By the time February arrives, Christmas feels firmly in the past, but for many families, the strain it placed on already-stretched nervous systems is still very present.

For many families, Christmas doesn’t end neatly on Boxing Day. Instead, the days that follow feel harder. Routines unravel. Emotions run closer to the surface. Children who managed, just about, suddenly melt down, withdraw, refuse things they were coping with only days before.

As someone who walks with neurodivergent families every day, I feel the weight of what it means to live with ADHD, not just in moments of creativity or hyperfocus, but in the tricky, exhausting, everyday moments when logic and calm dissolve, and overwhelm rushes in. One of those moments? After school: when the world transitions from structured to unstructured, from academic to relational, and everything feels too much.

Every year, during School Avoidance Awareness Week , we shine a light on a challenge many families face but often feel too ashamed or...