Rehabilitation for children with ADHD
On this page
This rehabilitation course is intended for children over 5, children under school age and children of primary school age who have been diagnosed with ADHD or predominantly inattentive ADHD (formerly ADD). The child’s family also participates in the rehabilitation course. The rehabilitation course is offered partially online and partially on the service provider’s premises. Rehabilitation is primarily given in a group setting.
The rehabilitation course is free of charge.
Who is the rehabilitation course for?
This rehabilitation course is suited for children who have been diagnosed with ADHD or predominantly inattentive ADHD (formerly ADD). The child may also have
- issues with their behaviour or an affective disorder associated with ADHD
- sensory integration disorder or sensory processing difficulties
- particular sensory-motor problems
- language-related problems or learning disabilities
- some other neurodevelopmental disorder.
Rehabilitation courses are offered separately to children in the following target groups and their families:
- children under school age who are over 5 and who have been diagnosed with ADHD
- children of primary school age with ADHD
- children of primary school age with predominantly inattentive ADHD (formerly ADD).
This rehabilitation course is not suited for children
- who need almost constant guidance, supervision or assistance in their daily life
- who damage their surroundings or cause harm to other people due to violent behaviour.
Aim of rehabilitation
The rehabilitation course helps the child and their family adapt to the challenges brought on by the child’s ADHD. The aim of this rehabilitation course is to
- secure the child’s functional capacity
- give the family better resources and support their life management skills
- support the self-treatment of the child’s ADHD
- find ways to help the child continue to live as full and meaningful a life as possible despite their ADHD.
The rehabilitation course also offers the opportunity to get support from peers and to share experiences with other families.
How rehabilitation works
The rehabilitation course is offered partially online and partially on the service provider’s premises. Rehabilitation is primarily given in a group setting.
Rehabilitation takes the needs and goals of each child into account.
The child’s family accompanies the child for the entire duration of the rehabilitation course. The child can be accompanied by 1–2 adults and 1–2 siblings over the age of 2. All siblings under the age of 2 can accompany the child. If more than 2 siblings over the age of 2 want to accompany the child during the rehabilitation course, Kela will contact the service provider to agree on practical matters and make sure that there is enough room for all.
The service provider will contact the family after the rehabilitation course.
The rehabilitation course is offered separately in Finnish and Swedish. The course is offered in Finnish to Sámi-speaking clients. They can be assigned an interpreter if necessary.
Remote rehabilitation consists of online rehabilitation and video calls. The remote rehabilitation part of the course is implemented over a period of about 8 weeks.
The online rehabilitation includes online reading material, recordings and videos as well as various assignments and exercises. The family can do the tasks assigned during online rehabilitation at their own pace. Professionals will provide guidance to the family during the online rehabilitation and give feedback on completed tasks.
In addition to the online rehabilitation, remote rehabilitation also includes video calls:
- an introductory video call before in-person rehabilitation begins
- 2 video calls with the group.
The introductory video call is about 45 minutes. The group video calls are 60–90 minutes each.
You do not need to have special computer skills to participate in remote rehabilitation. The family can borrow a device from the service provider if they need one to participate in the remote rehabilitation. Kela also offers help and guidance with accessing remote rehabilitation.
In-person rehabilitation will be given on the service provider’s premises. It lasts for 5 days. The family can stay overnight at the rehabilitation facility or travel there from home each day. The facility offers accommodation in a family room when family rooms are available.
During the rehabilitation course, you will work in small groups, participate in group discussions and have one-on-one meetings with rehabilitation experts.
The experts involved in rehabilitation
The following experts will plan and manage the rehabilitation programme:
- a specialist in paediatric neurology, paediatric psychiatry, adolescent psychiatry or paediatrics
- a teacher, special-needs teacher or early childhood educator
- a psychologist or a neuropsychologist
- a social worker, Bachelor of Social Sciences or rehabilitation instructor
- an occupational therapist.
Depending on the child’s individual needs, other rehabilitation professionals and assisting personnel may also take part.
How to apply
This rehabilitation can be granted either as discretionary rehabilitation or as intensive medical rehabilitation.
- You need a medical statement B (B-lausunto) issued by a doctor for the child or some other statement on the child’s health if you want to apply for discretionary rehabilitation. For example, you can submit a copy of the child’s medical history (sairauskertomus). The medical statement B or health statement must be dated within the past year.
- If you want to apply for intensive medical rehabilitation, you must submit a rehabilitation plan (kuntoutussuunnitelma) that a doctor who works in public healthcare has drawn up for the child.
The medical statement B, health statement or rehabilitation plan must state what qualifies the child for rehabilitation, how well the child can function, what kind of rehabilitation is recommended for the child and why.
If you are not sure which type of rehabilitation you should apply for, please ask the doctor in charge of your child’s care.
If you apply for discretionary rehabilitation, we will contact you if your child may have the right to intensive medical rehabilitation instead.
Once you have a medical statement B, a health statement or a rehabilitation plan for the child, do as follows:
- Complete the application form for discretionary rehabilitation KU 132 (PDF, in Finnish) or the application form for intensive medical rehabilitation KU 104e (PDF).
- Save the blank form to your device. Do not fill in the form directly in the browser because some of the information may not be saved that way.
- Open the form with Adobe Reader and fill it in.
- Tell us in the application which service provider’s rehabilitation you want to participate in. You can use Kela’s rehabilitation course search (in Finnish and Swedish only) to look up service providers. Type ADHD or ADD in the search field.
- Save the completed application form on your device. Note that the application must be in PDF format.
- Send the application in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish). The parents or guardians of a child under the age of 18 can apply for rehabilitation in OmaKela on behalf of their child.
- Log in to OmaKela and select Tee hakemus. If you are applying for rehabilitation for your child, go to Asioi toisen henkilön puolesta (Act on behalf of another person). Read more about acting on behalf of another person.
- First select Sairastaminen ja kuntoutus (Sickness and rehabilitation). Then select Kuntoutus – tee hakemus (Rehabilitation – Submit an application). Finally, select either Harkinnanvarainen kuntoutus (Discretionary rehabilitation) or Vaativa lääkinnällinen kuntoutus (Intensive medical rehabilitation).
- If you send your application in OmaKela, you do not need to sign it.
- If you have supporting documents, send them via OmaKela after you have submitted your application. If they are paper documents, you can photograph them.
- If you are applying for discretionary rehabilitation, send us a copy of the child’s medical statement B or health statement as a supporting document with your application.
- If you are applying for intensive medical rehabilitation, send us a copy of the child’s rehabilitation plan as a supporting document with your application.
- Visit OmaKela to see if Kela has made a decision on the application. We will also send the decision notice to the rehabilitation service provider. This tells the service provider that Kela will pay for your rehabilitation, and the service provider will reserve a place for you on the rehabilitation course.
If you cannot use OmaKela, mail your application to Kela. Save the form to your device and fill it in after saving it. Print out the completed form and send it and any supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.
Apply for rehabilitation
Submit your application and supporting documents online
Let us know if you cannot attend rehabilitation
Remember to tell Kela immediately if the child cannot participate in the rehabilitation course. Let us know that you have to cancel by sending a message to us in the OmaKela e-service or by calling our customer service number for rehabilitation clients.
We recommend that you also contact the service provider to let them know you have to cancel.
Check if you can get rehabilitation allowance and travel cost reimbursements
Kela pays rehabilitation allowance to give you financial security during rehabilitation. Kela may also reimburse you for rehabilitation-related travel costs.