Hello, brains! I say that to you because, if you think about it, it wasn't really you that decided to come here today. It was your brain. And whether you decided to walk, or drive, take a taxi, or ride a bike, that decision was made by your brain. Behavior, all behavior, is affected by the brain. This is a story about my brain. So, I was a smart kid. By 18 months, I was speaking in full sentences. By third grade, I was scoring post-high school on standardized tests. I had, as all my teachers agreed, so much potential. I was also struggling. I didn't have many, any, friends outside of books. I was easily overwhelmed. I spaced out in class. I lost things constantly. And trying to get my brain to focus on anything I wasn't excited about was like trying to nail jello to the wall. But I was smart, so nobody was worried. It wasn't until middle school, when I was responsible for getting myself to classes on time and remembering to bring my own homework, that being smart wasn't enough anymore, and my grades started to suffer. My mom took me to the doctor and, after a comprehensive evaluation, I was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD. If you're not familiar with ADHD, it has three primary characteristics: inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Some people with ADHD have more of the inattentive presentation. Those are the daydreamers, the space cadets. Some have more of the hyperactive-impulsive presentation. Those are the kids that usually get diagnosed early. (Laughter) But the most common presentation is a combination of both. (Laughter) My doctor and my parents decided that, given my shiny, new diagnosis, maybe stimulant medication would succeed where spankings and lectures had failed. So I tried it, and it worked. The first time I took my medication, it was like putting on glasses and realizing I could see without squinting. I could focus. And without changing anything, my GPA went up a full point. Honestly, it was kind of miraculous. By 14, I had friends that liked me. By 15, I had published my first poem. I got a boyfriend. By 17, I knew I wanted to be a journalist. My local college had a program that would guarantee admission to USC. They had a really great journalism program. So, I signed up at my local college and I started taking classes. I moved in with my boyfriend. Things were going great, until they weren't. I started having trouble making it to class on time. I aced a statistics course, but I forgot to sign up in time, so I never got the credit. I took classes so I could help my boyfriend with his career, but I completely lost sight of mine. I never made it to USC. By 21, I dropped out of college and moved back home. Over the next ten years, I started and quit, or was fired from, 15 jobs. I ruined my credit. I got married, and was divorced within a year. At this point, I was 32, and I had no idea what I was doing with my life, besides reading self-help books that didn't seem to be helping. What happened to all that potential? Was I not trying? No! I worked harder than anyone I knew. I didn't even have time for friends. I was that busy. I had potential, though. So, my failure was clearly my fault. I just hadn't done what I need to do to reach it, and, honestly, I was tired of trying, putting more effort into life than everyone else and falling farther and farther behind. At this point, I could have given up on myself, I could have decided that everyone who'd thought I had potential was wrong. But I didn't, because I knew that it was my behavior that had gotten me here, and behavior is affected by the brain, and my brain has ADHD. Looking at my behavior, I knew: even with medication, even as an adult, my ADHD was still interfering with my life, and what I needed to know was how and why, and, more importantly, what could I do about it. I started to do some research, and I found a lot of great information. I found a lot of bad information too, but that's another talk. But there's good information out there. Websites, podcasts, talks, by researchers