Whenever I was in elementary school, I had a terrible tendency to speak whenever the teacher was talking. I would even talk as she would reprimand me for talking, causing my attendance grade to dwindle, even as a young student. Besides speaking out of turn, I also had a habit of touching and fidgeting with things. The ground, my clothes, random objects on the ground during recess. Through elementary school misplacing assignments and books and being unable to control outbursts in class resulted in a parent/teacher conference in the 7thgrade. After the meeting my parents were urged to at least get me tested for learning disabilities, resulting in a positive diagnosis for ADHD. I was fortunate to attend a high school with a program for students who had learning disabilities to organize and focus, helping me truly getting a handle on how my mind worked. Despite all of my interactions with teachers, staff members and even students I never really understood the full grasp of ADHD. I was under the impression that I just had focus issues and would never be as smart as my peers. Luckily, that opinion was able to change in college as I researched and learned what ADHD actually entailed.
Photo by: Abby Burfine
From a National Survey of Children’s Health study recorded in 2016, 9.4% of children between 2-17 years old have been diagnosed with ADHD, and out of those children 5.2% received medication and 47% received behavior treatment. ADHD effects how people process emotions, behaviors and learning and all of these are spread out across the three types of ADHD. While each of these types are tied to more than a certain characteristic, there are three behavioral patterns that can typically appear in someone with ADHD. Inattention is the first, meaning someone typically gets distracted or has poor concentration and struggles with organization. Impulsivity is the second, showing in students who have interruption issues and take risks without truly thinking through a situation. Hyperactivity is a simple indicator of ADHD as it is in the name itself, showing when someone is constantly on the move and fidgety, never staying on task. The types of ADHD where all of these characteristics come together are ‘inattentive type’, ‘hyper-impulsive type’ and ‘combination type’. Inattentive type of ADHD is someone who struggles with focusing on the task at hand instead of hyperactivity, though they may still have issues with hyperactivity.
Females also are more likely to be diagnosed with Inattentive ADHD than Males are. Hyper-impulsive type is exactly as the name would suggest, these types struggle with impulse control and hyperactivity more than they do with inattention. These students will feel the need to squirm or feel restless and have a lot of trouble engaging in quiet activities. Combination type are the people who fall in both categories, but do not exhibit all the traits. Humans, ADHD or not, will experience impulsive and inattentive behavior; however, with ADHD these characteristics are more severe and can interfere with how you function on a day to day basis. Not being able to physically sit still without being twitchy or being unable to properly focus during lectures or even conversations with your friends. This could mean you even have to take breaks every five minutes while writing your article about ADHD because you forgot your “focus putty” in your dorm. ADHD is often stigmatized as being the disorder the annoying loud kid in your class had, which they could have, but sometimes it isn’t always their fault. Kids with ADHD are never fully taught to manage the disability until they themselves learn how to understand it. Even then, they are still faced with the assumptions that having ADHD just makes you the automatic “dumb one” – which is something that takes yearsto get over. When I was first diagnosed I was so ashamed, but I was lucky I never had to face the outright bullying that most kids with learning disabilities face. The jokes hurt, but you overcome, and you learn ways to cope and to prove them wrong. Sometimes you have to remind yourself that nothing is wrong with learning or being different no matter how hard it is or how much you wish it was different.
Photo by: Abby Burfine
Having ADHD, or any mental disability or illness for that matter, is not a characteristic of someone who has problems – it is an obstacle to work with and succeed over.
Stats from the NSCH study were found here: http://www.chadd.org/understanding-adhd/about-adhd/data-and-statistics/g…
Read about the three types of ADHD here: https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/three-types-adhd