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| Reception for Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D., Joseph Biederman, M.D., and Japanese psychiatrist, Kousuke Yamazaki, M.D., presenters at the first Japanese Public Forum on AD/HD |
Gender Issues - International
JAPAN
AD/HD is in the eye of the beholder! While we are struggling here in the US for recognition of AD/HD in girls and women, women in Japan seem to have won the war without firing a shot! But what exactly have they won? As Kathleen Nadeau heard more from women in Japan, it becomes clear that AD/HD is a “female disorder” because the responsibility for planning and organizing – in the home and in the workplace as well – falls almost exclusively upon women.
Kathleen Nadeau was a presenter in August, 2002, at the first national conference on AD/HD in Japan, sponsored by numerous organizations including the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. To her amazement, several weeks prior to her arrival in Japan she began receiving emails from women in Japan entreating her to meet separately with them after her presentation. They related that in Japan AD/HD in adults is considered an exclusively female (!) disorder, and yet there is almost no treatment available and few resources of any kind.
Sari Solden’s 1995 book, Women with Attention Deficit Disorder, has been translated into Japanese, where it is a best seller. Plans are underway to translate the women’s AD/HD questionnaire, the SASI (Self-assessment Symptom Inventory), into Japanese. Negotiations are also underway to translate Gender Issues and AD/HD into Japanese, along with Understanding Women with AD/HD.
A pioneering group of determined Japanese women has formed a small support group in the Tokyo area, created a website, and are now working hard to develop resources for themselves. Several women from this group will be attending CHADD in Miami in September.
They are currently working on creative solutions in this age of the internet. Two group members will visit Kathleen Nadeau’s clinic in Maryland on their way to CHADD in Miami to meet with Kim Collins, ADD Coach and former professional organizer, to discuss the possibility of live, online international training on ADD coaching and organizing.
NCGI would like to extend a welcoming hand to our pioneering sisters across the Pacific. With luck, perhaps we can receive a report from Japan at our first National Conference on Gender Issues and AD/HD, slated for April, 2003.
Next: The Top Ten Things To Help Moms With ADD Cope With The Start Of Another School Year! >>
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