The ADHD Post

“My son couldn’t pay attention to the old woman in the dimly lit, moldy basement.  Now he snorts a line of Concerta and he excels in all his school subjects!” 

Happy smiles everywhere!

I’d love to have the funding to make that commercial.  I guess it wouldn’t be too realistic though.  Less smiles maybe?

When I was 10 I was diagnosed with ADD.  My teacher said I had trouble in class and told my parents to have me evaluated.  I was promptly diagnosed and put on medication.  All was supposed to be well.  

But.

I got angry.  And for years I didn’t know why.  Until one day I was defending myself for the hundredth time. 

“I’m not stupid!” 

Oh there it is.  I was given a label.  And like many kids with learning disabilities the sub context of that label is, “Hey kid, you’re too stupid to learn by yourself.  Take this pill so you can be as good as everyone else.”

I was less than a normal person.  And that was how the other kids understood it too.  Oh that’s Andreas, he has ADD.  His thoughts are like everyone else’s but just a little dumber.  Let’s not take him seriously. 

I don’t blame parents for following the advice of teachers.  I just don’t think either understand the impact in the development of the children given these labels.  Often these kids are really smart.  Like crazy smart.  I used to calculate how many points I needed to get a low B for a test, all so I could stay in the lower level class.  Why?  Because I didn’t want more homework like my friends in the higher level class.  I wanted to spend more time jumping on my trampoline. 

These kids are often brilliant in their own rights and just need a little extra help finding their own method of learning.  It’s about finding their strengths, not covering their weaknesses.  And everyone’s strengths are unique.

Even among those who are exceptionally brilliant in the ADHD communities, their learning methods often vary because of how much neural diversity there is in the community. 

These kids can be amazing in life but instead they spend their time defending their inherent value to the people around them.  Which is absurd. 

Why is it that people with so much ability have to defend themselves because they don’t express in the preferred way of others.  If someone turns water to wine and you say that wine tastes bad, doesn’t that make you the dick? 

I’ve often found myself feeling guilty when I’m enjoying learning because the way I’m doing it shouldn’t work.

It’s like I have a voice in head saying, “Hey you!  Why aren’t you burnt out and miserable while studying?  Is that a smile?  You got no work ethic.”

This comes from years of being a square being jammed into a circle hole.  It’s ridiculous!  But it’s still there.  And that’s something I’m working on.

But don’t let your kids become me.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t help them when they are having trouble in school.  Hell, I’m not even saying that no one should be on medication.  It’s very helpful for some people.  But don’t let them feel less than everyone else because they learn differently. 

They are probably really smart.  They just have to find a method that works for them.  And if it looks funky, support them.  A lot of people will still judge them for it.  But if they feel supported in their fundamental years, they might just learn to like learning.  And in my opinion, that’s invaluable. 

All the best,

Andreas