This can extend into other time frames too, it is hard for me to relax and take a holiday if a job breaks up my week. ADHD paralysis can feel like your inner personal assistant just cleared all tasks and meetings in your day without your permission, until your appointment at 4pm. There is some discussion that ‘ADHD paralysis’- or what looks like procrastination, experienced as just waiting for the appointment at 4pm and not being able to do anything else all day-is actually a brain adaptation in case you forget or get distracted. This can affect memory, bill paying, work deadlines and especially relationships. Another reason for this can be that an ADHDer has an out of sight out of mind problem. I always have tonnes of tabs open literally and figuratively. I only really see this presented on social media made by those with lived experience. One of the issues is that much of the research is about children as subjects and not adults or what adult challenges might look like. It is difficult to find useful or relatable research that dives into the details of what it feels like to live with ADHD. This is a trope, however, precisely because it is shorthand to understand how ADHD affects an individual, but one of the difficulties with ADHD discussion is that it is often reduced down to being all about inattention when infact there are so many other challenges. This does actually happen to me, admittedly an after session debrief can be hard to focus on when I can see every tiny movement and flash of colour of the birds in the trees. This unpredictable shift in focus probably helped to create the ADHD trope used in film and media of a sudden distraction, as in the example of the title ‘oh look a squirrel’. This can be disheartening for leaders and teachers who felt they had finally made a positive connection. What interests them once may never become interesting again and the interest can shift quickly and within the hour. It is impossible to say what will be needed for a particular ADHD individual as their needs and interests will be individual. One of the reasons ADHD can be difficult to discuss is because in the same way that we understand that once you have met one autistic person/ one person with autism(depending on how you prefer to identify), you have still only met one person with autism/one autistic person, the same is true of ADHD. The discomfort of boredom in itself is enough to explain many difficult interactions seen in settings too restrictive to adapt and allow space for personal interest to germinate. Boredom to an ADHDer can hurt, like a physical pain. When we consider that an ADHD brain may not engage in learning if they are distracted by social or authoritarian threat, or if the subject or activity on offer is so tight they can’t find a personal interest point or if despite the open space being available they are still physically restricted in what they can do in it or what their volume can be. We can’t categorically say that all outdoor environments are supportive of ADHD needs. In my experience these crucial elements for our work are not always available in all settings, many outdoor and natural environments are still highly managed, choreographed and outcomes are heavily planned and measured. Exploration of beneficial risk taking is encouraged and our most basic needs are met first before any learning takes place. Curious School of the Wild work aims to consciously harmonise with what nature already does by also creating a low demand environment where responsive and engaging relationships are central with the human and more than human world, where there is choice, autonomy and freedom. When we consider different settings and how they are organised, many frequently engaged with outdoor spaces are almost just the classroom, but outdoors. Nature is brilliant but not all outdoor environments are created equal and freedom is not necessarily a given. This is one explanation for some children and young people managing better outdoors or in nature than in a classroom. An obvious thread to pull on is that nature seems to absorb many behaviours that would be amplified in a building or built environment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |