I am Alyvia Brough and I have ADHD.

According to Psychology Today, “Attention deficit/ hyperactive disorder is a neurobehavioral disorder characterized by a combination of inattention, distractibility, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.” That was a lot of ‘-ivities’.

You’re probably wondering what it feels like. It´s like you are walking along a beach and the waves touch you but you can’t move away and the water is freezing. Yep. I live like that a lot. You are probably thinking, “Alyvia, I never thought that it was like that,” but life is life.

Don’t be sorry for me. I figured out how to live with that. But I also have a learning disability on top of ADHD.

Psychology Today defines them as, “disorders that affect one’s ability to understand or use a spoken or written language, do mathematical equations, coordinate movements or direct attention.”

Further, my learning disability centers around English skills–the very class for which I have to write this op-ed. Yep, it sucks flipping your B`s and D`s. I can’t spell either. Every day a field trip to spell check! I also have solved this by reading; a lot of reading. Give me the Percy Jackson books and I can read that.

Psychology Today states, “Medication and behavioral treatment are both widely used for treating ADHD.” What I did will help for some people. Like my dad, who has the same issues, says, “Everyone has a different version of ADHD and something that might help you might not help someone else.”

I have learned stages to compensate for my weakness. I used these steps to help cope with my ADHD and the struggles of a learning disability:

1. Listened to my family that lives with these issues as well.
2. Study Hard: If you don’t pay attention in class you won’t get it and this will cause you problems.
3. Instead of causing a disruption, go out of the class. This will allow you to walk around in class. (I do this sometimes too!)
4. Remain calm, be patient, look, listen, think, and speak. Do these in this order to get through decisions.

Take it from me—I have struggled with this for years. I have to go to small groups to learn and to get extra help when needed. By following these steps I became a good student that was well behaved.

This is an important topic to me and it impacts many others. If you put your money where your mouth is (do not take that literally), you can discover that even with your disabilities you can come out on top.