In My Shoes: My Own Crash Moment

            Have I ever been in the minority? Yes, yes I have. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal or soemthing that people would actually discriminate against, but I’ve been singled out or unequally treated just because I have ADHD.

I always try to be open with my conditions of ADHD and Anxiety so that I can teach others to understand what they are. People often make assumptions that people with ADHD get distracted just by seeing something shiny or that people with Anxiety freak out about every little thing, neither of which are true.

When I tell people about having ADHD, most people say they’re not surprised, because let’s face facts here: I’m a nut job. I don’t want to single any one person out, but the msot recent example I have is when Mrs. Eldredge told me that I couldn’t participate in a class activity for the sole reason of me having ADHD. Iknow she didn’t mean to make me feel bad, but I was very hurt. What made it worse is that instead of speaking to me and the other people who said they had ADHD about it privately after class, she said it in front of everyone that ADHD people can’t be included in the activity. I felt attacked and embarassed, because no matter how hard I try to be open with people about my disability and let others know it’s alright to talk about it, someone always uses it as a way to separate me or even to make fun of me.

This has been an issue before with Mrs. Eldredge, but it’s also been a problem with other teachers and even some of my friends. Most people are pretty accepting, but those who don’t understand the reason why I act impulsive and say stupid things snap at me for it. It makes me feel like I’m a horrible person who no one truly likes, that my friends are only pretending to like me because they feel sorry for me. I feel like an outsider in classrooms, like I’m always doing something wrong, but the times when I try to accept my condition and be myself, I get shot down for it by SOMEONE. Every time.