ADAPT Info in English
Verein ADAPT (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders – Working Group for the Advancement of Individuals with AD/HD and Specific Learning Disabilities) is a non-profit organisation which was founded in Vienna, Austria, in 1999 by concerned parents, educators and therapists who had been inspired to do so by the Costa Rican psychologist and founder of the Costa Rican AD/HD parent support organization, Marina Peña, PhD., and by the example set by Bonnie Reinitzer, a well-known violinist and teacher at the American International School in Vienna who had run an English language AD/HD parent support group at the school for several years prior to the existence of Verein ADAPT. Maria Subak, MD, who has run an ADHD clinic for more than a couple of decades in Montreal, Canada, where she diagnoses and treats patients in English, French and Spanish, was yet another ADHD professional who inspired us to found ADAPT.
The association presented itself to the public at the first Austrian AD/HD conference in Salzburg in 1999. Its main goal is to support families, educators and therapists who are confronted with children and adolescents with ADHD with/without hyperactivity, specific learning difficulties and other comorbidities (accompanying medical and social problems). Although not specifically stated in the association’s statutes, ADAPT also aims to assist those adults who suspect that they, too, may have AD/HD, like some of their younger relatives, as well as adults who have already received a diagnosis.
We are particularly concerned about the possible consequences for adolescents and adults with this syndrome who have neither been diagnosed nor treated and who may be suffering from psychiatric disorders (e.g. anxiety, depression), addiction (to alcohol, nicotine, drugs or gambling) and/or social problems (e.g. financial trouble, divorce, violence, homelessness). At the same time, we acknowledge that there are certainly people of all ages and in all societies with this syndrome whose lives are not greatly impaired by it, mainly because the structures within their families, educational systems or professional lives provide them with exactly what is required for them to thrive. There are also those with unique talents, who, despite impairment in certain areas, are able to rise to great creative heights and become great leaders, artists, writers, musicians or inventors. If ADAPT is able to support families and educators in Austria while AD/HD children are still young, it is our hope that these selfsame people will become successful adults one day, using the aspects of their personalities which are so typical of AD/HD to help them achieve this aim.
Besides the ADAPT Newsletter, which is published 4-5 times per year and
read all over Austria, sales of specialized literature and the mailing
of news regarding AD/HD from the Internet, we lend books and videos to
members and organize meetings in Vienna every two months, either with
a speaker or purely for discussion and making new acquaintances, a regular
discussion group for parents and teachers, as well as regular meetings
for adults. Lectures are also given by ADAPT board members. Special events
include, for instance, lectures and workshops with experts from Austria
and abroad, e.g. Hans Biegert, founder and head of the Hebo-Schule in
Bonn, psychologist and author, Cordula Neuhaus from Esslingen, Germany,
and Michael Finkel, MD, FAAN, from the Cleveland Clinic, Florida, USA.
New support groups in the provinces (with their own names and types of
organization) receive support in the form of information and the opportunity
to publicize their work all over Austria in our newsletter.
The association’s statutes stress the "compilation
and dissemination of information and scientific papers”, which to
us means providing members with background material obtained from the
field of evidence-based medicine and not from dubious sources where the
term "peer-reviewed journal” is unknown.
ADAPT cooperates closely with other Austrian and European associations
for the advancement of individuals with AD/HD. An example of this is the
ADHD Profile Study (Huss & Högl, 2002) with the AÜK in Germany
and ELPOS in Switzerland. We take part in congresses, EU meetings and
other cross-border functions on a regular basis, are in constant e-mail
contact with associations and professionals, both in Austria and around
the world, and hope that this intensive networking will enable those in
Austria who find AD/HD an impairment at some stage of their lives to enjoy
a more promising future.
Verein ADAPT is a non-profit association which depends on membership
fees and donations for its continued existence. All the work is done by
unpaid volunteers who dedicate a great deal of their spare time to the
AD/HD cause in Austria. Why do we do it, you may ask…..well, considering
the lack of knowledge of the subject and virtual absence of any ADHD networking
here prior to 1999, we felt that it would not be fair to keep all the
information we had gleaned from abroad to ourselves, merely for the benefit
of a limited circle of individuals. So we founded ADAPT and, as with any
other organization of this kind, landed ourselves with an enormous volume
of work, which would ideally be done by paid staff in addition to volunteers.
Unfortunately, our means do not yet permit us to employ anyone or even
to have an office. We hope that the situation will improve in the not
too distant future.
It is possible to join ADAPT online, by filling in the form entitled "Mitgliedschaft”
on the "Wir über uns” page and transferring the membership
fee separately to our bank account. Donations are, of course, always more
than welcome (Bank: PSK; sort code: 60 000; acct. no. 9211 0795)!
Anne Tischlinger, August 2003
Power point presentation 2004 Advocacy Begins at Home held at the IACAPAP (International Association for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry & allied Professions) Congress, Berlin, August 2004
Joanne Norris from ADHD-Europe (www.adhdeurope.eu) recommended Verein
ADAPT on the web-based social networking site LinkedIn in January 2010:
"ADAPT Verein is a non-profit AD/HD organization that is run in an
exemplary way not least because of the calibre of
its management team. This organization is a member organization of
ADHD-Europe and is one of the member states that always supports the
initiatives introduced by ADHD-Europe wholeheartedly. The work that
ADAPT Verein is doing in Austria is very important and cannot be
over-emphasized; a truly remarkable presence in Austria and in
ADHD-Europe."
