Editor's Letter, November
Reflections on a great documentary screening and my experience as a panelist
Last month, I had the privilege of serving as a panelist at a screening of the documentary The Disruptors. The screening was put on by my wonderful friends at the Hamilton Institute. This month’s editor’s letter is a few reflections on that night, what I learned from the movie, and what I learned from being a part of that panel.
Reframing ADHD Challenges as Strengths
I won’t deny that ADHD is frustrating to have. It’s a disability because our abilities don’t match with society’s expectations. However, when we reframe some of ADHD’s challenges as strengths, we can start to see and channel what ADHD gives us for the better.
I wrote more about this here, if you’re interested, but the basic ideas are to reframe the 3 main challenges of ADHD as strengths.
Distractibile —> Curious
Impulsive —> Creative
Hyperactive —> Energetic
Tenderness and Humor
The documentary follows several families with a child with ADHD through their everyday lives. One child gets arrested for “pushing” a teacher. He spends a weekend in a juvenile detention center. Another won’t come out from under his bed every morning. A third makes up stories to make friends, and the stories come back to bite her.
The documentary underscores how fragile, fraught and complicated growing up with ADHD can be. It emphasized to me the scariness of having a child who could, at any moment, do something impulsive and potentially dangerous. This comes up often in my own work, where my students are on the cusp of getting their learner’s permit. Imagining some of them driving sends chills down my spine. I hope what I’ve done helps prepare them to appreciate how dangerous driving can be.
The documentary also interviews several celebrities with ADHD, who share heartwarming, inspirational angles on growing up, offering “light at the end of the tunnel.” One iconic moment is an anecdote Howie Mandell gives about a way he tried to make his school better. I won’t spoil it for you, but that anecdote alone was worth the cost of admission.
Medicine
The documentary also interviews numerous researchers about ADHD, including Russel Barkley, probably the most well-published researcher in the field. His two most important statements in the documentary were:
Psychiatrists are not over diagnosing ADHD.
ADHD medications are incredibly well-researched, better than nearly any other drug ever. They are safe.
It’s in Our DNA
…I don’t mean ADHD is in our DNA (although it is), I mean that when several guests asked questions of the panelists after the screening, that was often my answer. They asked things like “how do you help kids find that thing that sets their brain on fire?” and “how do you help emphasize students’ strengths.” It’s in our DNA.
It’s in my DNA because it’s something that I have inculcated in myself: ADHD is a strength, and I am always looking for ways to leverage that. Yes, it can be frustrating to have, but in the end it is a positive, a strength. And stubbornly insisting so for the past ten years has embedded this attitude in my DNA, in everything I do.
I hope as you keep reading this blog, you’ll understand that a little better.
Thanks for being a paid subscriber.
Sincerely,
Zach