Got ADHD? Some of the hardest working people I know!
Posted on January 20, 2017 by Michelle Raz, One of Thousands of ADD ADHD Coaches on Noomii.
Through the use of mind mapping activities in a coaching setting, I have discovered that people with ADHD are very RESILIENT.
Got ADHD? – Some of the most RESILIENT and hardest working people I know!
I recently attended a workshop on” Promoting Resiliency in our Youth” regarding the struggles and hopes of providing programs to capture students targeted as “at risk”. One population group that I have witnessed showing tremendous resiliency is students diagnosed with ADHD. The mind management system is at a huge disadvantage which causes one to struggle with daily organization, prioritizing, sustaining attention, managing emotions, accessing recall and working memory. As an educator and ADHD Coach for teens and adults, I have observed the struggles my clients have had with this cognitive dysfunction of the brain. And yet, they still have an internal drive and ambition to be successful. I have admired their comeback attitude seen in our coaching relationship, where we develop strategies to compensate for these deficits. Clients learn through self-advocacy and self-awareness ways to assist them in their journey to success perpetuating their resilient nature.
How Coaching Empowers:
In client led sessions, we take a look at ways to develop action plans based on individual goals setting. As a team, we might break down each individual’s main struggles and then categorize their talents and goals to make positive changes in their lives. We brainstorm small daily action plans where the client can find immediate success. The plans may originate with using a mind mapping activity to help identify strengths, talents and goals. The mind maps serve as the catalyst to organizing the client’s action plan. Clients have shared with me that this method creates an immediate intrinsic reward reviewing the weekly plans at a glance which spurs motivation and drive to do well. I am profoundly surprised how quickly the small achievements affect their behavior in a positive way. The momentum it carries fuels more successes as they demonstrate great enthusiasm over the small triumphs. These accomplishments quickly build into and hope for their own success in life begins to take shape, empowering them.
How can they be so Resilient? My own theory has to do with one of the known negatives of ADHD. Distractibility and lack of working memory can be a huge obstacle for the ADHD-er unless there is something of great personal interest to hold their attention. This can be sudden death to someone who needs to be focused to review for a test or receive important instructions from a boss. Alternately, it can also be a great gift for someone who has found something of interest as in a career path. Once the area of strength is identified and efforts are put forth to become proficient in a subject area, the negative distraction can be turned into a focus that can propel a person into a new direction faster than the average person. The level of which they can focus pays off with extreme results that usually get noticed. Notable examples of resilient people would be some of our great historic inventors that are suspected by many of having ADHD; such as Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin. Both struggled in life and had many failures and in fact where told they would not end up to be much in life and yet they were resilient and made a huge impact to society.
Another theory I have de-bunks a large misconception about a person with ADHD: They lack the WILL to do something. Quite the contrary, when channeled in the right direction, a person with ADHD can use their hyper focusing trait and ability to “prune” non-essential stimuli to focus deeply on high interests. They demonstrate the Will, desire and ability to succeed. Their struggles throughout life have given them a gift of tenacity. They are conditioned to work harder than the average person to see results, forcing their brain to focus, work and retrieve information. The ability to work with great dedication exists due to this conditioning. This may contribute to the resiliency I see in so many ADHD clients.
As we work together in a coaching environment developing individual management systems, they gain the confidence that they do have the ability to be successful. The outcome for many is a highly productive person with a very strong will power and work ethic. In fact, some of the most resilient and hardest working people I have met have ADHD.
The reward as a coach, is when this all comes together for the client and they value themselves as a unique individual with great talents demonstrating their resiliency.
Michelle R. Raz, M.A. Ed.
Certified ADHD Coach
www.coachingacademics.com
