A teacher from Calgary's North Point School for Boys spoke to families in the Okotoks community on Wednesday night (Jan. 16) regarding ADHD, strategies, and stigmas.

Les Redick, Teacher, says one of the best things to do as a parent to an ADHD child, is get educated.

"Parents are expecting psychologists, pediatricians, teachers to have all the answers. What they will find is, unless they have taken a special interest in ADHD, have not educated themselves as well as they should have. It's up to the parents to bring this information to these working professionals, and set up some type of a plan moving forward," he said.

Redick's passion for the subject is attributed, in part, to him having ADHD diagnosed at age 35, and raising two ADHD children. One with medication, and one without.

He addressed several inquiries, including the medical component, associated stigmas, and the most controversial topic, medication.

"If you understand what the medication does, and that this is a neurobiological disorder of the brain, the medications are there to help the body work properly. It's their choice, but know, that their plan is going to look very different without medication. It's going to take a lot more work, but it can be done," said Redick.

He also offered several coping strategies, urging parents to stop asking their children with ADHD why they behave in a certain way, because they really don't know why, and can be pushed into other disorders, such as Oppositional Defiance Disorder, when trying to come up with an answer to a question they really don't know how to answer.

Redick has made it his mission to help parents get on the right track to helping their children after extensive studying on the disorder.