Junior Joylin Hall is, in her own words, grossly disorganized.
She’s not irresponsible, careless or dumb; she just can’t keep her stuff together.
Junior Kelli Gamel can sympathize, as she’s only recently been able to keep her room clean. Organization and time management are two of her biggest foes.
Hall and Gamel have Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder and struggle with responsibilities many people consider commonplace, such as keeping a continued focus and completing tasks they’ve already begun.
Avoiding distractions is something many people struggle with, but those with ADD/ADHD lack the ability to control this behavior.
Assistant Professor of Education Amy Wintermantel instructs a class that teaches education majors how to recognize learning disabilities, and ADD/ADHD is something teachers need to know how to recognize.
“The theory is, that most people agree on, is that the neurotransmitters that are making it across the synaptic gap in a working brain, in a brain with ADHD, those neurotransmitters aren’t getting across to the next neuron,” Wintermantel said. “So, the message that tells us ‘sit down, concentrate,’ it’s not there.”
The National Institute of Mental Health states nine percent of children between 13 and 18 have ADD/ADHD. In 18 to 29 year-olds, 7.8 percent suffer from these symptoms.
Hall can recall struggling with homework as a child long before she was diagnosed.
“I remember just bawling in my room, thinking ‘I know I understand how to do this, I know I’m not stupid, I know that I’m a smart girl,’ all these things that my parents have been telling me,” Hall said.
Learning how to accommodate the disorder can prove to be difficult for people with ADD/ADHD, and the public’s lack of awareness about ADD/ADHD can make it all the more challenging.
“It’s very easy for others to view them as though they are lazy, they are stupid or all these other derogatory terms,” said Ali Neshati, who is working on his doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of Kansas and is doing his practicum at Baker. “Intelligence has nothing to do with their ability to maintain attention.”
Academic Success Assistant Kathy Wilson said accommodations are available to assist students with studying and getting good grades. One service Student Academic Success offers is letting a student take a test in a room separate from the classroom.
“It is a more contained environment where, I think, the students are able to just feel more aware of the testing situation that they’re in and less aware of the environment that they’re in,” Wilson said.
In order to receive SAS accommodations, students must provide paperwork that includes verification of a ADD/ADHD diagnosis by a physician.
Beyond schooling accommodations, a new ADD/ADHD support group is now available on campus twice a week. The support group allows attendees to share different techniques they employ in working with their symptoms.
“You’re never going to be able to try all these different techniques out unless you have somebody suggesting them to you,” Neshati said. “You’re not going to try them out unless you have somebody holding you accountable to it.”
Gamel attests to peer support being beneficial, and wishes she had started utilizing resources sooner.
“I barely know Kathy Wilson, and she’s always checking on me when I walk into the library, always seeing how I’m doing,” Gamel said.
Despite the extra work and effort that can come with suffering from ADD/ADHD, Neshati advises finding optimism in it.
“It may be helpful to view ADD/ADHD not so much as a deficit, or a disorder, but as, in a way, kind of a form of a gift or a strength,” Neshati said.
Gamel said having ADHD has given her a sense of humor and a perspective on life other people don’t have.
Hall has also come to really appreciate her disorder.
“It causes a lot of struggles, but it also is largely responsible for my eccentric, creative personality and the way that I express myself,” Hall said, “which I consider to be, you know, something I really like.”