Your ADHD Brain

Recommendations on Where to Start

There is a tremendous amount of information circulating about ADHD and yet we have a lot of work to do regarding what messages are being communicated and received about ADHD to provide a more accurate and well-rounded view of this incredible brain-wiring.

There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding, including way too much focus on the challenges associated with ADHD (and Autism, dyslexia, etc.), often framed as a “problem to fix” that places blame and shame on individuals because of the way they were born and just as importantly, they were never given the tools, knowledge, and support needed to thrive.

It’s starting to get better but there isn’t nearly enough easily accessible information or media coverage on the strengths and benefits of thinking differently, the positive stories of ADHD lives, or the numerous ways that businesses, colleagues, families, and others can adapt to support us with our brain-based challenges.

To be clear, ADHD and AuDHD, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, come with very real challenges that can impact daily lives, self-esteem, and relationships, and we need to learn how to work with our brains (because we were never shown how) and develop greater self-awareness, but this is not the whole story.

ADHD-ers are known to be more curious, creative, imaginative, and innovative. They are also often social justice oriented and extremely effective when working in their areas of interest and provided appropriate support and understanding. And so much more. 

We need to learn to value differences and adapt to them as a society. ADHD-ers and other Neurodivergent individuals and communities across every industry have always, and will continue to make a positive impact on the world and the lives of others. Our worth and “value” as human beings should never be determined by what we do or how “productive” we are, but by who we are as individuals.  

Below are a few resources, including some of my original poetry, that provide more than a narrow, incomplete, “deficit-based” view of ADHD.

I hope you will use some of the many strengths of ADHD and stay curious and ask questions as you learn more about your ADHD brain wiring.

Consider if what you are listening to, reading, or watching is being presented from a strengths-based lens, providing a more accurate well-rounded picture of ADHD.

Seek sources that support you in not only learning about ADHD but in learning to love your ADHD brain and identity along the way.