and medical professionals; books that would have been way more helpful than the self-help books I'd been using that were clearly written for normal - well, there's no normal - neurotypical brains. A lot of what I found, though, was either super technical or seemed like it was written for parents and teachers trying to deal with ADHD kids. There wasn't a lot that seemed intended for us, the people who have ADHD. So, I started a YouTube channel. I had no idea how to start a YouTube channel, but I started a YouTube channel. I almost called it "How Not To ADHD," because that was about all I knew at the time. But my boyfriend, Edward, talked me out of it. It turns out lots of people need help understanding ADHD, including, maybe especially, those who actually have it. I was no exception. I thought ADHD was kind of the same for everybody. I thought it was mostly about getting distracted. I thought having ADHD was maybe the reason that I was failing at life. And I thought I was what needed to change, in order to be successful. I couldn't be successful and still be me. Spoilers: I was wrong. So, let's go back for a second, let's go back to what brought us here today: the brain. Understanding the brain you're working with, it turns out, is kind of important, and that's true whether that brain is your employee's, your student's, your kid's, your significant other's, or your own. ADHD affects between 5 and 8% of the global population, which means, statistically speaking, there's between 37 and 60 of us just in this room. You can't tell who we are just by looking, but it's fun to watch you try. (Laughter) So, at some point, you're going to meet someone with ADHD, work with them, give birth to them, or fall in love with them. Chances are you already have. And, at some point, you're going to ask yourself, "What is going on in their brain?!" So, after two years of learning about ADHD and a lifetime of experience with it, after having the honor of connecting with researchers, and doctors, and ADHD experts, and tens of thousands of ADHD brains all over the world, what can I tell you to help you understand ADHD? By the way, many of them helped with this talk. First of all, it's real. It's not bad parenting or lack of discipline. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It's currently the most well-researched mental condition, and there are actually measurable differences in the brain. These differences are larger in children, but, for most people, they never go away. In other words, adults have ADHD too. While rates of ADHD diagnosis are increasing, it's not because of an increase in sugar or technology, or lack of spanking; it's not, any more than people drowning in swimming pools is because of Nicolas Cage. Correlation does not equal causation. Those are real numbers. (Laughter) It's from both an increase in understanding that ADHD exists, that girls, adults, and gifted students can have it too, and ironically a lack of understanding that being hyper, misbehaving, or struggling in school does not mean you have ADHD. ADHD is more serious than I realized. The primary characteristics - inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity - don't sound all that serious, and I didn't think that they were, but, in real life, they translate to people getting into more accidents, being more likely to get fired, get divorced, significantly more likely to struggle with addiction. I learned that ADHD is on a spectrum. Raise your hand if you've ever lost your keys, or spaced out in the middle of a lecture. If you're not raising your hand, I'm going to assume you spaced out in the middle of this one. (Laughter) The thing is, while everyone experiences ADHD symptoms sometimes, an actual diagnosis is based on how many of those symptoms significantly and chronically impair multiple aspects of your life. Just like you can get sad and not have depression, you can get distracted and not have ADHD. And just like you can have mild depression or severe depression, ADHD can range from mild to severe. I also learned ADHD is a terrible name for ADHD. It creates a lot of confusion. We don't have a deficit of attention! What we have trouble with is regulating our attention. As ADHD coach Brett Thornhill puts it, it's like your brain keeps switching between 30 different channels and somebody else has the remote. Sometimes we have trouble focusing at all, and other times we get stuck on a channel and can't pull ourselves away, which in real life might seem we don't want to do homework because we'd rather play video games, and short, sometimes that's the case. But the truth is there are plenty of times we want to able to focus, we try, and we just can't. Current understanding is that this difficulty has to do with the way our brains produce and metabolize neurotransmitters, like dopamine and norepinephrine. I learned ADHD is highly treatable. Stimulant medication boosts these neurotransmitters, which is why it helps us focus. It's very effective for around 80% of people with ADHD. And I learned that medication isn't enough. ADHD affects much more than our focus. It impairs executive functions like planning, prioritizing, and our ability to sustain effort toward a goal. It affects our ability to regulate our emotions, our behavior, our sleep. It's not one program in our brain that works differently; it's the whole operating system. It can affect every aspect of our lives. And there are a ton of strategies out there that can help. Cognitive behavioral therapy, coaching, even meditation or regular exercise can help make a huge difference understanding your brain. I knew I had trouble focusing, and I knew my medication helped with that. What I didn't know was that getting overwhelmed all the time had to do with poor working memory, and that making lists helps; or that the reason I ran late all the time wasn't because I didn't care, it's because ADHD'ers have a skewed sense of time, and that using a timer could teach me how long things actually take. Mostly, I expected to learn what I actually learned: that ADHD is real; addressing it is important; and medication is not enough. What I didn't expect to learn: that I wasn't alone; I had an ADHD tribe; what a difference it would make to connect with it. There are people with ADHD in every country, every culture across the globe. Yes, even in France. (Laughter) And this tribe is awesome. Comparing myself to people with neurotypical brains, I felt really bad about myself. Why couldn't I keep my house clean or finish a project in time, instead of waiting till the very last second? But seeing the positives in fellow ADHD brains helped me recognize and appreciate my own strengths, ones I couldn't see when I was just staring at my weaknesses, which is what I'd been doing for decades. But ADHD brains have a lot to offer the world. We tend to be generous, funny, creative. ADHD'ers are 300% more likely to start their own business. We not only think outside the box; we're often not even aware that there is a box. (Laughter) We may struggle when our brains aren't engaged, but ADHD brains are great at tackling tasks that are urgent, working with ideas that are new, wrestling with problems that are challenging, and dedicating themselves to projects that are of personal interest. This YouTube career I'd stumbled into was all of those things. At 32, I was divorced, miserable, and had no idea what I was doing with my life. At 33, I'd started my own business, and was connecting with ADHD experts. By now, at 34, I have a team of volunteers helping with the channel. I'm engaged to this amazing man who helps me produce the channel, works right alongside with me, is doing the slides right now - and, as we discovered, also has ADHD. (Laughter) I'm working on reaching out to schools so that kids don't have to wait until they're 32 to learn about their brains. And I'm doing my very first TEDx talk here with you today. (Cheers) (Applause) But wait! There's more! Wait. (Applause) That did sound like the end of the speech. I'm sorry, it's not. (Laughter) I'm happier and