Having an ADHD brain is like having an exhausted engine in your head—it's whirring and clicking, but it won't turn over.
ADHD brains are like a race car that suddenly has to drive on the same roads instead of on a race track. Sometimes they are going too fast, so they miss stop signs or directions. They don't see events or people happening around them, not because they don't care, but because they are moving too fast to notice.
“ADHD is like having a Ferrari engine for a brain with bicycle brakes. Strengthen the brakes and you have a champion.
ADHD is a condition that both children and adults can have. The symptoms include an inability to focus, being easily distracted, hyperactivity, poor organization skills, and impulsiveness. Not everyone who has ADHD has all these symptoms. They vary from person to person and tend to change with age.
Executive functions have other roles which affect how someone thinks. In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do. People with ADHD do think differently though, in a sense.
Adults diagnosed with ADHD often blame themselves for their problems or view themselves in a negative light. This can lead to self-esteem issues, anxiety, or depression.
ADHD Rainbow Butterfly Symbol
The butterfly symbol pictured below resonated with many, symbolizing how ADHD minds typically flit from one thing to the next. The rainbow butterfly symbol pictured is a current popular version. Popular ADHD rainbow butterfly awareness symbol.
Orange is the color of ADHD Awareness. That's our ribbon.
The ADHD Awareness Month colour is orange.
Communication and ADHD
Even without specific delays, because of distractibility and related ADHD symptoms, they are more likely to get off-topic when speaking. They also frequently struggle to find the right words and put thoughts together quickly and linearly in conversation.
Autism is very distinct from ADHD, but the core symptoms of ADHD-Combined type, i.e., attention deficit, impulsivity, and hyperactivity, would appear to also be features of autism. ASD and ADHD are neurobiological disorders characterized by similar underlying neuropsychological “deficits”.
“Nobody has perfect memory… but for [people with ADHD], it's extreme. They feel like they're lost all the time,” Almagor said. He believes this is why people don't take ADHD seriously. “I think that's why some people don't respect the severity of what [a person with ADHD] can experience,” he said.
Research has found that people with ADHD have more creativity and idea generation than people without the disorder. 3 This can lead to outside-the-box thinking that is so important for innovation. Hyper-focus: Many people with ADHD become hyper-focused on things that interest them.
A People Person
Individuals with ADHD are bright, creative, and funny — often using self-deprecating humor to remind the world that perfection is wholly uninteresting. They've faced challenges, learned novel ways to manage their symptoms, and developed a sense of humility and self-respect along the way.
People with ADHD are often over-stimulated by colors, patterns, and even temperature. Choose neutral, soft, and calming hues of blue, green, and brown to encourage more restful sleep. Keep it simple.
Buscemi believes color affects neuropathways in the brain, creating a biochemical response. Triggering the desired response in the particular individual is key. For example, Buscemi has found that blues, greens and muted brown tones tend to be great choices for both adults and children with ADD and ADHD.
Choose a peaceful color.
Orange encourages creativity and may chase away the blues. To reduce anxiety, go with warm earth tones. Blue hues are known for slowing down the heart rate, reducing respiratory rhythm, and encouraging calm and focus. In general, stick with muted or pastel shades, and avoid primary colors.
The signs of ADHD in girls are more likely to look like inattention than hyperactivity. Girls with ADHD often don't fit the stereotype of excessive energy. Instead, they have a hard time paying attention, staying organized, and managing their time. People might mistake girls with ADHD for just being spacey or lazy.
In this ADHD pride flag, the dark brown represents rejection sensitivity, yellow represents hyperactivity, orange represents ADHD Awareness, red represents hyperfixations and hyperfocus and dark red represents difficulty focusing.
There are five things that children and adults with attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) have trouble regulating: attention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, organization, and emotionality. This leads to some annoying, frustrating, and worrisome behaviors.
The rarest type of ADHD diagnosed is the hyperactive-impulsive type with no indication of inattentive or distracted behavior, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Similar to the hyperactive symptoms, impulsive symptoms are typically seen by the time a child is four years old and increase during the next three to four years to peak in severity when the child is seven to eight years of age.