ADHD 2.0
I’ve been reading a book I really like, so I thought I’d write something I never seemed able to complete in my childhood - a book review! I’m a firm believer in taking what’s currently useful for me from my reading and leaving the rest on the plate. In this spirit, my book review mostly consists of three favourite takeaways from the book.
This is the book: ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distractions - from Childhood through Adulthood. (If you’re eagle-eyed you may spot that this copy is from the local library!)
It’s a welcoming and easy-to-digest round-up of the latest science, filtered through the lens of people who have ADHD and who work extensively with adults with ADHD. So it’s grounded and practical.
Find the right difficult
“I seem to find easy things difficult, and difficult things easy.” Does this sound familiar? This classic ADHD trait is about what ‘wakes your brain up’, compared to what your brain wants to avoid at all costs. Often these things are different from what most other people experience.
To ‘find the right difficult’ means to choose to direct ourselves towards the challenges that light us up. In the absence of meaningful problems that are a suitable size and shape for our current skill-sets and interests, we are at risk of creating our own difficulties. (A.K.A.dramas!)
I do believe that ‘finding the right difficult’ is key to living an interesting and not-too-stressful life with ADHD. And having this phrase to sum it up makes me remember to check whether something is the ‘right difficult’ for me at the moment.
To break out of rumination, move around
For me, this means firstly noticing that I’m ruminating (i.e. stuck in the default mode network). I’ll be thinking repetitive thoughts about the past or the future, and I FEEL funny.
As soon as I realise that it’s happening, I have trained myself to physically move - shift spaces, push play on some music, or throw myself outside. Almost instantly, I can sense the fog lifting. Pretty soon, all going well, I’m free from the ruminations and able to choose what to do next.
This is an ancient strategy of mine, so reading the neuroscience behind it is validating. It also helps me remember to do this consciously and more reliably.
Practice balancing
Back when I was teaching literacy and numeracy to people with dyslexia, sometimes someone would mention the Dore method or another body-based intervention. ADHD 2.0 suggests that the evidence points to there being some practical benefits underlying these practices.
What this practically means for us is that when we’re exercising, playing or moving around, it’s wise to aim to include some things that activate the cerebellum by requiring balance. Dancing, martial arts and yoga are all recommended. Or they say you could brush your teeth while standing on one leg! (But who can keep still while brushing their teeth?)
A very ADHD-friendly read
As I went to finish off this book review, having only read all the fun bits, I encountered this at the start of the final chapter: “If you have ADHD…it’s likely that you’ve reached this page without having read the whole book.” Snap! (This makes me feel right at home.)
They then helpfully summarise the main points, which they describe as “a lot of stories, explanations, suggestions, and science on how to turn the kind of brain we have into an extraordinary asset while preventing it from becoming the terrible curse it can sometimes be.”
The authors emphasise that what matters is finding our own ways to live well with our ADHD. “Each of us finds a different way; there is no right way…each of us has the magnificent, lifelong chance to find our own brain’s special way.” This is as strengths-based and hopeful a message as I’ve ever read about living with ADHD.
This book is a great round up of the currently accepted science-based ADHD interventions, in a warm and accessible format. If you’ve done a lot of research on ADHD, you may not learn much new, but it will be a good reminder of the actions that help the most. And you may find it at your local library!
(You may be interested in reading this article on VAST - Variable Attention Stimulus Trait - the authors’ new ADHD-adjacent framework that begins to move us away from the medical model of ADHD. I have too many thoughts about it to attempt to get them on the page at this point, so if you want to discuss it via email, get in touch!)