more successful than I've ever been in my life. So, what happened? How did I reach my potential? Three things: one, I learned about my brain, my ADHD brain, both on my own and by connecting with others who have it. If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid, unless it happens to chat with another fish and realizes fish aren't great at climbing trees, and that's okay, there's plenty of ocean. Two, in learning about my brain, I found and stumbled into a job that engages it. If you spend all your time trying to get a fish to able to climb a tree, you'll never see how far it can swim. It turns out I can be me and still be successful. I just had to find my ocean. Three, I learned strategies for challenges I still face. I have no fish analogy for this one, I'm sorry. (Laughter) I guess I learned how to swim. Once you know what your brain's challenges are, you can find solutions to them. Once you look past the stereotypes and assumptions about people with ADHD, and dig deeper, you learn what ADHD actually is. It's not people who won't stop fidgeting, or getting distracted. It is brains that are chronically underaroused, trying to get the basic level of stimulation all brains need. It's not about procrastinating or not caring. It's having executive function deficits that make it hard to get started. And it's not people being lazy or not trying enough. It's kids and adults struggling to succeed with a brain that doesn't always want to cooperate in a society that wasn't built for them. Society is our user's manual. We learn how our brains and bodies work by watching those around us. And, when yours works differently, it can feel like you're broken. So, what I'm trying to do is reach out to these people wherever they are in the world, and tell them, "You are not weird. You are not stupid. You do not need to try harder. You are not a failed version of normal. You are different, you are beautiful, and you are not alone." If you don't ADHD yourself, chances are you know somebody who does. They're your employee, your boss, your friend, they're in this room. I hope this talk helps you understand them better. If you do have ADHD, welcome to the tribe. (Applause) (Cheers)
Pozdrav, mozgovi! Kažem vam to tako jer, ako razmislite, niste bili vi ti koji su odlučili doći danas ovdje. Bio je to vaš mozak. Bez obzira odlučili doći hodajući, vozeći, taksijem ili biciklom tu odluku donio je vaš mozak. Ponašanje, svo ponašanje, pod utjecajem je mozga. Ovo je priča o mom mozgu. Dakle, bila sam pametno dijete. Sa 18 mjeseci, govorila sam u punim rečenicama. U trećem razredu, uspješno sam rješavala standardizirane srednjoškolske testove. Imala sam, svi su se moji učitelji slagali, toliko potencijala. Također sam se mučila. Nisam imala mnogo, uopće, prijatelja osim u knjigama. Bila sam lako preplavljena. Na nastavi sam sanjarila. Stalno sam gubila stvari. A tjerati svoj mozak da se fokusira na bilo što što me nije zanimalo je bilo kao pokušavati zakucati žele na zid. Ali bila sam pametna, pa se nitko nije zabrinjavao. Sve do viših razreda, Kada sam postala odgovorna da dođem na vrijeme na nastavu i da se sjetim donjeti moju vlastitu domaću zadaću, kada biti pametna nije bilo više dovoljno, i moje su ocijene počele trpjeti. Mama me odvela doktoru i nakon opsežnih pretraga, Dijagnosticiran mi je poremećaj hiperaktivnost s nedostatkom pozornosti ADHD. Ako niste upoznati sa ADHD-om, ima tri osnovne značajke; nepažnja, impulzivnost, i hiperaktivnost. Neki ljudi s ADHD-om imaju više osobina nepažljivog tipa. To su sanjari, lutalice. Neki imaju više osobina hiperaktivno- impulzivnog tipa. To su djeca Koja obično rano dobiju dijagnozu. (Smijeh) Ali najčešći tip Je kombinacija oba. (Smijeh) Moj doktor i moji roditelji odlučili su da će, obzirom na moje nove dijagnoze, možda liječenje stimulansima uspjeti tamo gdje kažnjavanje i prodike nisu. I tako sam probala, i bilo je uspješno. Prvi put kada sam uzela lijek, Bilo je kao da sam stavila naočale i shvatila da mogu vidjeti bez da škiljim. Mogla sam se usredotočiti. I