Wednesday, February 24, 2010
What Percy Jackson and the Olympians Can Teach Us about ADHD
When you watch a movie you have the power to suspend reality and imagine anything you want: nothing is impossible. You can even be a demigod with ADHD and dyslexia.
In the debut movie “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” Percy is a 17 year old high school boy with ADHD and dyslexia struggling with school, and getting into lots of trouble. Unbeknownst to him, he is also the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.
The character Percy illustrates the real-life paradox facing individuals with ADHD and dyslexia. He has unique strengths that are way above average but also has some noticeable weaknesses. I have worked as an ADHD coach for over 10 years, and found often that there is no middle ground for ADDers. Percy’s ability to get things done in some situations is superior, and in other situations is very inferior.
For example, Percy can go underwater in a pool and hyperfocus for seven minutes without having to come up for air. But, when he has to pay attention to his teacher in class, he is distracted. His dyslexia makes it impossible to read English, but he has the ability to unravel the mysterious meaning of Greek phrases and names. These paradoxical experiences are confusing to him and make him feel like a loser.
He is also quite despondent about how badly his stepfather treats his mother. Percy valiantly stands up to the stepfather. Unfortunately, he does not define himself by his strength of character, but by his inability to do well in school. Sound familiar?
Like most ADDers, Percy feels hopeless until he discovers his innate strengths, and then has trouble accepting them. However, after experiencing the power of his gifts, he begins to embrace them. He realizes that if you pay attention to what you do well, that more of what you do well will show up.
During the film, Percy begins to trust his real father’s (Poseidon’s) voice speaking to him. When he chooses to listen and trust his one positive voice, it always moves him forward.
Although you may not be related to a Greek god, you already have your own divine attribute living within you. It is called enthusiasm—which has its origin from the Greek language, meaning “the God within.”
In the movie, the moment Percy listens to his positive inner voice, he easily defeats his enemies with amazing skill, great enthusiasm, and a huge burst of strength.
The lesson that stands out in this film is: Don’t let what you can’t do get in the way of what you can. Don’t define yourself by the labels others have given you or what others say about you. Pay attention to “what” you know to be true about “who” you are. This movie reminds me of what we emphasize at the ADD Coach Academy in our ADHD coach training and educational programs: Every human being with ADHD has a core of strength already hardwired inside the brain and living inside the heart. Unless a person accepts a label as his or her identity, then no label can deny a person what he or she was born to manifest.
At the ADD Coach Academy, we train coaches to empower their clients to pay attention to their strengths and focus on making them even stronger. It boils down to what you choose to pay attention to in any given moment.
[David Giwerc, a Master Certifed Coach, is Founder and President of the ADD Coach Academy in Albany, NY To find out more, please go to http://www.addca.com ]
Posted by A Michne on 02/24 at 04:12 PM
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Monday, February 08, 2010
Identify Your Strengths and Make Them Stronger**
By David Giwerc, MCC, Founder and President, ADD Coach Academy
We live in a performance-oriented world. It’s also a world where too much emphasis is placed on identifying a person’s weaknesses and then focusing on improving the performance of those weaknesses. This negative focus can take its toll on a person’s innate strengths, which may be downplayed or overlooked in the quest for “improvement.”
For adults, kids and families with ADHD, however, the effort involved in focusing our attention on our weaker areas of performance only exacerbates the challenges of ADHD. If we’re constantly expected to focus on our performance challenges, we’re setting ourselves up for frustration, anxiety, and even immobilization – all of which inevitably lead to poor self-esteem.
Although this preposterous “weakness” philosophy dominates our world, it does not serve adults with ADHD well. Based on over a decade of coaching professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, small business owners, filmmakers and parents with ADHD, I have consistently observed just the opposite:
People with ADHD improve their chances for success, as they define it, by focusing on their natural talents – the ones that consistently yield excellent performance – and then by developing a plan to make those talents even stronger.
Our brains work by means of electrical stimulation. We stimulate our brains by the dominant thoughts we are paying attention to, at any given moment. I don’t know about you, but starting off my day by having to pay attention to what I don’t do well definitely does not stimulate my brain. A project that relates to my areas of weakness will not generate enough interest for me to sustain my attention with projects related to improving my weaknesses
Understanding the power of what we pay attention to and how it impacts ADHD is critical to explaining the negative false perceptions that are created about ADHD.
For example, when I was a child, teachers would wonder, “Why is it that David can do his math assignment so well and so enthusiastically, but when he has to do a simple English reading and writing assignment, he won’t even take the first step toward completing it? He finds every reason for not doing it and the more we ask him, the more he resists. He’s just being lazy and does not want to do it.”
Negative labeling, using words ng words such as: “being lazy,” unwilling, spoiled” that accompanies a misperceived lack of performance is simply ignorance of how the ADHD brain works.
My own personal experience, and that of the hundred’s of clients I’ve coached, has taught me how difficult it is for someone with ADHD to will him- or herself to focus on a boring task, subject or project, especially one that is associated with improving a weakness.
When I choose to start my day using my strengths to do an interesting task; it has historically resulted in a positive outcome. Strengths-based pursuits energize me and make me feel more fulfilled. They create a powerful feeling of accomplishment and raise my self-esteem. They also empowers me to take on additional assignments, including ones that are less desirable but need to be completed.
In most academic, family and business situations, well-intentioned efforts to improve an ADHD individual’s weakness, may instead lead to unsuccessful experiences that create negative patterns of thinking. A constant focus on areas of difficulty may actually block a person, with ADHD, from being able to take any action.
When you repeatedly receive the message that your efforts are not “good enough,” to meet the established standards of performance, those bad feelings tend to spill over. You begin to associate a negative perception of your performance, in one area, with other areas as well.
If you have ADHD and want to maximize your energy and your focus, then it’s essential for you to: 1) Identify both your strengths and your areas of interest and 2) Prioritize and integrate them into your life.
Identifying your areas of interest is the key to being able to successfully pay attention. The greater your ability to pay attention, the greater your chances of creating a foundation of success you can then replicate in other areas of your life.
To determine your strengths and your interests, first identify the tasks, goals, and/or activities that you consistently enjoy doing and are usually able to complete.
Remember, ADHD is a challenge of boredom and disinterest: The more that either of these elements is, the less likely you are to complete it.
Once you’ve identified the things you do well and enjoy doing, ask yourself:
1. What is it about this topic, goal, or task that’s interesting to me?
2. When I’m focusing on this subject, what are the things I consistently do – the steps I always take – that enable me to complete this task or project?
After answering these questions, jot down a simple bulleted list of the steps. Then take your list and create a reminder, for yourself, by making a colorful visual map; or an audio recording listing the steps.
When you know what it is that enables you to succeed in one area, you can then follow those “steps to success” in areas of challenge as well. By identifying your strengths and your interests, you’ll uncover the clues to a system for organizing your life. This system will facilitate both sustained focus and consistent action – the keys to success for people with ADHD.
Posted by David Giwerc on 02/08 at 10:21 AM
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