ADHD and Religious Trauma

 Ok I am really behind on the blogs. 

In the episode on ADHD and Religious Trauma, Berta talks about how it feels to be an adult who is differently abled. Too many times we expect ADHD to be a children's disease or disability, but it is not. Perhaps some people do "out grow" ADHD, but more likely they develop coping mechanisms to mask their ADHD. Some coping mechanisms might be leaving notes in places so as to not forget to do something. Or a coping mechanism Penn from the Holderness Family talks about is wearing Cargo pants so he can keep his must haves in one place.

Other coping mechanisms might look like multiple alarms on a smart phone, notes in various colors so they stand out, color codes, labels, nearly anything to help keep track of things. One thing I have noticed having raised an ADHD child now adult is how difficult it can be for some with ADHD to organize space-- a room, paperwork, clothing. 

One thing that really struck me in this conversation was Berta reminding me that Adults with ADHD should not be lumped with kids. Perhaps we in religious communities need to make movement more a thing. I know in liturgical churches there is a lot of stand up and sit down. In Lent we have more silence and sometimes shorter services. My homiletics (preaching) Professors encouraged us to keep sermons to about 7 minutes because social sciences had shown that TV shows take commercial breaks every 7 minutes which indicated the general population's attention span was no longer than 7 minutes. 

What ideas do you have that might help neurologically diverse individuals feel more welcome in worship communities that can translate into other community spaces? Hear some of Berta's suggestions in this episode and why it is important to have diverse voices at the decision making levels so people are not unintentionally excluded. 

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