Engaged Talks: #ADHDfeels Stories & Solutions
A doctor and a student both diagnosed with ADHD, and an esteemed technologist teamed up to tackle their tech needs and challenges before an engaged audience of students and professionals.
This is the goal of HiFi and the Center for Inclusive Education’s (CIE) first collaboration project dubbed Engaged x #ADHDfeels Stories & Solutions. HiFi and CIE are the new business units under the Office of the President tasked to lead Benilde’s breakthrough goals of Innovation and Inclusion.
From the Benildean:
“The newly established Center for Inclusive Education (CIE), dedicated to initiating programs and services that cater to the needs of differently challenged individuals, with the collaborative effort of the Hub of Innovation for Inclusion (HiFi) organized different programs and forums with regards to the College’s participation in a week-long nationwide campaign to raise awareness for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The forums were held at the School of Design and Arts (SDA) Theater last October 21 and 22.
The CIE and HiFi invited various personalities with different professions to share their stories and knowledge to inform the community how to respond with the needs and well-being of people with ADHD. The Center also partnered with the ADHD Society of the Philippines in hosting the 8th Biennial ADHD National Conference at the SDA Theater.
The forum organized by CIE and HiFi, entitled “Engaged Talks for Social Good: #ADHDFeels Stories and Solutions,” was open to all and presented three speaker — two of them diagnosed with ADHD.
Dr. Francis Xavier Dimalanta, a physician and one of the directors of the CIE, shared his knowledge from a doctor’s perspectives of ADHD. While, John Villareal Nepomuceno, a history major at the University of Santo Tomas, talked about his personal experiences growing up with ADHD. The last speaker Professor Clement Ong, a full time faculty member of the Computer Technology Department of De La Salle University Manila, shared how innovations of modern technology can be used help people diagnosed with conditions such as ADHD.
Moreover, the theme for the conference, “Turning Disability with This Ability,” aims to address how every child diagnosed with ADHD can transform his/her differences into an advantage for a successful life, through proper care and guidance.
During the week-long campaign, the CIE also tapped the College’s Br. Fidelis Leddy Learning Resource Center to establish a special section for ADHD resources in the Taft Campus — making books, magazines, and other audio-visual materials on ADHD more available to the Benildean community.
Under Presidential Proclamation №472, every third week of October is dedicated to observing National ADHD Awareness Week. Likewise, October is the Global ADHD awareness month.”
