What is ADHD?

[Music]

I took medication when I was a kid

everyone said I would outgrow it so I

stopped taking the medication in college

everything is so hard now I hate math

it's so boring

I know I'm bad at it even though my

teacher says I'm not I'm a failure I

can't remember to do homework and lose

things I kick it

I hate feeling like I'm different but I

really am work seems like it's easy for

everyone else these are the voices of

people with attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder or ADHD millions

of American children teenagers and

adults experience this disorder which

makes it hard to concentrate pay

attention

organize and focus their lives are

complicated because of it I know one of

these voices is mine I was diagnosed

with ADHD when I was nine most kids with

ADHD start to struggle with symptoms

even earlier than that I first noticed

my symptoms in school when we began

doing projects that took planning and I

got frustrated a lot later in middle

school I was on the basketball team but

I was always late to practice eventually

my teacher called my parents to talk

about my grades since I understood the

material but didn't turn things in on

time at that point my parents my coach

and my teacher all compared how things

were going and that's when my parents

took me to see my pediatrician ADHD can

show up in three different types

inattentive hyperactive-impulsive and

combined my symptoms were more of the

inattentive type I was having a lot of

trouble losing things or forgetting

things not finishing homework and

organizing my work for projects and

future assignments my parents told me at

first that they wondered if I had a

hearing problem because sometimes I

would look like I didn't hear them when

they talked to me

other children also struggle to keep

their attention in class can look super

distracted at home and school and have

trouble with details for things they're

not interested in

kids with more hyperactive or impulsive

symptoms have trouble waiting for their

turn they might get up from their seats

in class run around when it's not a good

time to do that talk all the time

interrupt people or blurt out answers a

lot of times kids with ADHD can get into

trouble since the symptoms can look like

they don't care or aren't respectful of

others but they do care

they just can't control it because of

their problem with attention while some

people might have inattentive type and

others have hyperactive-impulsive type

ADHD still others might have symptoms of

both which is called combined type if

people show six symptoms from either of

the first two types or a combination of

them adding two six they fit the

diagnosis while ADHD is most commonly

diagnosed in kids almost all of them

continue to experience it as teenagers

and a majority still have symptoms as

adults only some people grow out of it

the most important thing to know is that

treatment for ADHD works for little kids

this is behavior therapy that also

includes their parents so the whole

family can be part of the solution for

school-aged kids and older the best

choice is medication or a combination of

medication and therapy I had behavior

therapy where I learned some skills like

specific time management and

organization techniques that helped me

in school and in my sport

I also took a stimulant medication that

helped me focus my attention sometimes

people find great help in non stimulant

medications especially younger kids for

most people ADHD medications really help

focus and block out distractions ADHD is

a serious challenge for kids teenagers

and adults who struggle to pay attention

and focus in many parts of their lives

but there is hope treatment works school

wasn't easy for me but with my therapy

and medication I learned what I needed

to do to make it work

people go on to do well in school and

succeed in their lives and careers in

spite of and because of their ADHD I

know I did

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