Wired Differently

Jack could sit for hours in woodwork, drawing, creating, designing, sanding, cutting, drilling.

Jack also could barely make it through 5 Math questions without his brain starting to drift off, after which Jack would start ripping up paper into tiny pieces to give his brain a new task to focus on.

To an outsider it might look like Jack was picking and choosing when he was concentrating, to the outsider people might have at times questioned Jack’s choices, his impulsivity, his inattentiveness. However, to those who knew and loved Jack, they knew a kind hearted boy who always wanted to help others, who was a young carer for his mother, they knew a boy who was extremely creative, funny  and was up for trying anything. They also knew that he was a 16 year old boy who had been told off most of his school life for not paying attention and told all the things he ‘couldn’t do’.

They would also know that Jack had ADHD which means his brain was wired and fired slightly differently.

ADHD is often misconstrued as ‘badly behaved’ kids and recently there has been a huge amount of negative perception of ADHD in the media. Let’s have a look and learn together some key things about ADHD.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting brain structure and neurotransmissions - the way in which messages are communicated around the brain and how different areas of the brain are activated.

ADHD typically occurs as a result of neurological dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the most developed part of our brains, it is responsible for problem solving, thinking, reasoning and helps supervise ‘executive functions’ which helps us govern abilities such as time management, judgment and decision making, impulse control and critical thinking. Our prefrontal cortex is also involved with sustained attention for long periods of time.

For individuals with ADHD this part of their brain is communicating slightly differently with each other. Sometimes I imagine it as a hand over in a relay race. The message is fired, but it isn’t picked up and relayed smoothly.

When an individual like Jack struggles concentrating often you would hear someone say ‘Jack pay attention’ but for Jack the harder you try the worse it gets. Those neurotransmitters struggle more and more when the pressure is put on and often would result in moments of behaviour. The more pressure to perform often leads to less effectiveness.

But why was Jack able to concentrate for long periods of time on something he loved like woodwork? The science comes down to the level of stimulation that you are providing the brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex. For ADHD individuals they require more stimulation to help the brain communicate efficiently, to help it stay on task. Things like woodwork were providing enough intrinsic stimulation for Jack, it was firing up and activating his prefrontal cortex so he could focus and concentrate for hours on end.

This need for stimulation often leads ADHD children into situations where they are seeking out negative stimuli, they then get shouted at and in turn the shouting becomes the stimulation their brains were seeking. Complex right?

So what can we do as the adults in these children and young people’s lives to support and create environments where they can thrive? Does it mean that as Jack’s teacher I let him sit in woodwork all day long? No, Jack was sitting entry level exams so a certain level of English, Math and Science had to be done. I had to get creative with Jack’s teaching. We broke down tasks into 5 or 6 questions and then he would start a timer on his watch of 5 minutes to doodle or rip up pieces of paper. For Jack it was important that he learnt techniques he could use in exam situations. For other children it might look like a movement break, a walk around the school, shredding paper or sorting the recycling. For some children we need to take it a step further - with one of my little ones his brain needed SO much stimulation, so he would hang upside down on a chair as we did his reading and we would jog around the playground as he counted in 2s and 5s for me.

It is so important to know and understand Brains. To understand how different brains work. It creates understanding and empathy. Instead of getting annoyed at Jack (well not all the time) it turned into me learning that Jack’s brain was telling me that he needed extra stimulation. That the choices he made were just a mismatch and firing of neurotransmitters.

I hope today you have learnt something about ADHD and that it helps create a level of empathy and understanding so we as their adults can create a stimulating environment for these individuals to truly flourish.