bez da sam išta promijenila, moj prosjek je skočio za cijeli broj. Iskreno, bilo je čudesno. Sa 14, imala sam prijatelje kojima sam se sviđala. Sa 15, objavila sam svoju prvu pjesmu. Imala sam dečka. Sa 17, znala sam da želim biti novinarka. Lokalni koledž imao je program koji garantira prijem na USC. Imali su zbilja izvrstan novinarski smjer. I tako sam upisala lokalni koledž i počela odlaziti na nastavu. Uselila sam se sa svojim dečkom. Stvari su bile sjajne, dok nisu prestale biti. Počela sam imati problem pri dolasku na nastavu na vrijeme. Rasturila sam na statistici, ali sam se zaboravila na vrijeme prijaviti, pa nikad nisam dobila ocijenu. Polazila sam nastavu da bih mogla pomoći karijeri mojeg dečka, ali sam kompletno izgubila pojam o svojoj. Nikad se nisam upisala na USC. Sa 21, ispisala sam se iz koledža i preselila natrag kući. U idućih 10 godina, zaposlila sam se i dala ili dobila otkaz sa 15 radnih mjesta. Uništila sam bankovni rejting. Oženila sam se, i razvela unutar godine dana. U jednom trenutku, imala sam 32 godine, i nisam imala pojma, što radim u svojem životu, osim čitanja knjiga o samopomoći koje nisu pomagale. Što se dogodilo sa svim tim potencijalom? Zar se nisam trudila? Ne! Radila sam više od ikoga koga poznajem. Nisam imala vremena čak niti za prijatelje. Toliko sam bila zauzeta. Ipak, imala sam potencijala. Dakle, moja propast bila je moja krivica. Jednostavno nisam učinila ono što sam trebala, i, iskreno, bila sam umorna od pokušavanja, trudeći se više u životu nego bilo tko drugi a zaostajući sve više i više. U tom trenutku, mogla sam odustati od svega, mogla sam odlučiti da su svi koji su smatrali da imam potencijala bili u krivu. Ali nisam, jer sam znala da je moje ponašanje ono što me dovelo tamo, a ponašanje je pod utjecajem mozga. A moj mozak ima ADHD. Promatrajući moje ponašanje, znala sam: čak i sa lijekovima, čak i kao odrasla osoba, moj ADHD je još uvijek ometao moj život, i ono što sam trebala znati je kako i zašto, i još važnije, što mogu učiniti u vezi toga. Počela sam istraživati, i našla mnogo sjajnih informacija. Našla sam i mnogo loših informacija, ali to je tema za drugi govor. Ali mogu se naći dobre informacije. Stranice. podcastovi, razgovori, od strane istraživača i stručnjaka; knjige koje bi bile puno više od pomoći nego one o samopomoći koje sam koristila koje su bile napisane za normalne - dakle, ne postoji normalni - neurotipične mozgove. Puno onoga što sam našla, bilo je ili super tehničko ili se činilo da je napisano za roditelje i učitelje Koji se pokušavaju nositi s djecom s ADHD-om Nije bilo mnogo toga ciljano nama, ljudima koji imaju ADHD. I tako sam započela YouTube kanal. Nisam imala pojma kako to učiniti. Ali počela sam objavljivati na YouTube kanalu Skoro sam ga nazvala "Kako ne ADHD-ati" Jer to je bilo otprilike sve što sam znala. Ali moj dečko, Edward, me odgovorio. Čini se da mnogo ljudi treba pomoć u razumijevanju ADHD-a Uključujući, možda posebno, one koji ga zapravo i imaju. Niti ja nisam bila iznimka. Mislila sam da je ADHD nekako jednak kod svih. Mislila sam da je stvar uglavnom u nepažnji. Mislila sam da je možda ADHD razlog mojeg životnog neuspjeha. I mislila sam da moram promijeniti sebe, kako bi postala uspješna. Nisam mogla biti uspješna i ostati svoja. Spoiler: Bila sam u krivu. Hajde da se vratimo natrag na trenutak, onome što nas je dovelo ovdje danas: Mozak. Ispostavilo se da je važno razumjeti mozak sa kojim radiš I to je važno bilo to mozak vašeg zaposlenika, učenika, vašeg djeteta i životnog druga. Ili vaš vlastiti. ADHD zahvaća između 5 i 8% svjetske populacije. Što znači da, statistički govoreći, nas je negdje između 37 i 60 samo u ovoj dvorani. Ne možete nas prepoznati samo gledajući, ali je zabavno vidjeti pokušaje. (Smijeh) Dakle, u nekom trenutku, upoznati ćete nekog s ADHDom, raditi ćete s njima, roditi ćete ih, ili se zaljubiti u njih. Vjerojatno već jeste. I, u nekom trenutku, zapitati ćete se, "Što se to dešava u njihovoj glavi?!" I, nakon dvije godine izučavanja ADHD-a i cjeloživotnog