ADHD Aotearoa

13/10/2025

“Change Needs Voices, Not Silence”

For far too long, our ADHD communities has spoken about not being heard, supported, or treated fairly.

But when organisations like ADHD Aotearoa and ADHD Inquiry NZ stand up, speak out, and fight for real change — where is the backing from our own communities?

If change is truly what we want, we can’t stay silent.
We can’t say “nothing ever changes” while ignoring the ones trying to change it.

Head over to on Instagram and add your voice to their petition calling for better education support and fair treatment across Aotearoa.

ADHD Aotearoa meet with Te Pati Maori this Friday on the Pharmac and Medsafe policy changes.

Change doesn’t happen in silence — it happens when we stand together. Become interested in yourselves and your whanau, our country and stand up for our rights to education and fair treatment for ADHD.

08/10/2025

08/10/2025

08/10/2025

This is so true, even with pharmac and medsafe policy on ADHD policies, Maori were never given an invitation or consultation on such serious changes to our mental health system.

08/10/2025

03/10/2025

🌿 A Reflection on Advocacy & Our Fight Ahead 🌿

It is not often that a parent raising a child with disabilities is willing to openly accept advice. But recently, I met a mother raising a child with severe disabilities as well as ADHD, and our kōrero was one I will not forget.

She spoke about the deep emotional toll of parenting an autistic child — how it left her feeling unloved, disconnected, and physically and emotionally drained. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her child, but that the daily challenges had worn her down in ways few outsiders could truly understand. Hearing her honesty was humbling, and my heart ached for her.

What this reminded me is that autism and ADHD bring very different struggles.

Autism is lifelong, complex, and often misunderstood. The emotional and physical exhaustion for parents is very real, as they fight for connection and understanding in the midst of relentless challenges.

ADHD is different. It is a behavioural disorder where behaviours can be learned, managed, and changed — with the right tools and supports in place.

And while both conditions deserve empathy and support, they cannot be treated as if they are the same. What works for one does not work for the other, and when systems lump them together, parents and children alike are left without the help they actually need.

The disabilities community deserves to be seen, heard, and supported in the way they need — nothing less.

And perhaps, for these changes to finally happen, it will take an outside view to bring the solutions forward. After being trapped in the chaos for so long, unheard for so long, their voices have often become dismissed or seen as irritating to the very systems they are seeking support from. Just as Māori grievances and ongoing concerns can irritate some, even when they are based on real injustices, the same is true for the disabilities community.

Their struggle is no less real — it only shows how urgently a fresh, listening ear is needed.

02/10/2025

Rallying Update

Big news: our mission is moving to Parliament.

Thanks to the support of Te Pāti Māori, we will be presenting our concerns around ADHD care and medication access at a meeting on 17 October. This is about making sure our tamariki, rangatahi, and adults with ADHD are not left behind.

To my 1.9k followers and thousands that visit: your support means everything.
Please keep sharing, commenting, and standing strong with us.
Every voice matters, and every story strengthens our case.

02/10/2025

Rallying Support: Our Fight Continues

Flashback to our 2018 protest — a pivotal moment in our journey.

From 2018 to now, our commitment to advocating for ADHD remains unwavering. The proposed changes by Medsafe and PHARMAC threaten to undermine the progress we've made and jeopardize the accessibility of essential ADHD medications, support services and removing ADHD from mental health umbrella.

But we are not backing down. With the support of Te Pāti Māori, we are taking our concerns to Parliament on October 17th. This is a crucial opportunity to ensure our voices are heard and our rights upheld.

💛 We need your support. Share this post, spread the word, and stand with us as we continue this fight for fair and accessible ADHD care.

✊ And a question for our whānau: when the time comes, who will stand and protest with us? Comment below if you are ready to join the fight.

01/10/2025

Taking ADHD to Parliament

Whānau, I’m proud to share that Te Pāti Māori are standing with us in opposition to the Medsafe/PHARMAC changes around ADHD medication. On the 17th of October, we will be meeting with them to take our fight directly to Parliament and to the public.

This is a huge step forward — it means our voices, the ADHD community’s voices, are not only being heard but are being carried to the very place where decisions are made.

This battle is not about autism, not about other conditions — it is about ADHD and making sure ADHDers are not pushed out, sidelined, or forced into paying unbearable costs for life-saving medication.

Our message is clear: ADHD must remain within mental health care, with proper clinical processes respected, and medication kept affordable and accessible for all.

Stand with us. Share, comment, and let the government know that our ADHD whānau will not be silenced. 💛

01/10/2025

Seeking Community Support

Whānau, our concerns are being heard. In this article, others have raised the same issues we’ve been speaking out about. This shows our voices are travelling, and those who once supported the Medsafe/PHARMAC move may now be rethinking their position.

This fight is about ADHD — and ADHD alone. We cannot allow autism or other conditions to take the limelight and change medical processes that were never theirs to begin with. ADHD is a standalone condition, and those of us with ADHD deserve to have care and medication access designed for our needs, not pushed aside for someone else’s agenda.

These proposed changes risk:

Pushing ADHD out of mental health care and undermining proper assessments.

Forcing ADHDers to pay high costs for medication if government subsidies are removed.

Treating ADHD medication like medicinal cannabis — available only to those who can afford it.

To our 1.9k-strong community and thousands of visitors — we need you with us. Share this post, raise your voice, and show the government that our ADHD community will not be ignored or sidelined.

This is not just policy — this is about our future, our whānau, and our right to treatment and care that is fair and accessible.

Many agree the way we diagnose and treat ADHD needs improving. So, will these new rules help? Or create more problems?

01/10/2025

✦ Update – Medsafe & ADHD Medication ✦

This 1News article shares the story of a woman diagnosed with "autism and ADHD". To access ADHD medication, she must first pay to see another specialist not for a diagnosis, but simply to unlock the prescription.

Her frustration is clear: the real barrier isn’t diagnosis — it’s the "cost of accessing the right specialist" just to get medication.

This raises serious concerns. We already know from experience that "medicinal cannabis", a Class C controlled drug, costs patients $500 – $1000 per month because it isn’t subsidised.

With ADHD medication being a "Class B2 controlled drug" (the same category as P and opiates), we fear the same could happen here.

👉 The push for these changes is coming largely from those with "autism and ADHD together". But in doing so, "sole ADHD is being pushed out — as if we are no longer important in this law change".

Autism is reshaping the procedures and processes to suit its needs, even though ADHD is a separate medical condition. For disability advocates to interfere in a medical process they do not directly deal with or involved with — at the cost of those with ADHD alone — is deeply unfair and, frankly, selfish.

If this continues, the outcome is clear:

ADHD medication could be forced into the same model as cannabis — a "private, high-cost medicine".

With thousands now seeking treatment, this opens the door for PHARMAC and the Government to limit or remove subsidies and push the financial burden onto families.

This is not the future we want for our ADHD community.

👉 Share your thoughts below — how would rising costs affect you or your whānau?

Many agree the way we diagnose and treat ADHD needs improving. So, will these new rules help? Or create more problems?

01/10/2025

🚨 **Scam Alert for our ADHD Aotearoa whānau** 🚨

We’ve seen posts and ads circulating online that look like this:

“Natural remedies are the best in treating Chronic Illnesses… I’m completely free and healthy after using Dr Ogudugu herbal mixture…”

Please know:

❌ These ads are scams.
❌ The “medications” they promote are **illegal in New Zealand**.
❌ They are not safe, and they are not recognised by any trusted medical body.

If you see these types of posts, don’t click the links and don’t share your details. Report them when you can.

Your safety and wellbeing matter — stick with trusted health professionals and evidence-based care.