It’s been a long time since I wrote a blog for this page. In fact, my last blog was August 2021. Where has the time gone? It shows how busy autism act has become.
I can’t take credit for the work below as it’s been written by a young person I started supporting last April in one of my commissioned posts. Ongoing self awareness work and support from other colleagues has enabled him to understand his ADHD diagnosis more fully. It helped him to recognise strengths, understand the challenges he faces and how to seek support for them. Reframing his own thinking about what ADHD means for him as an individual has been a key point. I saw him today and he gave me permission to share his work, with a big smile on his face when he said ‘I heard you liked my work, then?’
I won’t make any comments at the end as the most powerful words come from the young people themselves. I hope you enjoy reading his work.
GCSE English Speech
Spreading Awareness for ADHD
I am a 16 year old, Year 11 student. When I was preparing this speech, I had no idea what I was going to write but I have decided to speak to you about something I have a deep passion for and that is ADHD. I am also sharing awareness to other humans like me to have the confidence to share their struggles in ADHD. I myself have an ADHD diagnosis and face many battles daily that I would like to raise awareness about and help other individuals with ADHD and other people who ain’t got a good understanding of ADHD.
I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 8 years old and have been on medication since, to help with my diagnosis in order to support me through all daily tasks that range from being in school to playing football.
Until recent years, individuals with ADHD have always been misunderstood and mislabelled the ‘naughty child’, well let me tell you something, ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This is a disorder that I and those like me have no control over, we are not naughty our brains are wired different.
ADHD can affect people in different ways, the way in which it affects me is that when I am not taking my medication I become hyper, cannot concentrate and cannot maintain eye contact and struggle to control my anger. Time and time again, people around me think I am being rude, defiant or a stereotypical teenage boy but really, I am not either of those things. I am just a boy with ADHD who battles the effects of my diagnosis daily.
When random member of the public look at kids with ADHD, they always look at them at the wrong end of the stick.
Why do they do that tho?
Could it be that there is a lack of information on this sought of topic and that is has not been made aware of too many individuals, so they never have a clear understanding.
ADHD tablets stop your growth and have a lack of appetite. For example before Covid-19 started I always took my tablets and I was only 5 foot 3 inches tall but when I stopped taking my tablets when lockdown started I had a huge growth spurt and my appetite resumed.
My daily struggles are always an issue, when they become complicated, I get very easily winded up then turns into a bad decision which I usually regret and as a result of this it affects my day and people who are around me usually give their different opinions.
I would also like to point out that when I ain’t on my ADHD medication there is another side to me. When I mean another side to me you get to see the real me who is hyper, lacks concentration and quick to anger and very fidgety and that is what I still struggle with from this day and ongoing.
I like to also inform people who have ADHD that they are not alone if the diagnosis brings them down. Your family and close friends should help you to support and fight your daily battles together and set yourself targets because that’s what family and friends do stick by each other.
This is the end of my presentation. I would like to thank you for your time and listening to something I feel so strongly about.
