Whereas the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) proclaims that their 2017 “Convention & Expo [is] the only special education professional development event for all educators servicing every child with no limits!”

Whereas the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and the United States Department of Education report that by 2011 “more than 1 in 10 (11%) US school-aged children [6.4 million children] had received an ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] diagnosis by a health care provider,”

Whereas the world’s leading experts on ADHD and scientists have long agreed that “ADHD is not a benign disorder. For those it afflicts, ADHD can cause devastating problems,”

Whereas the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights reports (July 2016) that their “most common complaint concerns academic and behavioral difficulties students with ADHD experience at school when they are not timely and properly evaluated for a disability, or when they do not receive necessary special education or related aids and services,”

Whereas “the Council for Exceptional Children is a professional association of educators dedicated to advancing the success of children with exceptionalities” and purports to have a “commitment to diversity, caring, and respect for the dignity and worth of all individuals,”

Whereas CEC’s 2017 Convention & Expo, being held in Boston, Massachusetts, “feature[s] over 500 sessions” and yet not one session is devoted exclusively to all children with ADHD," (Note: Enter the term “attention deficit” into the text search field.)

We, the undersigned, find CEC’s failure to address the needs of one of the largest populations of exceptional children at their 2017 Convention & Expo to be deplorable and reprehensible. Thus, we will not join, renew, or encourage others to pay membership dues to CEC, and will boycott all future CEC conventions until such time as the needs of 6.4 million children with ADHD are recognized and feature presentations for parents, teachers, college faculty, researchers, and all other stakeholders that are commensurate with the prevalence rates for ADHD.