'My ADHD picture book is to help others like me'

Bethany Dempsey produced a picture book about ADHD to help others struggling to digest information about the condition

An author and illustrator with ADHD has called for her new picture book explaining the condition to be made free to local schools after being inundated with requests.

Bethany Dempsey, from Wolverhampton, said an online poll she started, offering free copies to three local schools, had received hundred of votes.

"That went quite crazy," she said. "I was expecting it to be just like five or six locally, but loads of people kept tagging their school on... It's something that could really help."

She is now seeking funding to make it more widely available and has approached her local MP's office and councillors for advice.

Mrs Dempsey, who creates social media content and blogs as The Dempsey Diaries, was diagnosed when she was 27, during the Covid lockdown.

She had felt "different" growing up, but assumed it was because her family were Jehovah's Witnesses and her dad worked as a busker performing as a tap-dancing robot.

But when she had her own children, she struggled to cope with the demands of motherhood, such as organising packed lunches and getting to school on time.

"I felt like I was getting worse and couldn't understand why," she said.

Mrs Dempsey would like to access funding to provide free copies of her book to local schools

She described her diagnosis as an "oh, that makes sense now" moment but subsequently found the "novel-sized books" about ADHD too daunting to open.

She is now passionate about helping others understand it in a "short and sweet" format.

"I've made this book specifically for people like me who haven't really got the capacity to sit and read through but need all the information," she said.

'Learning acceptance'

So you've got ADHD, NOW WHAT? was written with adults and teenagers in mind and explains topics such sleep problems, masking, and differences between men and women with the condition.

She hopes to access about £2,000 for all Wolverhampton schools to receive three free copies, then will look at funding to distribute the book further afield.

"If I'd known this 20 years ago, would my life have been completely different?" she asked.

"If kids at 12 or 13 realise there's nothing wrong with you, it's just a different sort of brain, they might learn acceptance."

She next plans an ADHD book specifically for younger children, and to then focus on something for people with both autism and ADHD.