not to hate ableism and ignorance on main but if ur child tells u that they dont understand smth and didnt think to do smth thats “"common sense”“ and ur reaction is ‘i shouldnt HAVE to tell u to do that’ or ‘but u should KNOW this’ instead of trying to clarify what u expect and being patient w them then please for the love of god do some fucking research on ur kids adhd/autism or literally any mental illness/disorder before making them spend 18 yrs of their life convincing themselves that theyre just an annoyance to everyone for not understanding things like others do
GOD I found another article about why ADHD kids say “I don’t know” so much. my entire childhood was getting yelled at for doing some ADHD shit and me not being able to offer an explanation when asked why I did something.
Adding to this, its cause of our executive dysfunction and emotional dysregulation (naturally there’s more things at play than just these two but I’m naming main aspects).
We tend to have alexithymia, meaning we have difficulty identifying and describing own feelings.
You can’t say how you feel if you legit don’t know.
Self monitoring is an executive function; our self awareness about how we are doing presently .. which is hampered in ADHDers.
You can’t say what you think if you legit don’t know.
Even if you don’t think/know that you have [disorder] (or even if you know you don’t!) you’re allowed to use coping strategies meant for or associated with that disorder. You can use ADHD tips for your poor memory. You can stim even if you’re not autistic (stimming has a lot of overlap between disorders honestly). You can use chronic fatigue tips if you have depression. You’re not stealing resources. If it helps you, it helps you, whether you were the target audience or not
For my blind friends: Picture of four skulls. First one, human, labeled “neurotypical.” Second one, identical, labeled “ADHD.” Third, identical, labeled “autistic.” Fourth, a gorilla or other primate skull, labeled “People who think ADHD doesn’t exist and autism is caused by vaccines.”
some of you support mentally ill people in theory but not in practice and it shows
like everyone’s all “support people with mental health issues!” but when an adhd/autistic person hyperfixates/has a special interest we get called annoying freaks and when someone with social anxiety has a hard time ordering for themself or asks if someone’s mad at them they get treated like a burden and a coward and when someone with psychosis has delusions they’re screenshotted and passed around as something to laugh at. i could go on but the point is this shits insidious as hell and don’t claim to support us if you don’t
if you’re an adult that works with kids of any age do me two quick favors:
learn the symptoms of adhd and autism and their presentation in all genders. you dont have to be an expert, just know a bit about it beyond popular knowledge.
learn to recognize signs a kid is being abused in any way. beyond bruises and black eyes. learn to recognize the fearful apologies and hesitation. do some research.
do me these two favors and save tens of lives.
that’s no exageration either. after teaching my mom basics about mental disorders, she started spotting neurodivergent kids in her classrooms and helped them get help. almost every child she’s helped has been diagnosed with the disorder she predicted and none of them would have been diagnosed at a young age without her help. knowing this stuff matters.
learn. save lives. don’t make kids grow up in fear of their symptoms and family.
ifesbob 