7 ADHD resources you should know about
Some people close to me are living with ADHD and it’s tough.
Helper that I am, I’ve been out there hoovering up all the information I can. And as I was telling the second person this week all I’d found, it occurred to me that you might find it helpful too.
What is ADHD?
According to ADDitude, an awesome online resource that works closely with the medical community to continually fact-check and report on the latest research:
ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a neurological disorder that impacts the parts of the brain that help us plan, focus on, and execute tasks.
Ok, but what does that mean?
Image Description : Mindmap of Brown’s Model of Executive Functions Impaired in ADHD. Refer https://www.brownadhdclinic.com/the-brown-model-of-add-adhd for details.
Image Credit: Created by Rachel Westerbeek from Brown, T.E. (2013) A New Understanding of ADHD in Children and Adults. Hove: Routledge, Pg 22.
This mindmap shows our brain’s executive functions. We all have difficulty in these areas from time to time but for people with ADHD the difficulties are every day. It’s not about a lack of willpower but problems in chemistry of the brain’s management system.
Remember all brains are different and ADHD is experienced differently by each person.
It also has its advantages. For example people with ADHD tend to be good in a crisis, fast at problem solving, see solutions that others don’t and are very creative.
ADHD Resources
Youtube
Dr Thomas E Brown’s 28-minute explanation of ADHD, he created the model the mindmap above is based on.
Dr Russell Barkley’s channel shows all his talks in full and broken into chunks. He also posts weekly research updates. I found this one on 30 things you should know about ADHD very helpful and he also has lots of advice for parents.
Jessica McCabe is someone who was diagnosed as a child and she shares lots of tips on how to live with and accept your ADHD as a positive. She also explains why activities such as remembering things can be hard for people with ADHD.
Helena Territt of Hatched Coaching lives with ADHD and is a coach. She posts personal stories and last month in honour of ADHD awareness month she posted a resource a day.
I’m learning loads from the sketches Rich and Rox do on ADHD_Love_ about what’s it’s like to be in a relationship where one person has ADHD and the other doesn’t.
Access to Work
The Government’s Access to Work scheme is for anyone who has a physical or mental health condition or disability to help them stay in work. This includes ADHD and you don’t need to have a formal diagnosis to apply.
If you have or suspect you have ADHD get a loved one to help you apply. The process is not ADHD friendly at all because you need to gather info, then enter it in a coherent way on a number of pages that will time out so you can’t do it a chunk at a time.
I hope at least one of those will be useful to you and if you have any information about how to support an adult with ADHD send it over.
