Article Share: ADHD and school

What I Wish My Sons Teachers Knew About ADHD 

This post was written as a reflection after reading the above article.  Please take  the time to read the article before reading this post.

“He can’t determine what is important and what is not important right away. Everything he sees and hears is of equal importance to his brain.”

When I learned this about the ADHD brain and thought about it (for, like, months and still think about all of it every minute of every day) so many things began to make so much sense to me about my life.

This piece is written from a Mom of a boy with ADHD, but I can take almost every single line and apply it to my school experience.

The blurting out in class part is something I did not struggle with, but was the polar opposite. I now know that my “shyness” was due to how well I mask my impulsive brain when I’m not in an environment where I can let my guard down. Which is, basically, anywhere new with more than one or two people – so lots of places. However, when I am in my comfort zone – admittedly – I’m never quite sure what is going to come flying out of my mouth. (just ask my co-workers )

**This is one of the major reasons ADD/ADHD goes undetected in females. There are many, but this is a big one. Again, we are conditioned (by society – not particularly by our immediate guardians) to be seen and not heard. But “boys will be boys”, so oftentimes they get a pass (not that an eyeroll towards their behavior is any better for their development, I’m specifically referring to the detection of ADD/ADHD in boys vs. girls) for being the “class clown”, while girls are reprimanded for being “unladylike”. Masking your impulses requires a lot of energy. Being exhausted after a day of seemingly doing nothing because you slept through a lot your classes, came home, slept and then stayed up all night seems absurd, but it is very real.  More on this and why I share about ADHD here.

Now that I’m aware of how my brain works, I’m much better able to recognize when I need to stop. breathe. think. before I react. I don’t always do that and a lot of the time I end up overthinking something so I end up not doing it anyway (story of my life). However, when I remember to remind myself what I’m working with upstairs, I’m better able to get through things without berating myself internally for being lazy, stupid, insane, annoying, not good at anything, etc. The anxiety dissipates.

-roxii