Although it has been barely a year since Unlocking ADHD started, we are humbled by the support and reception that we have received. As we reflect on 2021 and plan for 2022, here is a quick recap below.
- We launched our social media in April 2021 and our website went “live” on July 27, 2021. We officially launched on October 1, 2021 in conjunction with ADHD Awareness Month.
- Our volunteer team has grown to about 80 individuals – a group that is beautifully diverse with our youngest volunteer aged 11 and our most senior at age 67. They comprise Singaporeans and expats, students, professionals and homemakers, ADHDers and non ADHDers. They are the core of Unlocking ADHD and the reason that we have been able to accomplish so much in the past few months since we launched.
- The Unlocking ADHD website is a ground up miracle – out of nothing, our volunteer content creators made our website the most comprehensive online resources for ADHD in Singapore – All within the space of 6 to 7 weeks!
Media Coverage
We were blessed to have been given several opportunities for media coverage in 2021. These included Vogue Singapore, Straits Times, Mothership, Channel NewsAsia, Clozette and the Singapore Kindness Movement’s Pride Magazine.
Guest Appearances
We are also grateful to the following organizations for giving an opportunity to Unlocking ADHD founder, Moonlake Lee, to be a guest or panelist on their events to spread awareness about ADHD to their communities. It was also a first for us on some of these platforms including Twitter Spaces, Facebook Live, LinkedIn Live, Podcasts and Clubhouse.
We were featured on Spark Singapore’s event on Entrepreneurship and ADHD, A Special Door’s Tune in Tuesday, The Straits Times HealthCheck Podcast, Changing Minds’s Clubhouse, ADHD Girls (UK) LinkedIn Live, LittleSteps Asia’s Facebook Live, Asia Institute of Mentoring’s event on “Reimagining and Reigniting Mental Well-Being” and ChannelNews Asia’s Twitter Spaces.
Events
We did not expect to organize so many events when we launched but there were so many topics that the Unlocking ADHD team thought were relevant to the community of parents, youth and adults – so we just went ahead and did it!
It was very heartwarming to see the response and we were very grateful to all the speakers and panelists who made time in their busy schedules to share their expertise and experiences with us.
In total, we had a total of 8 events in October – our launch month. We were honoured to have Dr Dan Shapiro, renowned Developmental Behavioural Pediatrician from Parent Child Journey to be our opening speaker on Should I or should I not Medicate my ADHD Child.
- Parenting topics included medication for ADHD children, supporting your child during exams and helping with mental health, strategic mindset in managing your ADHD child, parenting stories from moms with ADHD children and a professional panel on the diagnosis and management of ADHD in children and teens
- Our youth event was for procrastinators – the topic was last minute exam hacks and secret strategies to survive exams
- Adult ADHD topics included a panel on adulting & careers, and a professional panel on the diagnosis and management of ADHD in adults
We continued our streak, albeit at a “slower” rate in November and December with 5 events over 2 months:
- Parenting topics included a panel on the ADHD fathering journey, a session on choosing the right school for your ADHD child and a study skills workshop for parents
- Our youth event was on gaming – specifically the psychology of gaming and we also had a youth panel to discuss gaming careers and managing parent communications when it comes to gaming.
- Our highlight event was called “The Freak Factor” where we had David Rendall, a TedX motivational speaker, stand up comedian, entrepreneur and academic, share about discovering uniqueness by flaunting weakness
In total, the Unlocking ADHD team of volunteers organized 13 events with over 2,100 registrations over a period of 3 months. This really kept us on our toes!! As a value add to each event, we also recorded the webinars for those who were not able to attend – all these have been uploaded on the Unlocking ADHD Youtube channel.
We have also prepared practical tips and resources in Unlocking ADHD slides for almost all of our events – you can access them at our Google Drive Public Resources page. Do check them out – we hope that you find them helpful.
ADHD Stories / Videos
We were grateful for the opportunity to share over 20 personal ADHD journeys on the Unlocking ADHD website and social media.
These were stories about parenting journeys, of struggles with undiagnosed ADHD by young women, students who were failing out at school and older adults who had a late diagnosis. Despite challenging circumstances, however, a common thread in these stories is that each individual found Hope and Support to press on with their journey.
We were also blessed to have the support of the Singapore Fund to enable us to share several ADHD stories in video format. These videos featured Unlocking ADHD volunteers and our Founder. The videos provided viewers with insight into what it is like to have ADHD. We want to thank Charlene, Megan, Emilie and Andrea for being willing to share their journeys and for impacting many lives.
Award
We were humbled when our Founder, Moonlake Lee, was one of the recipients of the inaugural Singapore 40-over-40 Inspiring Women 2021 Awards in the Social Contributor category for her work in the ADHD community through Unlocking ADHD.
We are grateful to the organizers for giving us an opportunity to reach a wider audience through the award.
Survey
Unlocking ADHD collaborated with Spark Singapore and launched a survey to gather data on the issues ADHDers faced in Singapore. The data from our survey will be released in early 2022.
We hope that the data will provide insight into the ADHD landscape in Singapore and will result in getting more support for the community.
The Unlocking ADHD Team
We would not be where we are today without a wonderful team of individuals working hard behind the scenes. In recognition of the contribution of our pioneer team of about 50 volunteers who created content for the Unlocking ADHD website and helped build the foundation leading to our successful launch, please visit Our Team page to find out who these amazing folks are.
- We would also like to give a shout out to our core team who have provided their input, energy and time to help steer our activities the past few months: Andrea, Charlene, Trinity, Yuan, Laura, Jnanee, Li Ming, Shu Ming and Shiplu.
- Special mentions also to Megan, Emilie, Tina, Cheyenne, Chia Ming, Kai, Jesse, Chu Yuan, BJ, Vivien and Brian.
- Thanks also to our new volunteers for rising to the occasion: Zi Fei, Tahirah, Yi Hui, Frankie, Hillary, Masyitah, Janar, Sarah, Khairy, Sheila, Clarissa, Valerie, Zoe, Deepa, Grace, Ace, John, Melissa and Cara.
Social Media / Community
Do follow us on social media and join our community to access timely and relevant information on living life better with ADHD. You can also connect with our virtual support groups and online community (Facebook / Discord).
As of December 31, 2021, we have the following numbers:
- 1522 Facebook followers
- 986 members on our Facebook Support Community
- 1,300 followers on Instagram
- 539 LinkedIn Followers
The Road Ahead
We hope to see more growth in 2022 and will be launching Coaching Services, more Virtual Support Groups and activities and assessing whether we should apply for charity status.
At the moment, Unlocking ADHD is a company limited by guarantee (non profit). Our activities are currently funded by the savings of our Founder. As we expand to provide more services to the ADHD community, we are looking for ways to be financially sustainable and generate revenue and/or receive donations from supporters.
If you would like to support our efforts to Empower ADHDers & their Families to Live Life to the Fullest, do consider making a donation. We will be happy to issue you a receipt for your records but as we are not an Institution of a Public Character (IPC) yet, we will not be able to issue tax- deductible receipts. You can make a PayNow transfer to the Unlocking ADHD Ltd bank account with Maybank (Account No. 04171095598) or just scan the QR code below. Many thanks in advance for your generosity in partnering with us to make a difference in the lives of ADHDers.
Wishing you and your family a very Happy, Healthy and Productive 2022 – we hope to see you at our events. Do feel free to drop us a line and reach out if you have any questions or need assistance. We will be happy to help!
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