Greatest Challenge I Never Had to Face!

Personal Essay by Aaron Woodul

My name is Aaron and I have ADHD. Chances are, if you are reading this article so does someone whom you care for. ADHD is the greatest challenge I never had to face. I was diagnosed right before the first grade. When I was a child, I could never tell the difference between when I was hyperactive and when I was normal. Medication was supposed to help, but I had no idea if it actually worked.

I, being a child, was desperate to fit in with the rest of the kids at school. The way my mind worked, normal kids did not take medicine at school so why should I. Instead of taking my medicine, I would find all kinds of ways to hide it. I usually just pushed my pills through the drain in the water fountain. Unfortunately, not taking my medicine severely limited my skills as a student. It took about two years of getting inconsistent grades before I actually decided to try the pills I had neglected to take.

The result was amazing. My schoolwork immediately began to improve. I figured out that the medicine helped my grades, which was obvious, but I did not understand why. It did not matter to me though. I just kept on taking my newfound brain pills.

It was not until I was in seventh grade that I really began to understand what was wrong with me. Before then I could never feel the effects of ADHD. My body felt no different when I took medicine than when I did not. But if I did not take my medicine, I was wild. I talked, a lot! I could feel my attention slipping away from my teachers and my thoughts drifting. It was a true challenge to focus on schoolwork for any length of time. It was a great revelation when I began to notice the difference between the hyperactive me and the normal me. I did not like taking medicine at all, but I understood that it was necessary. I did have a disorder. There was nothing I could do to cure it but I could control the problems it caused. I took my medicine everyday, without question. I felt as if I could handle anything and everything that came my way.

I am very lucky that I was correctly diagnosed with ADHD early in my school life. Many people are misdiagnosed with other disorders such as dyslexia. Or worse yet, they never find out why they have such problems learning and living. Who knows how my life would have turned out if I had not been correctly diagnosed?

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