A closer look at ADHD

ADHD affects 1 in 20 children and young people. The King’s Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young people is carrying out groundbreaking research into ADHD, autism and other areas of neurodiversity.

During Children’s Mental Health Week (last week) Brody Barclay, a student at the University of Central Lancashire and Youth Panel Member for RE-STAR (a neurodiversity research programme at King’s College London) interviewed Philip Shaw, Director of The King’s Maudsley Partnership about what ADHD is and some of the innovative research that is taking place to support people with ADHD.

In three short films Brody and Philip explore:

• What ADHD is
• Managing ADHD
• Research into ADHD (in particular how games are being used to help people with ADHD)

What is ADHD?

Managing ADHD

Research in to ADHD

The King’s Maudsley Partnership

The King’s Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People is a unique collaboration between specialist clinicians from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and leading academics at King’s College London, with Maudsley Charity as its charity partner. The partnership will transform understanding and treatment of young people’s mental health.

In the new, world leading Clinical Research Facility at the Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People, the partnerships expert research teams will have access to state-of-the-art brain imaging equipment, purpose built for children and developing brains. This will enable them to really understand the root causes and early predictors of coexisting conditions, including ADHD and autism, to generate new treatments, be able to better predict how mental health difficulties develop so to increase the number of options available to children and young people and improve outcomes.

The King’s Maudsley Partnership will also address the widespread concern about the length of wait times for assessments for neurodevelopmental disorders. This lack of early and effective diagnosis and support can affect children’s futures, placing a huge burden on families and the education, healthcare, and judicial systems.