with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Heather Cox, 26, a teaching assistant from south London, shares the ups and downs of being an adult with ADHD
sitting in the staff meeting, I click my pen repeatedly. I know the others are staring at me, but I can’t help it. Click. Click. If I stop, I won’t be able to concentrate on what the headteacher is saying – I’ll only be able to think about the prickly energy racing through my body, urging my fingers and feet to move. When the meeting ends, I jump out of my seat, finally able to release the pent-up energy. ‘I could run a marathon now,’ I think. But instead, I try to pace myself as I walk towards the cafeteria for lunch.
I’ve always been a fidgeter. An easily distracted daydreamer. In my own school days, I lost count of how many teachers told my parents, ‘Heather spends too much time looking out of the window.’ When I became a teaching assistant and started to see these traits in some of the kids, I realised I might have ADHD.
Growing up, my symptoms were missed. The lateness, the inability to sit still – it was all just ‘part of my personality’. Which, until my early twenties, I believed to be true.
I started reading up, and scoured everything on the NHS website about ADHD, because I knew it would be hard to get diagnosed. I even found old school reports – where teachers had noted my inability to concentrate – to ensure I had the necessary facts to back up what I was going to say to my GP.
It took six months to get a diagnosis, but I now understand how my brain works and know how to manage traits that could get in my way. Anyone with ADHD will tell you it’s easy to get caught up in your thoughts and lose track of time, so writing lists or setting alarms make a big difference.
I’m not on medication for ADHD; I’m trying to manage my symptoms by making changes t
