Nantucket Lighthouse School and Fairwinds, Nantucket’s Counseling Center have teamed up to bring one of the nation’s leading experts on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Dr. Edward ‘Ned’ Hallowell, to the island.
Together, NLS and Fairwinds submitted a grant to the Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation, emphasizing the value of providing a free and accessible professional development opportunity to the teachers, school administrators, counselors, social workers, therapists, and physicians of Nantucket.
The Tower Foundation is a family foundation that supports and collaborates with nonprofit organizations and community partners who share their mission of helping children, adolescents, and young people affected by intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health issues, and substance use disorders. They strive to support programs that help youth find confidence and support them in their educational journeys.
Dr. Hallowell is a board-certified child and adult psychiatrist, a thought leader, a New York Times bestselling author, a world-renowned keynote speaker, and a leading authority in the field of ADHD. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Tulane Medical School and was a Harvard Medical School faculty member for 21 years. He is the Founder of The Hallowell Centers in Boston MetroWest, New York City, San Francisco and Seattle.
Hallowell has written twenty books, including the 1994 ground-breaking title Driven to Distraction, co-authored with John Ratey. He will be on island on October 23rd. His professional development workshop for educators will be hosted in Nantucket High School’s Mary P. Walker auditorium in the afternoon. There will also be a free evening presentation to the community at large. Details to follow.
The program will be part of Nantucket Lighthouse School’s Educational Speaker Series, now in its fifth year. The series brings nationally recognized speakers, researchers, and educational leaders to Nantucket and makes them available to educators and the wider community, free of charge. Past presenters include Dr. Ross Green, Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair, Tony Wagner, Meenoo Rami, Debby Irving, Zoe Weil, Cindy Horgan and Grace Lin.
“We are honored to have Dr. Hallowell share his research-based insights into the complexities of ADHD, its impacts and gifts both in and out of the classroom. We deeply appreciate the important awareness that his visit will inspire in teachers and families.” – Christine B. Hanson
Executive Director of Fairwinds Tessandra de Alberdi noted, “At Fairwinds, we understand the challenges youth and their families face with navigating diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. By inviting Dr. Hallowell to the island, we aim to educate and empower our community with clinical psycho-education and treatment options.”
Fairwinds provides confidential, quality professional mental health care, regardless of ability to pay, to adults and youth on Nantucket.
Nantucket Lighthouse School serves island children preschool to eighth grade through an integrated, project-based curriculum that engages the whole child: head, heart and hand.
