Ben Rihn ’22
October is the patron month for many things: excessive amounts of pumpkin spice, for example. Most significant, though, is its dedication to ADHD awareness. Throughout the month of October, the Mercersburg community has a perfect opportunity to familiarize itself with ADHD and its specificities.
“ADHD awareness month is an important moment for us to pause and ask ourselves ‘do we really know what it means to have ADHD?’ It is such a common diagnosis that most of us think we understand what it is, when in fact, it’s a really complex diagnosis,” says Amy Shaffer Post ‘02, Mercersburg’s social emotional learning counselor.
ADHD is very nuanced; individuals struggle with a wide range of impairments from ADHD. What it essentially comes down to, though, is inconsistent spurts of attention. Margaret Maciulla, director of learning services, says, “The issue isn’t so much that [people with ADHD] lack attention; it’s that they’re paying attention to many things at once.” This misconception is commonplace, especially in the classroom. ADHD is, by nature, overstimulating, which prevents its carriers from being as productive as they hope or are expected to be. “Trying to control attention all day long can really drain [a student’s] energy reserve,” says Maciulla.
History teacher Allison Stephens has two children with attention-deficit disorders, both of whom attended Mercersburg and had trouble acclimating to the standards by which students are held. “I think that there is a great deal more to understand about neuro-normalcy and neuro-divergence and the extent to which there is a broad spectrum of normal on which we all exist,” says Stephens.
Where this becomes more manageable, though, is in Maciulla’s work in the learning services center. Students are encouraged to seek help when they need it, not only to clarify and better comprehend what they themselves are going through, but also to adjust their habits within their situations.
In conjunction with the efforts of the learning services center is ADHD awareness month itself, of course. It presents a chance to redefine what it means to be ‘normal’ and to recognize that everyone’s brain works differently. “This October, I’ve been sending periodic emails to faculty with some helpful educational tips and strategies that can be used to support students with ADHD,” says Post. It’s a two-way street. In order to reframe the perceptions of ADHD, the whole community has to be on board.
“I don’t celebrate things by month because I feel like we focus on it for that month and then it’s in the past, and we keep going,” says Maciulla. Although an attractive headline such as ADHD Awareness Month certainly draws attention to redefining community and societal norms, the conversation shouldn’t end on November 1. It should be echoed by consistent effort and marked in tangible results. Awareness months are only the first step to improvement, after all.