It doesn’t sound very nice, does it: ADD? Attention… ok, Deficit… there’s something wrong with you… Disorder… Sounds like someone who’s a bit crazy. Throw the H for Hyperactivity in ADHD and it conjures up images of those really naughty kids on the Today Tonight TV show, tearing up their parents houses, or the naughtiest kids in your class at school that make your teacher’s day a nightmare. I couldn’t possibly be one of those kids, could I? I can’t have ADD… or can I?
Let’s not call it ADD or ADHD. It’s a nasty sounding label. Let’s call it “BB” for “Busy Brain” or “PE” for “Pure Energy” or even just “F” for “Fred”. Whatever you call it, it’s nothing to be afraid of, ashamed of or embarrassed about. But understanding yourself and how your brain works is an important part of overcoming the difficulties associated with “Fred”.
What’s Different about the ADD/ADHD Brain?
Essentially, people with “Fred” have areas of their brains that don’t interact so well in getting the messages transmitted through the brain cells, or neurons to other parts of the brain. These parts of the brain are either hyper stimulated or under stimulated and the concentration, organization and/or self-control messages just can’t get through. For people with “Fred” this means that you have trouble focusing on just one thing at a time. You’re constantly looking around and distracted. Maybe you’re a chatterbox; maybe you’re just a bit day dreamy. You may also have genuine problems organizing yourself and your things and may also jump in and say and do things without thinking first.
The problem is mainly evident in the school situation, or when you leave school and enter certain jobs that require you to sit still and focus for long periods of time. It’s also pretty obvious when it takes you a long time to complete tasks at home, especially homework. You’re also always starting things off and never finishing anything.
How Does ADD (Fred) Affect Me at School?
So, what’s the effect of “Fred” on secondary school students? This varies from mild to more serious issues.
Having a busy brain can affect the following types of things at school:
• You miss instructions from the teacher. As a result, you don’t have all the information you need to complete an assignment, or you miss information vital to understand in tests, which affects your grades
• You can miss social cues from your friends and appear a bit “offish”
• You start something, but never quite finish it off as your busy brain drifts off to something else and move on and doesn’t allow you to finish the task
• Editing your work? Forget it! If something is actually finished, it’s finished at last minute because that’s all your concentration will allow. You’re quick to move onto the next thing and don’t always finish the last one off properly
• Busy brains tend to be forgetful. They are so easily distracted they forget to do little things like put their homework in their bag, put their pencil back in their pencil case or complete an assignment on time. Sometimes busy brains are so distracted they get to school only to realize they still have their slippers on! (I’m not kidding!)
• You find difficult, and tend to avoid, things that involve long periods of concentration. This can be in things like a double lesson in science or doing homework after a long day of concentrating at school (that’s why there’s always arguments with your parents about homework; your brain is literally pooped!)
• Your self-esteem can suffer as a result of this. You’re always getting told off, told that you’re not “reaching your potential”, you never get great grades and you get the impression that you’ll never be good enough.
ADHD (Fred, Plus the Hyperactivity Bonus)
So ADHD or Fred Plus H, means that in addition to the list above, you also are physically restless and have a lot of trouble actually sitting still. You’re always moving, tapping your feet, drumming your fingers on the desk and chat all the time. Again, this varies from mild to more extreme.
Here’s some ways Fred Plus H affects you at school:
• There’s no polite way of saying this: you’re noisy! In a situation like the classroom where you are expected to sit quietly and be still, it’s really obvious when you’re distracting others with noises like drumming, chatting and tapping. But you just can’t help it. Some teachers can be more tolerant than others; some may simply ask you to leave
• You sometimes don’t think before you say or do something. An expression for this is “putting your foot in your mouth”. You don’t have a safety catch to stop you from doing this. It’s natural to you. It’s called being Impulsive. Again, some teachers may be more tolerant about this than others. It’s good if you’ve found a great bunch of friends who understand this about you, but sometimes you can make people feel hurt by saying the first thing that comes into your head
• You cannot possibly wait your turn and often call out answers in the classroom
• You cannot possibly sit in your seat for a whole lesson without wondering around the classroom
• Again, your confidence can suffer because of your lack of success at school
Do I need to be diagnosed?
To be diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, you need to visit a psychologist who will ask you some questions, ask you to do some tests and then send out surveys to your parents and teachers. They will all decide by a sort of checklist, how much your concentration affects your learning and if you fall into the category of Fred or Fred Plus H. If you meet some of the criteria and not others, you might be classified as “mild”. You may or may not reach enough criteria to be placed under the Fred umbrella. Your GP Doctor can put you in touch with a good psychologist in your area.
One of the benefits of being diagnosed is that the assessment can help identify and separate the ISSUES surrounding your attention problems. There may be other things combined with your inattention that might need to also be addressed for you to succeed. These can include learning difficulties, how your personality deals in different social situations or sensory issues like vision and hearing.
If you are diagnosed, don’t stress. What this means is that there is a REASON for you to be missing information; it’s not that just you’re goofing around. It helps your teachers understand more about you. It helps your parents understand more about you. And it helps you understand more about you. But diagnosed or not, it’s not going to stop you from being the person you are!
So… What can you do about Fred and Fred Plus H?
Whether you are diagnosed Fred or Fred Plus H or not; it doesn’t change who you are. What does matter is your ATTITUDE towards it.
You can use your busy brain Fred thing, as an excuse for why you didn’t hand in your homework, why you didn’t bring your book home from school, why you lost your jumper. But you are not being true to yourself. You are letting Fred impact your life in a negative way.
What you CAN do is:
• Accept who you are and embrace your differences
• Understand there is nothing WRONG with you. It’s just a small weakness and one that you can work to overcome
• Look at the positives of being Fred and/or Fred Plus H. The positives far outweigh the negatives. Check out my other blogs for more details
• Learn strategies to overcome the weakness in your concentration. The last frontier in neuroscience is a concept called “neuroplasticity”, which means we can change the way our brain works. By making smart choices and putting framework into our lives, our brains can learn to change their patterns and make new ones. We just have to make the strategies part of a pattern to make them automatic and strengthen the weaker parts of our brain, just like an athlete trains to become stronger physically.
So… we can change our thought patterns by repetition and strategic learning. All you have to do is be ready to make some changes… one step at a time.
