I have the memory of an elephant but the attention span of a gnat. ~Unknown

According to CADDAC, approximately 1.8 million Canadians or 1 of every 21 people in the country, have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (About ADHD, n.d.). In the race for attention, the ability to entice people to watch a video, click on a link or like and share a post requires excellent copy and even better mechanisms to keep the attention of those who struggle to focus.

In recent years, I have wondered if I have ADHD. As I said in my post, I wondered if this exercise was intended to irritate us. Having read Jamie’s post and a couple of others, I now wonder if other people had the result I did and if there is a link to ADHD and those of us who have or likely have ADHD simply got bored faster than our classmates…

While most people are neurotypical, meaning the brain functions and processes information as society expects. The fact that 1 in 21 people in Canada have ADHD highlights the need for society to embrace neurodiversity to accept differences and variation and to reduce stigma (Lancet, 2016). As a movement, neurodiversity encourages us to reject the culturally entrenched negativity which has typically surrounded those that live, learn, and view the world differently. Over the past two decades, studies have suggested that many brain or mind disorders bring strengths and weaknesses; such strengths may suggest an evolutionary explanation for why these disorders are still in the gene pool (LDAO, 2015). Professionals need to understand and accept neurodiversity—a lack of empathy could lead to a repeat of past approaches that forced people to conform to “normal” behaviour, which is neither practical nor acceptable (Lancet, 2016).

I’m okay with not being normal. In fact, I relish it!

References:

About ADHD. (n.d.). CADDAC. Retrieved March 19, 2023, from https://caddac.ca/about-adhd/#:~:text=Attention%20Deficit%20Hyperactivity%20Disorder%20(ADHD,the%20country%20has%20the%20disorder

Lancet (2016). Pride in autistic diversity. The Lancet (British Edition), 387(10037), 2479-2479. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30831-5Links to an external site.