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Ink By The Barrel: My Son Explains ADHD

Patrick's personal essay in fourth grade told the world about ADHD. Do you understand the disability as well as he does?

The following words my ten-year-old son wrote as his personal essay in fourth grade:

What is ADHD?

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hearing Disorder. Here are three facts I’m going to tell you about. What is ADD? What is HD? And what types of medicine can help.

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ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder. That’s the first part of ADHD. This is a question you might ask: “Why don’t they call it ADDHD?” Well, most people just use ADHD for short, instead of ADDHD.
                                             
Now let’s get back on topic. ADD makes it hard for you to pay attention. Like, in first grade (my parents did not know I had ADHD at the time) I never focused on what the teacher’s topic was. Other kids were, but not me. That’s an example of what ADD is.

The next part (or fact) is HD. HD stands for Hearing Disorder (and no that does not mean I can not hear). That means you ignore what people are saying. Sometimes you don’t even hear what they’re saying. Look at this example: “Patrick please come down for dinner and set up the TV tables, okay?” See. Someone with ADHD would not hear these directions.

Now for the third fact! Medicine: There are different types of medicine to help people with ADHD. Here are medicines: Patches, 20-millimeter, 15-millimeter. Pills, green pills-10, blue pills-15.

That’s all about ADHD! I told you all about it and its medicines too. Thanks for reading my essay. Hoped you liked it, and learned some new information.

Okay, your columnist is back. First, I’ll provide all the required politically-correct disclosures. His teacher checked with us when Patrick said he wanted to write about ADHD in an essay his class would see. And I made very sure he understood that wider dissemination of the piece could mean. People would know more than he might imagine and someone could make fun of him. He said fine; it doesn’t bother him. He’s never been shy about talking about ADHD or his medicine and he wasn’t this time. (He may change his mind with the middle school years approaching.) But he deserves great credit for accepting that it is simply a part of who he is.

I share his essay today, with its factual errors (millimeters instead of milligrams) and his own interesting personal interpretations of the disorder’s name, because ADHD Awareness Week starts Oct. 16. I know what you’re thinking. Here we go, another disorder of the week, pleading for special treatment. Time to click off this column. But hold on. I’m not looking for anything special, but seek only to attack the ignorance, the cliches and punchlines associated with the disability. And I’ll admit, I’m one of those who believed the cliches, back before Patrick was identified. I can remember saying, “I’m so ADD today,” without thinking what it would mean to be like that every day of the week, with no way to make it go completely away.

It’s by not talking about something, making something secret and hidden, that we make it bad. Ignorance wins, and shame follows. Patrick is comfortable with his diagnosis because he’s had no reason not to be. I want to make sure he lives in a world where that continues.

In an email on ADHD Awareness Week, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (CHADD) lists these quotes often heard by parents and kids dealing with ADHD:

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  • "ADHD isn't real."
  • "If you were a better parent, ..."
  • "If you were more motivated, then you could ..."
  • "If you would just pay attention..."
  • "How can you give your child those drugs?"

Ever heard any of those, or said them yourself? Then read on. CHADD sent a list of seven facts everyone should know about the disability. I won’t list them all (you can read them here), but want to highlight the three most important ones.

First, ADHD is a common disorder. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 9.5 percent of children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with it. That means in a classroom of 20, two kids know they have it. And there are most certainly more that have not been diagnosed.

Second, diagnosing ADHD is complex. “The person must exhibit a large number of symptoms, demonstrate significant problems with daily life in several major life areas (work, school, or friends), and have had the symptoms for a minimum of six months,” writes CHADD. “To complicate the diagnostic process, many of the symptoms look like extreme forms of normal behavior.”

Finally, ADHD is not benign, and when left untreated, can impact school performance, graduation rates, work productivity and relationships right into adulthood. Dr. Joseph Biederman of the Harvard Medical School reports we could save billions of dollars with proper evaluation and treatment of those who are ADHD. Treatment, which will control the symptoms, includes a combination of educational supports, medication, behavioral interventions and training.

I hope this little public service announcement helps. ADHD is a real disability that can and does have a major impact on kids' ability to learn, be productive, and most importantly, be happy. The world needs to understand it at least as well as my son Patrick.

Rich blogs at richzahradnik.com.

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