iskustva sa njim, nakon što sam imala čast povezati se sa znanstvenicima, i doktorima, i ADHD stručnjacima, i desecima tisuća ADHD mozgova cijeloga svijeta, što vam mogu reći da vam pomognem da razumijete ADHD? Samo da znate, mnogi od njih pomogli su pripremiti ovaj govor. Kao prvo, stvaran je. Nije stvar u roditeljstvu, ili nedostatku discipline. ADHD je neurorazvojni poremećaj. Trenutačno je najistraženije mentalno stanje, i zapravo postoje mjerljive razlike u mozgu. Te su razlike veće kod djece, ali, za većinu ljudi nikad ne nestanu. Drugim riječima, odrasli također imaju ADHD. Stopa ADHD dijagnoza raste, to nije zbog rasta unosa šećera ili tehnologije, ili manje pljuskanja, ne, nije, ništa više nego što je utapanje ljudi vezano uz Nicolasa Cagea. Korelacija ne znači uzročnost. Ovo su prave brojke. (Smijeh) To je zbog razumijevanja da ADHD postoji, da ga djevojčice, odrasli i nadareni učenici mogu također imati, i ironično, nerazumijevanja da hiperaktivnost, neposlušnost, ili poteškoće u školi ne znače da imate ADHD. ADHD je ozbiljniji nego što sam smatrala. Primarne karakteristike - nepažljivost, impulzivnost i hiperaktivnost - ne zvuče toliko ozbiljno, niti sam ih ja takvima smatrala, ali, u stvarnom životu, to znači da ljudi doživljavaju više nesreća, imaju veću mogućnost da budu otpušteni, razvedeni, bitno veću mogućnost da će se boriti sa ovisnošću. Naučila sam da je ADHD u spektru. Dignite ruku ako ste ikada izgubili ključeve, ili počeli sanjariti usred predavanja. Ako ne dižete ruku, Pretpostaviti ću da ste počeli sanjariti usred ovoga. (Smijeh) Stvar je u tome, što iako svi ponekad iskuse ADHD simptome , prava dijagnoza temelji se na tome koliko od tih simptoma ozbiljno i kronično utječu na više područja vašeg života. Baš kao što možete biti tužni i ne imati depresiju, Možete biti rastrojeni i nemati ADHD. I baš kao što možete imati blagu ili jaku depresiju, ADHD može varirati od blagog do jakog. Također sam naučila da je ADHD grozno ime za ADHD. Stvara veliku zbrku. Mi nemamo nedostatak pažnje! Ono s čim imamo problema je regulacija pažnje. Kako ADHD trener Brett Thornhill opisuje, to je kao da se vaš mozak stalno prebacuje između 30 različitih kanala a netko drugi ima upravljač. Ponekad imamo problema uopće se fokusirati, a ponekad zapnemo na kanalu i ne možemo se s njega odvojiti, što u stvarnom životu može izgledati kao da ne želimo pisati zadaću jer bi rađe igrali video igricu, i da, ponekad je to i istina. Ali u stvarnosti mnogo puta se želimo moći fokusirati, i pokušavamo, i jednostavno ne ide. Najnovija saznanja kažu da ova poteškoća ima veze s načinom na koji mozak stvara i procesuira neurotransmitere, kao dopamin i norepinefrin. Naučila sam da se ADHD može liječiti. Stimulativni lijekovi potiču te neurotransmitere, i zbog toga nam pomažu pri fokusiranju. Vrlo su efikasni kod oko 80% ljudi s ADHD-om. I naučila sam da lijekovi nisu dovoljni. ADHD utječe na mnogo više od fokusa. Pogoršava izvršne funkcije kao planiranje, prioritiziranje, i našu sposobnost da održimo fokus prema cilju. Utječe na našu sposobnost da reguliramo naše emocije, ponašanje, spavanje. To nije jedan program u našem mozgu koji radi drugačije; to je cijeli operativni sistem. Može utjecati na svaki aspekt našega života. Postoje hrpe strategija koje mogu pomoći. Kognitivno bihevioralna terapija, treniranje, meditacija ili redovita vježba mogu jako pomoći pri razumijevanju vašeg mozga. Znala sam da imam problema u fokusiranju, i da su mi lijekovi kod toga pomogli. Ono što nisam znala je da onaj osjećaj da sam stalno prevladana ima veze sa slabom radnom memorijom, i da pisanje lista pomaže; ili da razlog što sam stalno kasnila nije značio da mi nije bitno, nego zato jer ADHD - ovci imaju iskrivljeni osjećaj za vrijeme, i da mi korištenje tajmera može pomoći da naučim koliko stvari zapravo traju. Uglavnom sam očekivala da ću naučiti baš ono što sam i naučila: da je ADHD stvaran; da je važno baviti se s time; i da lijekovi nisu dovoljni. Ono što nisam očekivala da ću naučiti: da nisam sama; da Imam ADHD