ADHD glossary · Family perspectives
Contact list: keep the right details for an agreed purpose
A contact list is a record of people or organizations and ways to reach them. In this guide, it is a deliberately limited list for an ordinary shared activity. Having someone's contact details does not show that they are available, have accepted a role, or agreed that their information can be passed to others.
General education and practical perspectives. Editorial standards.
A support network describes the kinds of help people have agreed to offer. A contact list may contain only the details needed to reach a named person about a specific subject. It need not include personal background or a history of past conversations.
Make a small activity list
In an invented example, adults coordinating a community art display need a room-booking contact, a materials contact, and one person handling event questions. They ask which address each person wants used for that purpose.
One participant offers a shared project address rather than their personal phone number. Another says they can answer materials questions but cannot handle bookings. The list preserves that distinction. It does not simply label both people “organizer” and leave the next caller to discover the difference.
A family member attending the display may only need the event contact. They do not automatically receive every participant's details. The list is shared according to the actual arrangement, not because more information seems convenient.
Choose the minimum useful fields
Purpose of this list:
Name or organization:
Subject they agreed to be contacted about:
Contact method they supplied for this purpose:
Stated availability or reply expectations, if any:
Date the detail was checked:
Who may use or receive this list:
Who can correct or remove an entry:
“Not checked” is an honest status for an old detail. Do not infer that a message was delivered or read merely because an address appears in a list.
Keep family roles separate from access
A grandparent may need one activity contact without access to a child's other arrangements. A teen may want to send their own question rather than have an adult contact someone on their behalf. A parent can help identify the relevant role without distributing private correspondence.
For a child's contact information or a formal institutional directory, follow the appropriate actual permissions and procedures. This example does not determine legal access, parental authority, or data-retention obligations.
Maintain or retire the list
Agree what happens when the activity ends or a contact changes. Archiving a file is not the same as deleting every copy already shared. This ordinary list is also not an emergency plan; urgent situations need the relevant local services and arrangements, not an assumption that listed volunteers are on call.
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