ADHDer Teacher

A secondary teacher, pursuing an adult ADHD diagnosis, trying to come to terms with what that means for life, the universe and my classroom. He/him.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

Welcome to my journey.

In one sense, this is helping me understand my life for the first time. In another sense, it's scary realising just how much masking I've had to do all my life.

This is a space for me to share my musings as I come to terms with an adult ADHD diagnosis.

[Libriscent @libriscent]

Neurodivergent pattern recognition is a gift that comes with the curse of having to wait for everyone else to catch up.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@HecticTeacher @TeachLeadAAli Good for you for being so open about this. If it works for you, then great.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@thakurshreya343

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@KShabby16334956 @stimimi Well said.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@UnofficialOA Today, I spent the time chatting with my pupils about their term, exploring what they enjoyed, how they're getting on. And we talked about Christmas, music, sport. It was chill & fun. Schools must be more than transactional places.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@recovery_your Hi there!

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@BoveFromAbove A small boat.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@amymayforrester It seems to me there were reasonable objections to what you said, too. It's all too easy to dismiss disagreement as abuse. Not all of it was abuse.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@Ka81 @tes Thank you, Caroline. To have such disinformation spread by someone like Tice is, sadly, unsurprising. But those of us in education who know and understand need to push back against this.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@amymayforrester Simple question - why do you think someone as uninformed as Richard Tice is "not wrong" about ADHD? That's quite the claim to make.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@BenisonMrs I think you're looking for a solution and have ended up with some confirmation bias that supports your solution. Neurodivergence isn't a condition to be cured. The symptoms we experience are life long & part of us. Let us have the adaptations that help us cope.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@deputyheaduk The most important thing is to ask the pupil themselves how they see and frame their experiences, supporting them to explore their identity. For me, the label was liberating, giving me the instructional manual for my life for the first time. Everything finally made sense.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

Neurodiversity is not just a negative. Learn a lesson from bees as to why this might be the case.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

However, that same gift can be absolutely overwhelming when it comes to small scale everyday decision making. That expansive, connected thinking can lead to decision paralysis as we tend to overthink the simplest of decisions. That can be exhausting.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

ADHDers tend to be divergent, systems thinkers. We can see challenges differently, in nonlinear ways, allowing us to see goals and next steps simultaneously, mapping out the various possible routes with their relative merits almost instantly. It's a wonderful & exhilarating gift.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

A message to all the ADHDers out there who need a reminder that you're not broken.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

The challenge with ADHD is not a deficit of attention, but a dysregulation of attention. This video uses a powerful metaphor to help understand that.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

ADHD shutdown has struck. Unexpected, unbidden, unrelenting. I feel paralysed.

It will pass. It always does, eventually, for reasons usually beyond my control.

But, right now, it sucks. It really sucks.

[ADHDer Teacher @TeachesWithADHD]

@get_inflow And simultaneously saying, "I'll learn my lessons from this and change next time" whilst knowing that, in fact, you will not change next time.