A Spark of ADHD: Scotland's First Dedicated ADHD Tartan

Lighting the Spark

"Every thing must have a beginning…and that beginning must be linked to something that went before." - Mary Shelley.

The foundations of The Wee ADHD Tartan Co. have been built upon years of shared experience, journeys roaming in synergy across countries and a Neurodivergent connection, that lit our greatest Spark yet.

Here is a chapter from our story of why we created Scotland's first dedicated ADHD tartan, and what we hope it means for our neurodivergent community and their families across Scotland and beyond.

From humble beginnings..

We have both lived the late diagnosed ADHD experience. We are two Mums reeling chaos into belonging. We know how it feels to ride in the skirl, to be 'too much', to hide in dreams and to almost lose yourself. We have loved fiercely and we have suffered true losses. We know what it is, to grieve, while simultaneously celebrating the words of our papers, confirming our own places amongst our Neurodivergent family. All of this, the 'before' and the 'during', brewed within us the kind of strength of will to make a mark.

Inspired by the feelings of finally finding real belonging, we clasped each other's hands tightly and decided to take off. We settled on 'Dignity Action Month' February to mark our first flame being lit. It felt right, as dignity is a feeling that so many of us with ADHD struggle to be allowed. We stand as we mean to continue, strong and firmly against the stigmatisation that tried to bury us. ADHD deserves to have dignity.

We matter. Representation matters. Our Community matters.

Why Tartan?

Tartan is one of the most recognisable symbols of Scottish National Identity in the world. It carries heritage, pride, and belonging. Registered tartans represent clans, organisations, causes, creative flares and communities. They weave into the fabric of Scottish Culture and have grown to mirror the beautiful diversity of our people.

The Scottish Register of Tartans, held by the National Records of Scotland, is the official repository for tartans across the world. Having a tartan registered, is a meaningful act of recognition. ADHD affects an estimated 5 to 10 percent of children and around 3 to 4 percent of adults in the UK, according to ADHD UK, yet many people wait years for a diagnosis, feeling invisible or misunderstood in the process. A tartan cannot solve the current state of our world. However, it can be a tangible celebration, loudly and boldly stating: you are here, you are valid, and you belong.

Designing our Tartan: Colour, Meaning, and the ADHD Mind

While designing 'A Spark of ADHD', we did not want it to just look good. We wanted every colour to carry meaning, and we wanted the design to genuinely reflect the brilliance of ADHD at its best: bold, wildly alive and with depth.

Here is what we chose, and why.

Orange: The Spark

The central orange at the heart of the design, is the colour symbol of ADHD Awareness. It represents that electric, quicksilver moment of ignition, the instant when focus arrives from chaos and the ADHD mind catches fire. Anyone who has experienced true hyperfixation, will recognise that feeling. Orange felt right: warm, vivid and impossible to ignore. Just like us.

Gold: Neurodiversity

Gold runs through our tartan as a symbol of Neurodiversity itself. Not as a problem to be solved, but as something to be valued. The neurodivergent community brings perspectives, creativity, and ways of thinking that the world genuinely needs. Gold felt like the right way to honour that.

Deep Blue: Calm and Balance

For many of us, our ADHD makes it feel entirely impossible to find regulation and balance. Finding calm, creating our balance, building structure around a mind that sometimes resists all three, is our core existence. The deep blue in the tartan acknowledges that reality. It provides a grounding contrast to the orange and gold, just as self-care and the right supports provide grounding for our community every day.

Green: Connection

Our range and depth of feeling reflects nature itself. We connect in ways we have yet to truly understand and we used a vibrant green to symbolise our deeply rooted senses. The concept of the neurodivergent mind magnetisations and the way we belong with the wild needed to be part of our tartan.

Together, these colours tell a story that anyone with ADHD, or who loves someone with ADHD, will recognise immediately.

The CIC: A Mission, Not Just a Business

The Wee ADHD Tartan Co. is being established as a Community Interest Company (CIC). That distinction is important to us.

A CIC, is a type of social enterprise specifically designed to benefit a community, rather than generate private profit. Everything we do, every product sold, every collaboration we build, is oriented around one goal: supporting our ADHD and neurodivergent community.

That means reinvesting resources into advocacy. It means creating products with sensory needs in mind, because we know that fabrics, textures, and comfort, are not afterthoughts for our community. They are often the difference between something being wearable and something sitting in a drawer. It means building a space where being Neurosparkly is not just accepted but celebrated.

ADHD awareness has grown significantly in recent years, and we are proud to be part of that wave. But awareness without action is not enough. We want to move from awareness into belonging, from visibility into genuine community.

Part of Something Bigger

We want to be clear about something: we are not the only people doing this work. We are proud to be part of a growing ecosystem of tartans symbolising neurodiversity and neurodivergent-led organisations across Scotland and the UK. The movement for ADHD awareness and neurodivergent inclusion is wide, collaborative, and deeply community-driven.

Our role is to add something authentic, something rooted in lived experience, and something with Scotland's textile heritage at its core. Rooted in the highlands, woven with care, and created by and for the community it represents. We don't believe in profiteering from Neurodiversity, or using the movement for self promotion. We believe in standing by our collaborators and our wonderful Artists. Simply put, we believe the world can do better.

What Comes Next

We are preparing to take off with something genuinely special. Our shop is swirling in creativity. Products are being developed with sensory-friendly design at the forefront, and major updates are coming.

We would love for you to be part of this from the beginning. Register your interest through our website, follow our journey, and join with a community that truly reflects the colour, energy, and beauty of the ADHD mind.

This is more than a tartan. It is a statement. It is a gathering point. It is a spark.

And we are just getting started.

The Wee ADHD Tartan Co. is an upcoming CIC dedicated to advocating for the ADHD and neurodivergent community. Visit weeadhdtartan.co.uk to register your interest and follow our journey.

For ADHD support and resources in the UK, visit ADHD UK.