LAMBRIGHT: I have the attention span of a newt...
… but I’m also on the President’s List.
So I was completely shocked to find out that ADHD is considered a disability at Central Michigan University.
Disabilities are mountains. ADHD is a speed bump.
I was diagnosed with severe ADHD as a child and carted around to every specialist in Ohio. I saw a psychiatrist about my ADHD through high school and was prescribed all the different drugs that students, even students without ADHD, think they need to help them focus.
If you’re reading this and have ADHD, go ahead — look at person coming in the door, smell the cigarette smoke coming through the window, remember the joke from last night, tap your feet, click your pen, hum a song and blink your eyes 13 times. Ok? Good.
Now remember the last thing you didn’t have trouble focusing on. Was it video games? Sports? "American Idol?" What is the difference between that and school?
There are few answers to that question. Here is the one that matters: you like it more.
We naturally focus on things we like. The ability to maintain focus is determined by how engaged you are with what’s in front of you.
By the time I got to college, I was off all my medication and taught myself how to stay engaged — even with things that I find completely boring.
How did I do it? I took notes. Not just outlines, I wrote down as much as I could. Now, I had to stay engaged to keep up.
Studying is another chance to practice staying engaged. Highlight — A LOT. If that doesn’t work, take notes while you read. If that doesn’t work, do both.
But the most important tip: If you can possibly avoid it, stay away from your computer. The internet is gasoline on ADHD fire. Unless you need it for research or typing a paper, don’t go near it.
Shut off the wireless or pull the cable internet. I shut down my Facebook (you can always bring it back just like you left it) during exams and big papers.
It took at least a year for me to really get a handle on things, and I still drift off all the time. But now I have a whole tool box of trick and tips for me to go to when I’m having trouble.
The best part is that all of these methods also drill the material into your head. You can overcome a “disability” and raise your grades at the same time.
