5 ADD Misconceptions vs. Real ADD Experiences
Panel 1
( Tommy waves, the letters ADD above their head.).
Tommy: Hi, I’m Tommy, and I have Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD (this consists of ADHD). I just discovered this in the previous year, however, I had actually been having a hard time unconsciously for most likely my entire life.
Panel 2
( Tommy observes a long paper list identified “medical diagnosis” in inconvenience.).
Tommy: Why, after more than twenty years in contact with the family practitioner, psychiatrists, and therapists of all types, am I only simply discovering this part of me? Taking a look at some typical misconceptions surrounding ADD might offer some understanding.
Panel 3.
Taboo Number 1: ADD Doesn’t Exist.
(” Poof!” The letters ADD vanish from above Tommy’s head, stunning them.).
Panel 4.
( A picture of the brain indicates the prefrontal cortex, the layer of brain tissue covering the frontal lobes, or the half of the brain closest to the forehead.).
Actual Experience: ADD is a condition that is the outcome of developmental hold-ups in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which controls ideas and feelings and keeps you inspired even when you’re not actively interested.
( Tommy appears from the side, “ADD” above their head once again, pointing to the diagram.).
Tommy: Whether you think about it or not, ADD is extremely genuine.
Panel 5.
Taboo Number 2: ADD Is When a Kid Is Really Hyper and Disruptive in Class.
( A little kid stands at his desk, holding up a crayon and yelling. Their schoolmates rely on facing them; deals with variety from stunned to frustrated.).
Panel 6.
Actual experience: Many individuals with ADD aren’t hyper and loud. I was mainly peaceful and had directly A’s up until my sleepiness and troubles focusing and prioritizing overtaken me in university. Then, ADD was the farthest thing from my mind. Rather, I believed that my battles were all individual defects, and I didn’t look for assistance till I was almost adrift.
( A more youthful Tommy has their head down on their desk, pencil still in hand, asleep on top of their notes.).
Panel 7.
Taboo Number 3: Video Games and Social Media Cause ADD.
( A picture of a teen leaning over their phone, as if in a hypnotic trance.).
Panel 8.
Actual experience: A lot of individuals with ADD are drawn to a computer game and social networks due to the fact that it engages with them in methods other activities do not. When handling the tension of combating yourself to do daily activities, doing something that feels simple for when ends up being a kind of self-care.
( Tommy sits gratified at their sofa, controller in hand. The top of their head is open as if on a hinge, exposing their brain, which is bathing in a bubble bath. Tommy’s brain sighs in pleasure.).
Panel 9.
Taboo Number 4: ADD Is Just an Excuse to Drug “Problem” Children into Submission.
( The exact same small kid from Panel 5 sits at their desk, surrounded by bubbles, with a wacky expression.).
Panel 10.
Actual experience: There are definitely ableist needs to leap to utilizing medication to manage ADD signs, consisting of desiring a kid to act “regular.” Nevertheless, medication likewise assists many individuals with ADD, whether it’s being utilized as a help to behavior modification or to a much better endure in a world that is really unaccommodating and demanding to them.
( Tommy pops out of a huge prescription tablet bottle.).
Tommy: I’m beginning a medication due to the fact that my ADD signs make it challenging to work enough to earn money wage. (Something that is hard even for neurotypical individuals!).
Panel 11.
Taboo Number 5: People with ADD Are Just Lazy and Aren’t Trying Hard Enough.
( Tommy stands alone in the panel, searching for at the text.).
Panel 12.
Actual experience:
Tommy: See, for a long period, I believed that, too.
Panel 13.
( Tommy searches for at the letters “ADD” above their head, however, the text is faded, covered rather by expressions like “lazy,” “does not listen,” and “does not care.”).
I’ve had a lifetime of being informed that I was “lazy” or that I “do not care” whenever I forgot to do the meals, missed out on a consultation, or invested the weekend playing the Sims rather of working. And I began to think it.
Panel 14.
( Tommy looks fearfully at the unclear figures of other individuals around them, attempting to cover the words above their head. The “ADD” is nearly totally unknown now, the expressions like “does not listen” and “does not care” covered by even larger words like “bad,” “useless,” and “failure.”).
Did it assist me at all? No! It simply promoted a self-hatred that made it more difficult to look for assistance when I’m having a hard time, due to the fact that every failure was simply evidence: that I will never ever do anything great with my life, despite whatever accomplishments I might currently have.
Panel 15.
(Several individuals identified “ADD” battle to climb up a large cliff, on the top which is a minute identified “Human.”).
And that’s the important things! Individuals with ADD should not need to attempt to be neurotypical to be deserving humans! That must be an offered for everybody.
Panel 16.
( One of the individuals identified “ADD” raids the “Human” monolith on even ground, surveying a landscape of mild hills with numerous stones, each identified “objective.”).
Then, on that structure, we can deal with methods to cope with ADD that permit us to attain our objectives.
Panel 17.
Blaming individuals with ADD for their own battles, instead of the society that just one particular type of individual can flourish in, is more than a misconception. It’s an ableist concept that adds to the suffering of many individuals.
(In the very same situation of the individual climbing up the cliff, another individual leans over the edge and scolds them as they have a hard time.).
Panel 18.
( Tommy gestures up at the entire of the comic above them.).
Tommy: Try reading some works by individuals with ADD, and hesitate prior to spreading out concepts that depict individuals with ADD as powerless or willfully oblivious. That is a minimum of, a begin to breaking down ableism in our lives.
