What do Virgin Atlantic’s Sir Richard Branson, co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s most influential philanthropists Bill Gates, Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad, and JetBlue founder David Neeleman all have in common? They all have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and have been very open about their diagnosis and living with it. So have other notable musicians, athletes, and celebrities, among them Justin Timberlake, Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Simone Biles, and Adam Levin.

ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. Children with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviours, acting without thinking about the result, or being overly active.

As a mother, it’s normal for children to have trouble focusing and behaving at one time or another. However, children with ADHD cannot necessarily control these tendencies and do not just grow out of these behaviours. Moreover, if not addressed, these behaviours will continue into adulthood and may cause difficulty at school, at home, with friends, or in the workplace.

A child with ADHD may exhibit symptoms such as daydreaming more than usual, forgetting or losing things constantly, sitting still, making careless mistakes as a result of rushing all the time, taking unnecessary risks, having a hard time resisting temptation and peer pressure, have difficulty in personal relationships and friendships, have problems sleeping, experience deep anxiety over what others see are everyday situations, and being untidy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 11 per cent of US children between the ages of two and 17 and 7.2 per cent globally have received an ADHD diagnosis.

Researchers have still not identified what causes ADHD in a person, although several studies allude to genetics as a critical factor. Like several other disorders, researchers are investigating whether other environmental factors might raise the risk of developing ADHD to see if brain injuries, nutrition, and social environments might play a role.

ADHD is more common in males than females, and females with ADHD are more likely to have inattention symptoms primarily. People with ADHD often have other conditions, such as learning disabilities, anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, depression, and substance use disorder.

Here in Jamaica, most ADHD children go undiagnosed, which is sad because parents see their child as perhaps bad, indisciplined, don’t want the label attached to their child, or excuse the patterns of behaviour as “dem pickney hard ears and just nah listen”. So many parents try to beat it out of them or apply harsh punishments and penalties not realizing these children can’t “walk it off” or have it “beat out of them”.

The fact is that ADHD brains are wired differently. In other words, their brains are neurodivergent. Being neurodivergent means having a brain that works differently from the average or “neurotypical” person. These brains present differences in social preferences, learning, communicating, or simply perceiving the environment.

The benefit of having a firm neurodivergent brain diagnosis is that it puts you or your child in an enhanced position. Why? Neurodivergent brains are extraordinary and brilliant. With everything else they may be experiencing, these brains can zone in with unique, dedicated strengths.

You see, neurodiversity strengths come from thinking differently, absorbing information and drawing connections; several strengths come from thinking differently and having neurodiverse teams in the school or workplace. This is why it’s good to know that, as a parent, you can guide your child along their best course.

Researchers have learned that some typical ADHD/neurodivergent strengths — creativity, multi-tasking, risk-taking, high energy, and resilience — are ‘superpowers’ if acknowledged and honed correctly.

It’s why so many high-profile achievers are beginning to embrace their diagnoses of ADHD publicly and why corporations now seek neurodivergent people to help with innovation, challenging old habits by questioning how things are done and thinking outside the box. Not only do they have the sharp ability to recognise their exact strengths, but they can listen intently and change fast; they believe in diversity while absorbing information quickly. Furthermore, these people have an innate passion for social justice and fairness due to their deep empathy to protect the welfare of the disenfranchised.

Parents with a child or adolescent with ADHD notice that procrastination, having a low boredom threshold, and being frustrated with routine, whether that includes sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day or spending time chained to a desk at the office performing routine tasks, are all in the mix.

Yet there is so much more to this trait that can be leveraged to advantage. ADHDers are often at their best in crisis mode, multi-tasking and free-associating to reach a solution intuitively. And if they find something they genuinely love to do, they can focus for hours. They are also creative, have high energy, and can hyper-focus on something they find innately interesting. This allows them to spend limitless time accomplishing any task necessary to take their business to the next level. They thrive under pressure and can make sense out of chaos. (Dr Dale Archer, May 2014)

Moreover, schools and colleges provide layers of emotional and cognitive support for students with an ADHD diagnosis.

Without a doubt, the ADHD trait isn’t always a superpower and has caused severe problems, especially for people who never had an official diagnosis and, as such, haven’t figured out how to get support and management early in their lives.

As someone who has successful friends with ADHD and who also interacts with children who are ADHDers, I can speak first hand to the ‘disorder’ being more focus-intensive once the individual has been diagnosed and gets support, whether through regular behaviour therapy sessions to regulate their spontaneous impulses or whether they go on a slow release medication or help their daily focus in school, their workplace or business.

In conclusion, do not be quick to typecast a child’s behaviour as they may grow into one of the world’s most inspiring musicians, brilliant scientists, record-breaking athletes, or global entrepreneurs or technological innovators.

Have patience with the brains that are wired differently and you will see their brilliance.