Life With ADHD

These days most of us have heard the term “ADHD.” We may even know someone who has this condition, but not all of us are clear on exactly what it means.  

According to the National Institute of Mental Health:

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (A.D.H.D.) is a brain disorder marked by an ongoing pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development.

But what do all those big words mean? What is life like for someone who has ADHD?

Well, my 9 year old son, Monkey, has ADHD so I thought I would ask him how he thinks ADHD affects his life. (No his name isn’t really Monkey but to protect his privacy we’re going to use his nickname today.)

So, Monkey. We have talked a lot about ADHD and how it makes your life a little different from the lives of your brothers and your friends who don’t have ADHD. Can you share with me some of the ways that ADHD affects the way you play?

I don’t like to play with quiet things. I like to play not alone. I like to play with my brothers and I like to play games that keep me moving and with things that make noise. I like to swing and play dragons and play with hula hoops. And I love video games and music and dancing. When I was younger I would sometimes do dangerous things like climb high things and jump off but I’ve learned to make better decisions now.

Monkey spent a year working with a behavioral therapist who helped him learn special tricks for handling his ADHD.

Monkey, how does having ADHD change the way you do things for school?

I try to do everything in my head because it takes too long to write things down. I do like to use things for counting though and I like doing things like experiments and crafts and taking stuff apart. When I’m reading I don’t sit still and I wind up upside down half the time. I had a bracelet with stretchy strings on it that I could wear and fiddle with but it ripped so I don’t have that anymore. I also have a red fidget thing with bumps that I can sit on sometimes and a bouncy ball that I sit on and bounce when I do my math because it helps me concentrate. I also like to listen to music when I am doing my schoolwork because even though it would be distracting for my brothers, it actually helps me concentrate. I get to wear headphones a lot more than my brothers.

How does ADHD affect your sleep?

I have a harder time going to sleep than my brothers, but I’ve learned to lay down, close my eyes and think of something happy like watching TV, playing a fake video game – like one I make up – or playing back memories from my life. Just think of stuff. Then I fall asleep.

Do you have anything else you want people to know about ADHD?

Just don’t feel like you’re apart from everyone else because it’ll just make you lonely and you’ll have no one to play with. Being different isn’t bad. Being different is actually being the same because everyone is different from everyone.

What would the world be like if God had made everyone the same?

Everyone would have the same ideas and nothing would happen. It would just be the same old things, the same old everything. If everybody was the same, nobody could be famous. If one person was famous, everyone would be famous, because they’re all the same. And no one could have great ideas because everyone would have great ideas so they’d all be the same. So basically, whatever happened to one person would happen to everyone else because everybody would be doing the same thing. The world would be boring.