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February 2023 | Another Book Question! (Patreon)

Published:
2023-02-22 00:27:01
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Hello Brains & Hearts! We've got another book question for ya! That we'd love to hear your opinion on! 

If those of us who are Neurodivergent advocates are all essentially working toward the same goal...What is that goal?How do you think we get there? (I have my opinions, but I'd love to hear yours!)And let us know if we can use your quote in the book, and how you'd like to be credited for the quote ('anonymous' is definitely an option if you'd like to remain such!). 

Comments

K Johnson

Well, big goals take long term focus. ADHD doesn’t quite lend itself to that approach. There are however LOTS of stair-step type goals. Start with pain points: why does no legislator appear to care about the shortage of ADHD meds? The human cost to that is tremendous. Why should they care might be a great early question. Having been diagnosed late in life after a brain injury, (unknown) ADHD had been a super power in my ability to work with groups, speaking to large groups, facilitating groups with hot issues, etc. But the TBI put a pause on that and I had to re learn it. I say that as a preface regarding the medical care I got - or didn’t get in regard to ADHD. The variation among medical staff is profound - it’s in the realm of personal opinion about ADHD, less often actual science. That’s another question: how can we move the dial on how ADHD is perceived in the medical community? Stair step goals then reveal the next, most important goals naturally.

Angela Gildner

To have the strengths of different brains honored. To have Neurodivergent children celebrated for their gifts instead of constantly punished for being themselves

Sarah K.

Fixing the understanding of what ADHD actually is feels like it should be the big picture goal, because there are so many problems that stem from this. I spent 20+ years going to therapists and psychiatrists knowing something was wrong just be diagnosed with mood disorders, depression, and anxiety. I was put on countless medications that didn’t work (but nearly all caused weight gain). It took seeking out a psychiatric diagnostician when I was 40 years old to run a full assessment to finally find out that I have severe combined-type ADHD. I don’t have a mood disorder and it’s likely that any depression or anxiety I’ve had stemmed from having untreated ADHD my whole life. And that happened because the actual medical community at large doesn’t even understand the disorder. They are often running on outdated information from when they were in school twenty years ago (or more). I think this all needs to start with a renaming, because the actual words in the ADHD acronym undermine our ability to be taken seriously. It needs to be understood as a larger more pervasive neurological condition that affects all executive functioning. It needs to be understood that it doesn’t only impact us as students or workers but in every area of our lives and every day of our lives. I cannot tell you how many ADHD articles I’ve read online written by therapists or social workers or psychologists that don’t even get it right. They reiterate the DSM or textbook definitions while missing the real issues. And I also want to second the other commenter’s point about how serious this current medical shortage situation is for this community. This is potentially life ruining for many individuals, and this needs to be one of our main concerns right now. (And you can use all or some of my quote with my name as it’s here)

Lenora Lundquist

Even with all the advocacy that has been done, I regularly come across people, including medical professionals such as my ex-primary physician and my ex-psychotherapist, who have many incorrect beliefs about ADHD, if they know anything at all. My primary knew nothing. She'd been my doctor for 15 years and never recognized that I had ADHD. My therapist accused me of "treatment interfering behavior." She told me that eventually I would "learn to deal with and grow past" the ADHD, i.e. I would be "cured" if I stopped being "difficult" (referring to my ongoing issues with motivation, executive function, and communication issues.) If our medical professionals don't understand the very basics of ADHD, it makes it so much harder to stand up in our workplace, to our families, and for our friends. If the "experts" don't believe us, why should anyone else? Honestly, I have no idea how to change this. Perhaps to start at the highest level, the AMA, with a letter/phone campaign to get their attention about how widespread of an issue this is. You can use my name, Lenora Lundquist.

Daniel Wild

I would like to have a word that describes me as a neurodivegent person dealing with ADHD that does not immediately put the focus on the disorder. If we can find and popularize a term that allows us to mention our neurodiversity in places like work, gatherings with our extended family, first dates, etc., much of the stigma (in particular that stemming from a false understanding of what ADHD actually is) could be avoided. If someone introduces themselves as an HSP, we don't immediately think about seasonal depression or social anxiety, we consider their personality to be highly sensitive. I believe that if we had a good word that describes the type of personality that also happens to have this disorder called ADHD, it would lower the threshold to talk about it more openly. (If crediting, please use "Daniel".)

SQrL (Bryan)

I would like to shift the paradigm of cognitive variety. As humans, we have a variety of eyes, noses, ears, cheek bones, jaw lines, and brows. We have a variety of skin colors, hair colors, hair textures, hair growth patterns. We also have a variety of brain mechanics, and chemistry, including cognitive function styles and abilities, such as executive function. A new paradigm that accepts this diverse set of cognitive styles and abilities, instead of furthering a flawed model that the non-dominant styles are flawed, is the best way forward for society. Here’s why. Research supporting neurodivergent thinkers will also support people who have memory loss or other executive function challenges caused by dementia or brain damage. These unfortunate events could happen to anyone so helping ND helps future NT patients who may suffer such loss in the future. As technology advances and our ability to retain knowledge becomes less critical due to advancements in artificial intelligence, or intelligence augmentation, such as ChatGPT, the primary skills will be soft skills, such as empathy, and creativity. These are 2 strengths of those of us with a “variable attention trait”, as Dr. Ned Halowell puts it in ADHD2.0. Classifying our differences as traits instead of oppressing part of the population by characterizing their experience as a disorder.

