The Gift of Hyperfocusing

Posted by teacherforever to Adult ADHD Life 11 months, 2 weeks ago | 0 Comments | Post a reply

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I have ADHD Inattentive.  It is no secret to my co-workers either.  I openly shared that with them when I began teaching at my current school.  I told them one of the things that is hard for me to manage is my ability to hyper-focus on a task that particularly interests me; once I am dialed into that task, it is really hard for me to pull away.  Given that I am a Resource Specialist, I have to pull away because I am needed in several places at one time throughout the school-day. 

Good things happen when I hyper-focus though.  My work is solid and good.  It is complete.  It shows depth and detail.  A good example is when I created profiles for all of the students who have an IEP and a 504 plan at my school.  I read through every file and created a detailed profile for each student to share with all of the teachers—strengths, areas of support, accommodations that are in place, notations about medications and existing medical conditions, things to look for when working with each student, and things to keep in mind that can help the teacher and student have a great day or a not so great day.

I don’t think I could have completed a project like this had I not been able to focus as deeply as I did—THIS part of my ADHD, while not always a plus, does have its place in my worklife.  Rather than berating me for spending a lot of time on this project, teachers and administration were grateful to have this kind of information at their fingertips.

ADHD continues to be a blessing in disguise.  While it poses its challenges in my life, I can’t help but think about all of the things it allows me to do as well.

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