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Set the Record Straight and Win!

ADHD is Real. ADHD is not a myth manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry. It is not an excuse for bad parenting. Or a result of too much Minecraft. Or laziness wrapped up in lack of ambition. ADHD is a real neurological condition that is sometimes hereditary, but never caused by sugar or lack of discipline […]

1 Comment: Set the Record Straight and Win!

  1. Hmmmm, hard to pick the MOST ignorant thing said to me about ADHD.
    Instead I’ll tell a story
    I’m 37 and a woman, so I could be an actual poster child for ADD or ADHD in young girls. Pretty much anyone who talks to me for more than 3 minutes knows I’m ADD, there’s no hiding it. I wouldn’t if I could.
    I have spent my adult life as a ADHD public service announcement.
    (I’ll try to keep this short-ish)

    It’s 1989 and experts in ADHD believe its a childhood behavioral issue, grown out of by puberty. Affecting young boys, determined by behaviors such as: unruly, generally distracted, inattentive and underachieving. Symptoms both at home and during school hours.

    I was a little girl so I wasn’t ADHD, I was “lazy, living in my own world and should JUST try harder to apply myself.
    If I had a dollar for every time I heard “how bright and creative I am.” (Followed by) “You’re wasting your potential, the devil is in the details or get your head out of the clouds. Ya know, JUST a little effort would go a long way.”

    I was trying, I hated myself when I failed. I believed that I was JUST stupid. I felt useless.

    I was 8.

    The first doctor that evaluated me was convinced I was just copying my brothers ADHD behavior (diagnosed in under a week) for attention. After a year of counseling (scheduled interrogations), my doctor was willing to diagnose me (a girl 😳)
    with ADHD. My diagnosis came with a stipulation that I submit to further evaluation and treatment full time at a mental health hospital for children.
    (I was locked up for 3 months, in the middle of 4th grade)
    The doctor told my mother, “Girls do not have ADHD. BUT I’ll call it ADHD temporarily for your insurance. He was determined to figure out and fix my behavior. So I was sent away “until her symptoms fit a diagnosis or disappear with treatment”.
    Moms insurance limit set me free after 90 days in Baby Bellevue.
    I can not learn to not be ADHD. Apparently I can’t even fake it, believe me I tried.

    Years later, I love my ADHD super powers. I teach them to my beautiful daughter, she’s so bright and creative.
    She is just perfect.
    There’s people everywhere with closed minds
    and wide open mouths.

    BUT THAT’S OK,
    I’ll probably just interrupt them anyway.

    ❤️💫❤️,
    Blakely Anne

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