Most ADHD discussions pertain to ADHD's potential challenges such as trouble paying attention, impulsivity, or stimulation seeking. ADHD's potential strengths are largely overlooked. In fact, many people are not even aware of them. Even adults with ADHD can focus so much on the challenges that they do not see the potential benefits. Identifying our strengths and learning to highlight them is critical to living with ADHD.
Adults with ADHD tend to be very creative. When I first read that people with ADHD were creative, I found it hard to believe. I only painted a picture in high school are class. I was in high school band but enjoyed only marginal success. Then I realized that creativity comes in many forms. My creativity shows itself during problem solving. I thoroughly enjoying tackling problems that others have difficulty with. For me, it is like giving a hungry dog a thick steak. Often, I will come up with solutions that others did not see. For adults with ADHD it is important to take an objective look at how you use your creativity.
Adults with ADHD are very intuitive. As technology has grown, our society became increasingly scientific. In general, society wants everything proven. They want to be able to touch, see, feel, taste, or hear something. Sometimes, by the time you have hard proof, it is too late to avoid danger. ADHD provides us with "gut feelings". These gut feelings are meant to help us avoid danger. If we learn to listen to these feelings then we can avoid many potentially harmful situations. In business, this intuition can help us spot trends or avoid bad partnerships.
People with ADHD are often very intelligence. Several studies identified a large percentage of people with ADHD also possess above average IQs. This intelligence is not always evident in formal learning environments. Standardized tests are used to test intelligence and learning. People with ADHD tend to have trouble with standardized tests because we read the question, choose, our answer, and go on. We find checking our answers to be tedious. However, when we learn about a subject, especially one we are very interested in, then we show the ability to learn very quickly.
ADHD gives us the ability to hyper focus. ADHD is associated with an inability to pay attention. However, reality is not always the same as perception. It is true that adults living with ADHD are always scanning our environment. This is actually an ancient protection mechanism. But, when we get interested in a topic, task, or job then we can hyper focus. We will actually "tune out" everything else around us but the task at hand. We can learn to harness this trait by pursuing careers we are passionate about or finding ways to make everyday tasks more interesting. For example, I harness my hyper focusing ability by timing mundane tasks. I then will try to beat my best time.
Knowing that ADHD does bring potential benefits is the first step. At first, it may be hard for you to realize they even exist. Society and our doctors tend to focus on the challenges. Realizing that ADHD can make us very creative, intuitive, intelligent, and give us the ability to hyper focus allows us to look for ways to harness these traits. A good first step is to sit down with someone you trust and take stock of these advantages. Look for ways that you currently use these advantages and ways that you can use them more. These advantages can make living with ADHD much easier.
Bruce Carl is the publisher of http://MyADHDSite.com. My ADHD Site offers assistance and resources on both child and adult ADHD.
