It was amazing – the moment I realised that I was learning about my own neurodiversities, through my child.
Compared to other girls, she is slightly MORE chatty. She asks MORE questions. She is oppositional to rules and norms. She is sassy and actually terrible at time keeping. But she is mega-creative and when she focuses (or becomes hyper-focussed) on something, she can do it better than many of her friends.
When her behaviours were questioned, I’d answer “oh yeah, she gets that from me”.
It turns out that she sure does get them from me, but that they’re also explainable through a neurodiversity lense – as ADHD.
As soon as I started linking her behaviours to a neurodiversity, I was able to learn more about how to manage and showcase these symptoms. I learned to be more forgiving when she was coming home late, genuinely apologetic. And happy to give her extra, visual reminders for things that were coming up. I also learned more about myself.
There is a long way to go in terms of research and support for females with neurodiversity but being aware of how some of symptoms can present differently in girls can be super helpful.
– Jayne Perkins, Executive Assistant to Company Director at Stephanie Ward Online Business Services.