SQrL (Bryan)

Although not a main goal, I’d also like extensive research on how gender, and/or gender identity impacts ND. Also research gut connections to ND and reproductive systems connections to ND

Selphis

It has to be acceptance and understanding. Neurodivergency is too often regarded as a deficit (acceptance), while the strengths that come with them are often forgotten or disregarded (understanding). When I want to discuss my situation at work, the first thing they'll hear is that other people may need to help me with certain things. They won't realise that that small help will enable me to be much more productive and, in turn, help everyone else. Accomodations for neurodivergency are not a cost, they're an investment. And that's not even true just for neurodivergency people. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses that are often disregarded. People are not average.

Nina 💜🏳️‍⚧️

Creating a world in which people don't need to know what ADHD is? Teach professional educators (teachers, etc.) how to respond to individual needs rather than expectations and create a more open minded society that sees people for who they are.

Jabberwocky (Jan H. H.)

I like to put this very simple, work towards that colleagues feel comfortable to bring their whole self to work and with that their unique skills. How to get there can be more complicated and is often a case by case and it depends issue. Group dynamics helps a lot to get to the insights non-neurodovergent people may need. Find out what support is needed and make sure this is granted is the other side in my view.

Include diversity in planning. This goes across the board. Have options for making processes less complicated, more accessible. Don't hide those options or make them hard to find.

Kai Nemoto

To build a community that is understanding ADHD-related struggles and challenges but celebrating individual's unique strengths. I think we can get there by keep having conversations and educate on how to support our differences from conventional perspective of the world. If you want to quote me, Kai, would work!

John Walker

To make the world more friendly towards different ways of perceiving and interacting with it. Getting there? First, helping people understand in what ways they are not neurotypical, as everybody some way in which they approach things a bit differently. From there, helping them see how they have been aided in that - whether it is learning by having things presented differently (audio, written, different words, pictures, objects to manipulate, etc.) or things that make it easier to accomplish goals small and large. Understanding that one approach or another is neither right nor wrong and how someone has been helped often helps them understand neurodiversity somewhat abstractly. Then, we can start looking at all the different ways that people might be helped, presenting tools to the person to concretely understand how better to help.

Todd Holdsworth

My goal is as many people as possible understanding. To get there is more well-timed gentle education (not the in-your-face kind people quickly turn away from) and less masking. When people acknowledge my unmasked behaviours (even if just subtle body language), it presents an education opportunity. I will continue to do talks at work too but both methods of education are effective. You can quote it all and my whole name 😊

April Nolan

To provide information. The problem in today’s world right now at least from my opinion is, there are so many programs, companies, assistants, medical providers, etc. out there but people don’t know they’re there because they don’t know how to do the research or no one showed them or told them how to find it.

Andrew Roth

First day of school teacher breaking the ice : “who here wears glasses? Is a righty? Lefty? has some sort of special way of learning? um….Oh I know, who went swimming this summer?” (and so on and more creative and fun)

Paul

For everyone to know their inherent worth, especially for kids. I know when I was in school, it felt like being under a microscope aimed at my weaknesses and broadcasting them for my peers to see. It took me a long time of feeling somehow defective and broken to gain any confidence in a school setting and start to see my strengths. What I would like to see change are 1) an education and work culture based on cultivating each person's unique strengths and gifts through exploration rather than rote memorization, and 2) a general culture that values physical, mental, and spiritual health, purpose, character, and community, over productivity, wealth, and achievement as the measure of a "successful" life.

Lisa Gaudron

I want it to be normal to ask for and receive accomodations for whatever condition you have, regardless of whether it's a neurological or a physical condition or a social construct such as gender. I want it to be treated as standard practice within ALL settings (employment, education, interaction with government services and with businesses, and in social contexts). I want it to feel normal to ask and to feel normal to be asked and to feel normal to enact those accomodations. I want it to feel normal all over the world. I want it to be so normal that in many of these settings people ask US if there's anything that would make things easier, without prior knowledge of any conditions we may have and expect to be given requests for accomodations as an answer. I want it to feel normal because people everywhere understand that any costs are more than made up for by the multitude of benefits that inclusivity brings. My name is Lisa Gaudron if you need it

Lisa Gaudron

Oh yes, I also want math to be taught with space hoppers (google "space hopper image" if you don't understand). Because ADHD kids (whose best chance at learning is their first chance) need it and because everyone else probably does too ... math is only boring if you do it wrong and the right way involves bounce

Shona Coverdale

I want people to stop assuming we're not trying, and calling our inability to perform things like chores on a regular basis as "weaponized incompetence." Don't judge someone else's effort based on your results, that's my new catchphrase.

Liz 908

Shona, that's a "keeper" I'm going to remember..

Maria James-Thiaw

As a neurodivergent mom of neurodivergent kids, I want the world to accept that there are different ways of thinking, and though we struggle with executive functioning, if supported we can create unbelievable things. Anything from the light bulb, to the end of slavery, to the moonwalk! (The dance, not the actual moon...ok) If people couldn't see the world differently, we wouldn't have these masterpieces. Let the neurodivergent people in your life thrive! (You can use my name. Maria James-Thiaw, poet/playwright)