pleme; koja je to bila promjena kada sam se sa njima povezala. U svakoj državi ima ljudi s ADHD-om, u svakoj kulturi na svijetu. Da, čak i u Francuskoj. (Smijeh) To pleme je fenomenalno. Uspoređujući se s ljudima sa neurotipičnim mozgovima, osjećala sam se jako loše. Zašto ne mogu održati kuću čistom ili završiti projekt na vrijeme, umjesto da čekam do poslijednje sekunde? Ali vidjevši dobre stvari u ostalim ADHD mozgovima pomoglo mi je u prepoznavanju i uvažavanju mojih osobnih snaga, onih koje nisam mogla vidjeti jer sam samo zurila u svoje slabosti, a to je ono što sam radila desetljećima. Ali ADHD mozgovi imaju mnogo toga za ponuditi svijetu. Skloni smo biti velikodušni, zabavni, kreativni. 300% je veća vjerojatnost da će ADHD-ovci pokrenuti svoj posao. Mi ne samo da mislimo izvan okvira; često nismo niti svjesni da okvir postoji. (Smijeh) Možda nam je teško kada naši mozgovi nisu angažirani, ali ADHD mozgovi su super kod rješavanja zadataka koji su hitni, kod rada sa novim idejama, u borbi sa izazovnim problemima, i u posvećivanju problemima koji su od osobnog interesa. Ova YouTube karijera u koju sam uletila bila je sve te stvari. Sa 32, bila sam razvedena, nesreta, i nisam imala pojma što da radim sa svojim životom. Sa 33, započela sam svoj vlastiti posao, i povezivala sam se s ADHD expertima. Do sada, sa 34, imam tim volontera koji mi pomažu s kanalom. Zaručena sam s tim fantastičnim čovjekom koji mi pomaže pri produciranju kanala, radi sa mnom, upravo pušta slajdove - i, kao što smo otkrili, također ima ADHD. (Smijeh) Radim na tome da dopremo do škola da djeca ne moraju čekati do 32. godine da nauče nešto o svojim mozgovima. I držim prvi TEDx govor ovdje pred vama. (Uzvici)(Pljesak) Ali čekajte! Ima još! Čekajte. (Pljesak) Ovo je zvučalo kao kraj govora. Žao mi je ali nije. (Smijeh) Sretnija sam i uspješnija nego ikada u životu. I, što se dogodilo? Kako sam ostvarila svoj potencijal? Tri stvari: prvo, naučila sam o svojem mozgu, mojem ADHD mozgu, i sama i povezujući se sa ostalima koji ga imaju. Ako prosuđujete ribu po njenoj sposobnosti da se popne na drvo, živjeti će cijeli život u uvjerenju da je glupa, osim ako slučajno ne popriča sa drugom ribom i shvati da ribe nisu dobre u penjanju na drveće, i da je to u redu, ocean je velik. Dva, pri učenju o mojem mozgu, nabasala sam na posao koji ga okupira. Ako posvetite vrijeme pokušavajući naučiti ribu da se penje po drveću, nikad nećete saznati koliko daleko može plivati. Ispalo je da mogu biti svoja i ipak biti uspješna. Samo sam trebala naći svoj ocean. Treće, naučila sam strategije za izazove s kojima se i dalje borim. Nemam riblju analogiju za ovo, žao mi je. (Smijeh) Pretpostavljam da sam naučila plivati. Jednom kad shvatite koje su poteškoće vašeg mozga, možete naći i riješenja za njih. Jednom kad prevladate stereotipe i pretpostavke o ljudima s ADHD-om, i prokopate malo dublje, shvatiti ćete što ADHD zapravo jest. To nisu ljudi koji se ne mogu prestati meškoljiti ili biti ometani. To su mozgovi koji su kronično podstimulirani, koji pokušavaju doći do osnovnog nivoa stimulacije koju svi mozgovi trebaju. Nije stvar u odugovlačenju ili nepoštovanju. Stvar je u poteškoćama u izvršnim funkcijama koje otežavaju započinjanje posla. I nije stvar u lijenosti ili ne ulaganju dovoljno truda. To su djeca i odrasli koji se bore za uspjeh sa mozgom koji ne želi uvijek surađivati u društvu koje nije izgrađeno za njih. Društvo je naš korisnički priručnik. Učimo kako naši mozgovi i tijela rade promatrajući one oko nas. I ako vaš radi drugačije, možete se osijećati kao da ne valjate. Ono što pokušavam učiniti je doprijeti do tih ljudi gdje god da jesu u svijetu. i reći im, "Nisi čudan. Nisi glup. Ne trebaš se jače truditi. Nisi pokvarena verzija normalnog. Ti si različit, ti si prekrasan, i nisi sam." Ako sami nemate ADHD, vjerojatno znate nekoga tko ima. To su vaši zaposlenici, vaš šef, vaš prijatelj, oni su u ovoj sobi. Nadam se da će vam ovaj govor pomoći da ih bolje razumijete. Ako imate ADHD, dobrodošli u pleme. (Pljesak) (Uzvici)