ADHD Awareness Month
October is ADHD Awareness Month! It’s a good time to share a slide from the class I’m taking from the State Bar of California: Refocus: ADHD Strategies for Success in Law on how to embrace the Advantages of ADHD. So often we only focus on the NEGATIVES of neurodiversity, whether it is Autism or ADHD. These neurodiverse conditions and symptoms can also be a GIFT – it’s all about how you look at it sometimes. The Gift of Perspective!
Children’s ADHD videos and books sometimes refer to the hyperactive ADHD type as a “RACE CAR” brain. My son LOVES this analogy because to him, this makes him like a super hero. I feel this is appropriate because my brain is able to task switch but it also makes it difficult to focus on one thing at a time, especially for an extended period of time. We can see this as a benefit though because those of us with ADHD can do so many things, and oftentimes do them well because we have this ability to task switch and shift gears quickly. We can also adapt well and be flexible and think on our feet.
Creative problem solving is my middle name. When I was trying to come up with names for this website I thought about MacGyver, the TV show from the mid 1980’s where the main character problem solves things in each episode and comes up with hacks for everything. But everyone would misspell the name, so I nixed that idea, but I come up with hacks daily for problems and try to creatively solve issues with gusto like MacGyver.
Empathy is a double edged sword sometimes, but I think it is better to FEEL than the reverse. Personally, I would rather have feelings than be ice cold and have what is the opposite. Alexithymia is a personality trait that describes a person’s difficulty in identifying, processing, and expressing emotions. Some people with autism spectrum disorder that have or may have alexithymia. And people may instead prefer to have alexithymia because it is better in their opinion to not feel than to feel too much. It’s all a matter of preference. For example, some surgeons may excel at what they do because they have alexithymia because it allows them to better focus on the task at hand in operating on their patient. I believe my empathy makes me a better advocate because I am more sensitive to the feelings of others and try to see things from the vantage point of others. I try to see forwards, backwards, and sideways. Sometimes, my ADHD gets ahead of me, and I’m thinking too far into the future, and I have to remind myself to stay in the present. What do you think are the benefits to your neurodiversity or the neurodiversity of your children/grandchildren? Some food for thought as we kick off October 2024 and ADHD Awareness Month.