Flipping ADHD on its head. Let’s give it a new acronym, CCES
“It’s a super skill set! F* what people think!”
– will.i.am
For the parent of a child with ADHD, it is parenting on steroids. It’s a lot more work for everyone involved! Not only does this hard to manage disorder make the family dynamics difficult, but children with it are unfairly labeled as unintelligent or disorganized troublemakers.
However, the reality could be so very different. Those with ADHD are creative and curious boundary pushers who change the world around them, says executive producer Nancy Armstrong in her new documentary film, The Disruptors, about people with ADHD. To illustrate this point, she has asked 12 top experts from around the world to demystify this condition by sharing their personal experiences while also incorporating celebrities like rapper will.i.am, media personality Paris Hilton, actress Wendy Davis, Olympian Michelle Carter, and Jet Blue founder, David Neeleman – among others–who all have ADHD themselves, but have been able to successfully manage it so they don’t let their diagnosis stop them from achieving success in life A lot of these misconceptions come down such gaps between knowledge of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
One has to wonder, that as a nation, with 9.4% of our kids diagnosed with ADHD, if we are truly dealing with a “disorder”, or if we are unfairly pigeonholing kids, who are just wired differently, into an education system that has been designed to shepherd kids through a learning process based on how the other 90% learn. Are we systemically “educating” ourselves out of the next Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell or Benjamin Franklin? Do we need some form of the Avenger’s Academy to celebrate and encourage these super skill sets to flourish? One wonders if there is a correlation between the 9.4% ADHD diagnoses in the U.S. and the current economic standing of the U.S. in the world today.
“It’s amazing that we’ve gotten to this place and still don’t fully understand the disorder,” says Armstrong. The positive side of distractibility is curiosity. Hyperactivity is energy, impulsivity has creative aspects- experts say in the film. However, this positive neurodiversity landscape is barely recognized or appreciated by most people! In school, I daily family life, and in social situations kids are constantly given negative feedback which crushes self esteem and tells them they’re not good enough.
By flipping the script to focus on the child’s strengths, you give them the gift of focusing on what they’re good at and you can set up systems (e.g organizational tools) that help them succeed throughout their daily lives. Armstrong’s goal is for kids get through their formative years and into adulthood socially and emotionally intact—”these children take too many blows with too much negative feedback over course their lives.” Children and adults who struggle with ADHD often hear that their problems are what define them. “I would tell my youngest: ‘ADHD is not who you are, it’s how your brain works.’” Armstrong would know; all three of her kids, now ages 16 to 20, were diagnosed with ADHD.
Recent data shows that as few as 10% of children will outgrow the disorder by young adulthood – a stat which underlines just how important Armstrong’s message is for parents and adults too! Seeing his childrens’ behavior and their formal diagnosis was like a lightbulb moment for Armstrong’s husband, Tim. He recognized himself in them because he saw the same symptoms that he experienced without any formal diagnosis Armstrong also thinks she had it as a child, though she says her symptoms resolved in adulthood. Ultimately what parents need to know along with adults living with ADHD themselves is that there is hope! “We wanted to be a shield and a sword for parents. They’re in situations where their kids are being misunderstood and poorly treated, bullied, or given up on. What I really want this film to do is liberate parents and children from the stigma too often given to ADHD and send them on the path to success. There are many challenges, but also so much good.”
The Disruptors is currently available to stream online at Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu TV.
