Attention deficit not an intelligence deficit
A student sits in class, unable to focus. She finds everything distracting from a flickering lightblub to the ticking clock. She fidgets with her pencil, scarf and earrings. She has trouble in social situations. She doesn’t understand assignments or test well. But none of this is her fault.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a condition commonly associated with being easily distracted, impulsive or overactive, which is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, said Chris Lord, the learning disability specialist for USU’s Disability Resource Center, who was diagnosed with ADHD at age 42.
“Usually (individuals with ADHD) are pretty open about it,” Lord said. “Sometimes they don’t realize it’s a problem until they get to college, because in high school they’ve learned to compensate. But when they get to college that unravels, and they don’t know how to keep it up.”
Some ADHD symptoms are easily spotted, Lord said, such as restlessness, lack of focus, procrastination, over-talking, fidgeting, interrupting conversations, loss of temper and difficulty with self-control. But others are often beneath the surface.
She said poor performance in school, coexisting conditions like depression and anxiety, having a short temper, immaturity, and trouble with sleeping are all indications of this disorder.
“I have a lot of problems with sleeping,” Lord said. “We can’t shut off our minds, and that can cause problems with sleep deprivation.”
Robyn Jordan, a sophomore majoring in early childhood education, was diagnosed with ADHD over the summer. Trouble with sleeping is one of many symptoms she said matched up.
“You can’t focus (with ADHD), and you always have to be moving,” Jordan said. “You get really angry easily if things don’t go your way. Usually you’re really loud about the opinions you express — you’re just kind of loud by nature. You notice sounds that other people just write off, whether it’s the fan blowing or a light. You get distracted easily, and your brain just never shuts off.”
Lord said once students are diagnosed with this disorder, they can get help from the DRC if there is a functional limitation that affects them in the classroom.
David Stewart, a junior majoring in broadcast journalism, said he was diagnosed with ADHD his senior year of high school. He came to USU and was referred to the DRC halfway through his freshman year, but he didn’t actually utilize the service until his sophomore year.
“My freshman year was horrible,” Stewart said. “Once I got to college, it dawned on me that I had different abilities than other people. When people would finish tests and walk up to the front of the class, at that point I couldn’t focus. There were a bunch of distractions that just popped up. So I realized if I wanted to finish my test, I had to finish before everybody else, and that’s a lot of pressure.”
Stewart said once he visited the DRC, he felt silly for not utilizing it earlier. Now teachers send his tests to the DRC, where he gets 50 percent more time to complete them, in a quiet room with minimal distractions, and he said his test scores have improved dramatically.
Jordan said she hasn’t used the DRC but having the diagnosis has made life easier.
“Before I was diagnosed, we weren’t sure what I was,” Jordan said. “We went to three different counselors and therapists and a family counselor. I had to go to the doctor every week, and I’d get sick every couple of days. They thought I was bipolar (or) had depression — a chemical imbalance.”
But as time went on, Jordan noticed behavioral similarities between herself and a friend she knew had ADHD. Because of this, she said, she wasn’t surprised to get the diagnosis.
“It was not a shock,” Jordan said. “I kind of just wanted to know what was wrong.”
Jordan isn’t the only one who was pleased when she got a clear diagnosis. Lord said she felt a great sense of relief after 42 years of not knowing why she acted the way she did.
“I realized, ‘Okay, I’m not crazy, dumb or stupid,'” Lord said. “There’s actually a rationale for doing it, and when you’re aware, you can make behavioral changes and do something about it.”
Stewart, on the other hand, said the diagnosis took a while to sink in for him.
“I wanted to do better in school, but I didn’t want to just be taking the easy way out. Even on the news, they talked about how it was over-diagnosed,” Stewart said. “Before I was diagnosed with it, I just thought it was a cop-out for people who were lazy; but it’s real. And for people who have it, it’s a struggle.”
Stewart also said the disorder affected his relationships with people.
“It was good to have a diagnosis, but since I was in high school, there’s a stigma with everything,” Stewart said. “It became irritating, because whenever I did anything that was annoying, people would ask if I had taken my medication.”
Lord said it’s common for relationships to be strained due to the effects ADHD can have on a couple. She said other people may not understand procrastination issues or impulsive money management. Because of this, she said, there’s a high rate of divorce related to such disorders.
Jordan said her family relationships have been strained since before she was diagnosed.
“It was hard on (my family),” Jordan said. “I’d blow up at my parents, and there would be emotions expressed that I didn’t mean to say. But it’s not like my family gave up on me or anything.”
But family members are not the only ones who are affected when a person has ADHD. Stewart said after he was diagnosed, sometimes people treated him differently.
Jordan said she’s noticed people who are unnecessarily critical of her or others like her.
“People say they (people with ADHD) are slower or have something wrong with them, when in reality we’re not,” she said. “We just have different techniques to get through things. I definitely feel like people should be more open to it. They shouldn’t be judgmental. A lot of times they’ll figure out you have ADHD and write you off as someone with a problem.”
Lord said people with ADHD use different mechanisms to cope with the disorder. There are medical methods, including prescriptions and stimulants, which help with focusing.
Lord also said behavioral methods like regular exercise help with the chemical imbalance, too. She also said keeping a planner helps students with ADHD schedule time efficiently and become self-disciplined. Things like automatic bill pay can help with procrastination and forgetfulness.
Being optimistic about ADHD is something Lord said can also help these individuals.
“There are a lot of very positive traits associated with ADHD,” she said. “They’re energetic, creative and innovative. A lot of entrepreneurs and successful people have it, and it’s probably contributed to their success. So long as a person understands their strengths and weaknesses, it doesn’t have to be an obstacle.”
– m.noble@aggiemail.usu.edu