But we recognize that with appropriate accommodations, these students can thrive. These accommodations, therefore, aren’t viewed as luxuries or indulgences. They are necessary in empowering the students to work towards their potential.
Luxury to Accommodation Especially Around the Holidays
So how can we apply these accommodations to everyday ADHD life? What if you, like Terry Matlan, really enjoy hosting your loved ones for Thanksgiving but are also utterly drained by having all of those people in your home? In her post, Matlan described hiring someone to warm up the food and clean the mess up afterward. This act of self-care, she insists, is not a luxury but an accommodation. It's the only way she can get through the event without becoming physically ill.
Just for fun, let's compare an ADHD person's typical challenges with a list of Thanksgiving tasks.
| Challenges |
Typical Tasks for a Thanksgiving Meal |
Managing time
|
deciding when to make what, getting it all ready by ____o'clock |
Planning
|
menu, invitations, grocery list |
Prioritizing
|
food, invitation list, house preparation, which comes first? |
| Getting started |
searching out recipes, going grocery shopping
|
Shifting focus
|
managing the people, food, coats, and other items before, during and after the meal |
Emotions
|
plenty of opportunities for stress and worry
|
Well, look at that! They line up! We can now easily start to think about how we might use accommodations to help us get through these challenges.
It's true that we might not have the money for all of these helpful accommodations. But we can still recognize that what we've been writing off as luxuries are very likely accommodations. To do so is to respect others and ourselves and to recognize the large amount of brain function it requires to host, cook, serve and clean up after a holiday meal.
Finally
I'm not saying that a person with ADHD can't or shouldn't try to make a holiday meal. In fact, lots of ADHD people do, and they have developed their own superbly successful strategies. What I am saying is that by re-imagining our luxuries as accommodations, those of us with and without ADHD may be able to engage in holiday life with more hope and gratitude, rather than guilt and shame.
|
