The term “disorder” is often scary. Many people associate it with the idea of disease, something that doesn’t work well in one’s own body and causes a person’s health and whole personality to be crushed under its weight. This is very often seen, for example, with ADHD, and the attention deficit to which it is linked.

However, young people who are diagnosed with ADHD are neither that label nor are they basically “sick”. In fact, they present many positive characteristics .

ADHD as a label

It is worth mentioning that the term disorder is used to refer to a psychological or biological dysfunction. This manifestation is characterised by the fact that is associated with discomfort (pain), disability (impairment) or risk that alters the quality of life . However, it is vital to understand that the term disorder is exclusively related to a list of symptoms that the person presents; it is not alluding to the person himself. In fact, a disorder is not exactly the same as a disease.

For example, given the different ways in which a diagnosis can be interpreted, a person suffering from depression is not the same as a depressed person. Likewise, it occurs in the cases we have mentioned that children present this disorder, but are not that disorder; unfortunately adults assume that definition of the child and do not see beyond the diagnosis .

The positive characteristics of people with ADHD

A good way to end the stigma that is sometimes built up from the label “child with ADHD” is to highlight the positive characteristics that are often a by-product of attention deficit .

The following is a list of positive characteristics of children with ADHD that parents and teachers should discover in this group of young people. Not all of them present all the characteristics, but a large part of them, which it would be very good if they could be potentialized.

1. They are enthusiastic young people

Attention deficit does not mean that we lack the capacity to attend to things that are of interest, but that these often do not fit with those that are supposed to be interesting or on which we are “supposed” to concentrate. That is why young people with ADHD are always busy thinking or doing something they like . and they do it in an honest way, not because a series of rules dictate it to them.

2. Easily forget negative episodes

People diagnosed with ADHD do not usually have obsessive thoughts that revolve around a painful or angry memory, precisely because doing so would be too monotonous. That’s why they are relatively unlikely to hold grudges.

3. are spontaneous and exploratory

The young people in this group are always very sensitive to possible new stimuli that require their attention . That is why they are prone to explore the environment and discover for themselves what is around them, without waiting for someone to do it for them.

4. They like to make friends in different environments

Practically any environment is likely to be explored by children diagnosed with ADHD , which is why they know how to create play situations in which others can participate.

5. They are easy to adapt to unexpected plans

Monotony is not something especially valued by these young people , so the changes of circumstances that force a change of plans are not lived as a drama by them.

6. They are very observant

Children with ADHD are not only very enthusiastic through their actions, but they are also enthusiastic in thought . That is why even when it seems that they are doing nothing, they are taking advantage of the time observing what is happening around them, realizing phenomena that for others go unnoticed.

7. They learn very quickly when something interests them

There is a lot of talk about the impulsiveness of young people with ADHD as something that makes them change their interests easily. However, this is only one side of the coin; the other is that they prefer to do what they are passionate about at the moment , without putting it off, which means that if they like a subject enough, they dedicate all their efforts to it, without leaving for tomorrow lessons that they can learn today.

8. They are very creative

Any situation can be transformed into a game for a child with ADHD, and this ability to find ways to entertain himself in a clear display of creativity and lateral thinking .

9. They are proactive

These young people do not tolerate boredom , so they are able to make their own fun and do the things that interest them by taking the initiative.

10. They are energetic

Part of the games in which they are involved require physical effort , so they are usually given to exercise even if it is not intended.

Conclusions

As you can see, there are many positive characteristics of children with ADHD . These should be known by parents and teachers, as well as by the child himself, in such a way that they can establish strategies to solve the difficult aspects of the disorder with strategies to enhance the positive areas that each one has as indicated.

In this way, an environment is created in which the child feels accepted, loved and confident about himself and his fellow human beings.