Part 2: Challenges in ADHD Care for Children of Color

Summary

Children of color with ADHD often experience challenges and barriers to receiving mental health care. It is important for educators and healthcare professionals to be transcultural when providing care, and for parents to know how to advocate for their child. Stigma continues to exist in the conversation regarding mental health and ADHD. Dr. Roberto Olivardia discusses the barriers to mental health care in the Black community and offers ways in which mental health professionals and educators can provide services for different cultures. He also provides information for parents on how to help their children face these challenges.

 

Roberto Olivardia, PhD

Dr. Roberto Olivardia is a clinical psychologist and lecturer in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Lexington, Massachusetts, where he specializes in the treatment of ADHD, executive functioning issues, and students with learning differences. He also specializes in the treatment of body dysmorphic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and eating disorders in boys and men. He currently serves on the professional advisory boards for CHADD, ADDA, and the National Association for Males with Eating Disorders.

Objectives:

• Learn about the barriers to treatment for children of color with ADHD.
• Learn how professionals can develop cultural awareness.
• Gain skills on how to change the conversation about mental health and people of color.
• Learn how parents of color can advocate for their child.
• Identify how treatment can be provided equitably throughout different communities.