is running slow from everyone trying to get in.
I especially felt for the people who were turned away, some in tears.
The workshop was everything we had hoped and more. Patrick McKenna made a surprise appearance for a couple of the segments, including a Radio Drama about a couple struggling with the husband’s undiagnosed ADHD. Michelle, the woman who volunteered to play his wife with no idea what was in the script she was handed, was wonderful! People laughed of course, but I was told afterwards a lot of people were fighting tears. I do recall it was very quiet at points. I can’t tell you how many of you came up afterwards and said, “I recognized every line of dialogue… Either I’ve said it, or my wife has. It was scary.”
The only downside was that it was scheduled on the same weekend that the Science Centre was closing it’s show Body World’s show, which features real human bodies preserved in plastic and dissected so you can look at them. (Personally, I think skin is there to prevent that from ever happening. But then I’m squeamish.) So parking was crazy. But Ava made sure everyone was warned to be there by 12:00 at the latest. Some where there already at 10:00 as the Science Centre’s doors opened.
Dr. Jain and I opened the day with a comedy skit. I played a patient who can’t understand why the world makes him crazy. Dr. Jain played himself (Which he did well.) Roars of recognition. And if cringing with recognition made a sound, everyone in the room would have been deaf. There was clearly too much to cover in one afternoon but boy, we tried. There was a surprisingly tricky game show about the history of ADHD, a look at the symptoms, the sections on tools, on the Compulsive Impulsive spectrum, a section on medication, the ASRS test, other disorders that can look like ADHD and much more. I think my section on 36 Tools and Techniques only got to about 20 of them before we had to move on.
The volunteers we had helping us get everyone registered and in were amazing. Thanks to Ava Green, Jennifer Johnston, Jimi Doidge, Russ and Pat Le Blanc, Sue Potter, Lisa Evans, Nick & Marta Green, David Mydlo, Zac Black, David Poisson, Caleb Blaine, Jordan Hayles plus Sherie Roberts, Jim and the staff at the Science Centre. They were incredible. With very little rehearsal time they nailed the lights, sound and visuals.
Anyway, lots of learning and information being shared, but I think it’s safe to say the biggest breakthrough for everyone in the room was, “I’m not alone, I’m not bad, I’m not doomed and I can own this.” Ya gotta love it!
What did everyone think? What did you like? Dislike? Want more of? What did you wish we had covered? What did you wished we’d skipped?
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