I just want to take a
moment and say that I am disappointed in some of the people in the world. There
are many people who believe that ADHD/ADD isn't a legitimate disorder and that
they hate people who claim they have it. They rant about how it is only the
product of bad parenting and should not be taken seriously.
Can I say, I have ADHD. My parents weren't "bad parents". ADHD is not a social cry or a stamp for doctors. It is a neurological misfiring. When a part of your brain tries to fire neurotransmitters, but it doesn't properly attach to the receptors. This causes a misfiring around specific areas of the brain. Granted, parents and teachers push doctors to "diagnose" their child with it when they don't just so they have an excuse for their behavior.
Kids who truly have ADHD are not just misbehaving, and I'm not saying they don't. I was a terrible child. ADHD is an extra struggle in life that causes more strife than it's worth sometimes. There are those who say "some ADHD people are smarter than "normal" people so what's the problem?" Different people's ADHD can aid them in particular subjects. For example, my ADHD helps me when working with animals because I am able to change my focus on a dime, much like an animal does. Others are able to hyperfocus on things they like, where the thing they like is what they want to do with their life. However, there is that flipside where it can be a weight, pulling us down and making it harder to function.
In class, you can't focus.
You can't take notes.
You can't sit down and do your work.
You can't hand in the work on time because your brain wouldn't allow you to simply sit down and do it.
People also look at our behavior and wonder how we do anything at all because we are always doing something. During high school, whenever I told people my schedule, they looked at me and called me "super woman" because they couldn't understand how I could do that and do my school work. To me, it was never a packed schedule, like I felt like I didn't do enough. I figured out how I work best (do my homework) and was able to do it all in school, because my brain agreed that it would work from 7:15 to 2:30 and that was it. I figured out a system to work around my ADHD, but I forgot I had ADHD at this point because I had taken myself of meds in middle school.
When people invalidate ADHD as something legitimate, it makes me feel as if my ADHD isn't real. It is though. It is a struggle that prevents me from functioning and being a "normal" student. Whenever my ADHD gets the best of me, it feels degrading, that I'm a failure, that I'm useless and that I am a disgrace as a human being. I've had teachers yell at me that I have no excuse for handing things in on time. I can't do things on time. I really can't. ADHD doesn't feel like an excuse for this situation but it is the greatest thing that keeps me from doing my work.
People invalidate it because they don't understand how your brain could keep you from doing your schoolwork, something that is really important in this day in age. Here is a challenge, go to do your work. sit there and want to do your work. say to yourself, "do your work, you need to." But here's the catch. You can't. something inside of your mind, in your brain, won't let you do it. how frustrating is that? try to imagine how our symptoms affect us, try to understand how we feel on a day to day basis before you go and belittle our disorder. (let me tell you, your belittling isn't helping the situation at all.)
Please and thank you. I don't mean to rant, but seriously. Step off and come back when you know what you're talking about.
Can I say, I have ADHD. My parents weren't "bad parents". ADHD is not a social cry or a stamp for doctors. It is a neurological misfiring. When a part of your brain tries to fire neurotransmitters, but it doesn't properly attach to the receptors. This causes a misfiring around specific areas of the brain. Granted, parents and teachers push doctors to "diagnose" their child with it when they don't just so they have an excuse for their behavior.
Kids who truly have ADHD are not just misbehaving, and I'm not saying they don't. I was a terrible child. ADHD is an extra struggle in life that causes more strife than it's worth sometimes. There are those who say "some ADHD people are smarter than "normal" people so what's the problem?" Different people's ADHD can aid them in particular subjects. For example, my ADHD helps me when working with animals because I am able to change my focus on a dime, much like an animal does. Others are able to hyperfocus on things they like, where the thing they like is what they want to do with their life. However, there is that flipside where it can be a weight, pulling us down and making it harder to function.
In class, you can't focus.
You can't take notes.
You can't sit down and do your work.
You can't hand in the work on time because your brain wouldn't allow you to simply sit down and do it.
People also look at our behavior and wonder how we do anything at all because we are always doing something. During high school, whenever I told people my schedule, they looked at me and called me "super woman" because they couldn't understand how I could do that and do my school work. To me, it was never a packed schedule, like I felt like I didn't do enough. I figured out how I work best (do my homework) and was able to do it all in school, because my brain agreed that it would work from 7:15 to 2:30 and that was it. I figured out a system to work around my ADHD, but I forgot I had ADHD at this point because I had taken myself of meds in middle school.
When people invalidate ADHD as something legitimate, it makes me feel as if my ADHD isn't real. It is though. It is a struggle that prevents me from functioning and being a "normal" student. Whenever my ADHD gets the best of me, it feels degrading, that I'm a failure, that I'm useless and that I am a disgrace as a human being. I've had teachers yell at me that I have no excuse for handing things in on time. I can't do things on time. I really can't. ADHD doesn't feel like an excuse for this situation but it is the greatest thing that keeps me from doing my work.
People invalidate it because they don't understand how your brain could keep you from doing your schoolwork, something that is really important in this day in age. Here is a challenge, go to do your work. sit there and want to do your work. say to yourself, "do your work, you need to." But here's the catch. You can't. something inside of your mind, in your brain, won't let you do it. how frustrating is that? try to imagine how our symptoms affect us, try to understand how we feel on a day to day basis before you go and belittle our disorder. (let me tell you, your belittling isn't helping the situation at all.)
Please and thank you. I don't mean to rant, but seriously. Step off and come back when you know what you're talking about.
Well done Brianna, and FYI, you weren't a terrible child, just a little challenging! :-)
ReplyDeleteAfter my hug, Brianna, I would like to dispute one idea. There may very well be an environmental etiology to ADHD. To solely blame nature as opposed to nurture may be telling only half the story. Of course either way, it's your parents fault!
ReplyDelete