Don’t Blame the ADHD, Rejoice in it, we can be gifted.
By: Adam Colthorpe
Tags: Focus, Life, Education, Behaviour Change, Adhd

The Factual Bit, Skip to the next heading if you want

ADHD or ADD (as it sometimes used to be known prior to 1994) is “a behavioural disorder that includes symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.” (Hat tip to the NHS).

ADHD can be split into three subtypes; Predominantly Inattentive, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive, and Combined.

Symptoms of being predominantly inattentive can include:

Having difficulty paying attention and is easily distracted

Not liking or avoiding long mental tasks such as homework or study

Having difficulty staying on-task during school, at home, at work, or even whilst playing

Being disorganised and seeming forgetful

Not appearing to listen when directly spoken to (not actively listening)

Not paying close attention to details

Losing things often

Making careless mistakes

Struggling to follow through with instructions

The. Story. Of. My. Life

Symptoms of being predominantly hyperactive-impulsive include:

Regularly blurting out answers before a question is finished

Continually interrupting others (really the same as above)

Trouble waiting their turn

Talking too much

Fidgeting, tapping, wriggling, and squirming

Getting up from a seat or conversation when not conventionally appropriate; for example, during the middle of a conversation, lesson, or meeting

Seeking out adrenaline; for example, running or climbing in inappropriate situations

Being unable to play quietly or on their own

Being always “on the go” and rarely still

Also me.

How did ADHD tools become cool toys? Photo by Charles

But let’s go back to that bit about ADHD is a behavioural disorder? Let’s break that down.

I’ll generalise now, as I want to keep your attention (irony alarm). Still, a behavioural disorder is a collection of behaviours that disrupt for a period of longer than six months.

But surely disruption is contextual? Isn’t this why we diagnose children with ADHD but very rarely do we diagnose adults?

Children are diagnosed as being behaviourally disordered because the environment in which we put children is the constricting, dull, requires long periods of silence, lacks interaction, is homogenised so that lessons run at the average pace (or the slowest pace), and in a lot of cases lacks fun.

Who doesn’t like fun?

Misunderstood Genius by Belinda Fewings

Behaviours Associated with Giftedness

To misquote the Lighthouse Family — ‘We can be Gifted’. So let’s look at the behavioural symptoms of Gifted Children (WEBB, 1993):

Poor attention, boredom, daydreaming in specific situations Low tolerance for persistence on tasks that seem irrelevant Judgement lags behind the development of intellect Intensity may lead to power struggles with authorities A high activity level; may need less sleep Questions rules, customs and traditions

Sound familiar?

Why is it that we pigeon-hole children (and adults) behaviour as disordered when actually it’s just that the behaviour isn’t suitable for the environment. Or maybe the environment isn’t suitable for the people?

“Why are we creating an environment where people fail? We are being disabled by the environment. I’m not disabled in my own house. The natural world suits me fine. It’s the man-made stuff that makes difficulties for most of us.”

That’s a quote from Evaleen Whelton ahead of the conference ‘AUsome’ taking a positive approach to Autism.

“I’m not disabled in my own house”

It is the environment that disables the person. It is the teaching environment that disorders the attention.

I’m not suggesting that ADHD is a teacher’s fault at all — what I’m suggesting is that we need to provide adapted environments to enable people whose behaviour may be disordered (or gifted).

I volunteer the thought that maybe adults aren’t diagnosed with ADHD because they have naturally found jobs and vocations in which their behaviour is enabling.

Focus on the Positive Traits of ADHD

So if ADHD is just a collection of behaviours that extend over more than six months, then let’s look at the positive behaviours, focus on the benefits, love the traits, the superpowers:

Flexible thinking Quick thinking Energetic Spontaneous Optimistic Creative Inventive Hyperfocused (this is a massively underrated strength) Generosity Sense of fairness Multi-tasking Easy task-switching Great in a crisis

We are gifted, just not necessarily in the wrong environments.

No excuse

So let’s brighten up the day, everyone’s day, and share these positive behaviours with the world — in the right context, at the right time, in the right environments. Don’t Blame the ADHD, Rejoice in it, we can be gifted.