She said only 5 percent of those with ADHD graduate from college.

“As much as we love our children, we would like some time on earth without an ADHD child at home,” Pruitt said Tuesday before an audience of 150 parents, many of whom have children with neurological disorders. “This is your incentive to listen tonight.”

Pruitt, who lives in Atlanta, co-authored “Teaching the Tiger,” a handbook for people involved in the education of students with neurological disorders, including ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

She has two grown sons with neurological disorders. She conducts seminars to help parents and educators handle children with behavioral problems caused by neurological disorders.

Children with neurological disorders typically function at two-thirds of their chronological age, meaning a 12-year-old will act like an 8-year-old when their frontal lobe shuts down.

Pruitt said parents need to learn how to recognize when a “storm” or “meltdown” is coming and then teach their children survival skills, such as how to gracefully exit a room to cool off.

She taught one of her sons to ask to go to the bathroom when he feels a storm brewing within. She said he uses the escape technique today. She said confronting a child during a storm will make the matter worse.

Pruitt also told parents to change their approach until they find something that works. She advised to test a strategy for days, not months. “Don’t be patient with things that aren’t working,” she said.

People attending the seminar were hungry for the advice.

Renee McGuire of Appleton, a therapist who works with children with autism, found Pruitt’s seminar informative, particularly for parents with verbal children.

“Some things I’ve heard before and some things I haven’t,” McGuire said. “I think she has a keen insight because she is a parent as well as an educator. You always get an extreme opposite from both ends of the issue. Having her be both is real helpful.”

Tina Swinford of New London, who has four children with ADHD and bipolar disorder, related to many of Pruitt’s stories and examples.

“I think Sheryl has helped develop ways to communicate and to trust your instincts (as a parent),” she said.

Pruitt’s seminar was sponsored by Neenah parents Eric and Gail Hjortness, who have two children with Tourette’s syndrome, and the Wisconsin Family Assistance Center for Education, Training and Support Inc. (WI-FACETS).

Earlier Tuesday Pruitt spoke with medical personnel at ThedaCare Behavioral Health in Menasha and with Neenah teachers at Shattuck Middle School.