THE father of a boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is launching a support network for families of children with similar special needs.

Brian Smith has started the group Breaking Links to help parents whose children have conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyspraxia and dyslexia.

Mr Smith, 39, and his wife, Gail, 37, hope to use their experiences and pool those of other families to give parents the confidence and encouragement they need to fight for their children’s rights and ultimately give the youngsters the best possible start in life.

The couple’s ten-year-old son, Ryan, a pupil at Browney Primary School, in Durham, was diagnosed with ADHD two years ago. For the previous five years they noticed he struggled with speech and learning, it took him longer than his peers to understand things and his behaviour was deteriorating and at times he became aggressive.

Once diagnosed with ADHD, Ryan was given the medication and support he needed to start developing like his friends.

Mr Smith said: “As a parent you want the best for your child, when they don’t learn the way you expect you start to worry about what you are doing and fear the worst case scenario and fear for their future.

“But once diagnosed, which is a long process of seeing doctors and child psychologists, they can get the right help and start making progress.

“Its all relative and if parents of children with similar problems can meet up they can talk about their children and share experiences.”

Working with Durham County Council’s children’s network, Mr Smith plans to visit libraries across the county to hold Breaking Links sessions.

Long term, he hopes to expand across the region and seek charitable status.

He added: “The intention is that parents will help each other by sign-posting others to the right people as quickly as possible and also raising awareness of ADHD to remove some of the stigmas.

“We’ll also point each other in the right direction for help, give words of encouragement and, hopefully, that will speed up the process for children so they get the best help quickly.

“We’ll also keep each others spirits up, when things are tough the group will have someone who understands and can give the strength to keep going.”

For details of the group, email Mr Smith on break ing.links@yahoo.co.uk