October is ADHD Awareness Month!
Be on the lookout for upcoming helpful posts.
Did you know October is ADHD awareness month?
One of the most stressful experiences I've had as a person, and a parent and caregiver, is having undiagnosed ADHD-combined type.
I wasn't even diagnosed until 2021 when I was 44 years old! I'm now 48, and have a much better understanding of myself and the condition.
Helping raise my twin grandsons with multiple special needs, including ADHD, is what clued me in to get evaluated too. I recognized myself when filling out the questionnaire.
Many people have misconceptions about ADHD, and my goal is to educate and encourage others to accept it, understand it, and embrace it.
✨Knowledge is power!✨
So be on the lookout for upcoming posts from me about ADHD, its impact on you and your family, with recommended resources and information to help you navigate this condition.
And I'd love to know and share your story too!
If you're interested in being highlighted in one of my newsletters, email me. I can share anonymously or link to you and your website.
What about you? How has ADHD impacted your life? Leave me a comment!
Your friend,
Dawn-Renée
By the time one of my high school teachers handed me a book on ADHD–I think it was Driven to Distraction– I'd already intuited many ways to cope with this mind. It was like 1995 or something. I'd been in college a year or two at that point.
The book just gave my experience a name. I already had figured out that I needed an organized life and a good time manager. Those parts I had in hand. What I didn't understand was why I couldn't remember names or cope with someone talking to me when my mind was on something else. I still struggle with over-stimulation, but my meditation practice helps.
What I've come to understand is that knowing habit science isn't all there is to coping. Others don't take to the best practices outlined by the experts. It's hard shifting later in life. I'm luck that I started around age 16. Also, we're all unique. Some of us wouldn't adapt habit science at any age. It's just not interesting enough to us, or we don't like it, or there is one of a million other challenges in the way.
As a coach, I talk to many people who struggle with adult ADHD, meaning they just found out. It's harder for them, I think. Learning about it early, and sorta stumbling into my own solutions was fortunate.
How has ADHD impacted my life?
It's so hard to detangle the ADHD from all of the other parts of my life. My ADHD makes me super curious and enthusiastic. I love diving into new topics. I think it also makes me creative in the way I approach life.
Having said that, I don't know if I would have ended up in burnout without ADHD a couple of years ago; I "managed" it with anxiety for too many years which meant that I didn't let my full self shine for the longest time; it means I'm (too) hard on myself for all of the "easy" things I seem to not be able to do.
(And then there's the second part of the story which is how realizing I am ADHD has impacted my life...)