ADHD: Don’t Forget The Strengths!
When there are conversations about ADHD, whether it is related to kids, adults, spouses, physical health, mental health, etc., the focus is usually deficits based. The conversation rarely focuses on the strengths of ADHDers. This is a problem because as humans, we find what we are looking for. When we look for negatives, we will find them. When we look for positives, we find those too.
A recent study explored one of the potential positives of having ADHDers for humans who live(d) in hunter gatherer societies. The hypothesis was that those with traits of ADHD would be better at finding food. To test this, they had participants play a berry finding video game and the results overwhelmingly found that people with traits of ADHD found more berries than the more neurotypical participants.
How does this help those of us who do not live in hunter gatherer societies? Well, if you are looking for something, or a lot of somethings, it pays to have an ADHDer helping you out. I have discovered this when engaging in one of my hobbies: agate hunting on the Oregon Coast. Like many autistics, I love rocks. My youngest is AMAZING at finding them for me! She gets that extra dopamine boost from the find, and from her excited mom. It is a great activity for the two of us and we can engage in this together well beyond when the rest of our family has gotten bored.
How about you? Any ADHDers in your life who are great hunter gatherers?
Image description: a child’s two hands held together to hold a handful of agates of various size and shape.
