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Practice Responses to Comments
Matt had been diagnosed with ADHD as a young child. Given extra time on tests, he did well at school. Nevertheless, in sixth grade, his classmates started teasing him about this accommodation.
“The kids say that people with ADD are stupid,” he confided to me. In elementary school, children overlook differences, but, in middle school, differences become targets for teasing.
Matt’s mom and I talked, and, that evening, she spoke with her son about the ADHD brain and what it’s capable of. She mentioned some famous and gifted people who have ADHD, including the gold-medal swimmer Michael Phelps.
From then on, whenever Matt was teased by uninformed classmates, he was ready to respond that he had an “excellent, fast-moving brain.” Matt went from feeling alone and different to realizing that he was in the company of some very talented people.
It’s important for parents and other adults in our children's lives to see the need for an information update and let the conversation about ADHD evolve over the years. Talking about ADHD once is not enough! Without a deeper understanding when they face new challenges, kids may give up or see this label as an excuse for their difficulty, not as a reason. It may be tough, but I always remind youngsters that they can experiment with several different plans for success — and talk with the grown-ups in their lives.
A version of this article appears in the Summer 2009 issue of ADDitude.
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