Following on from our last edition: Michelle Shavdia, 39 is now our resident ADHD spokesperson and will be sharing tips regularly to help those who have ADHD or think that they may have ADHD as well as those who have a family member, friend, colleague or client with ADHD. It is more common than you think (approximately 2.5 % worldwide but likely much higher) given the past misinformation, which led to adults with the condition only being assessed and diagnosed for it now when it should have occurred when they were children.
Michelle will be giving ADHD hacks and tricks she has picked up that work well for her since being diagnosed with ADHD at 37 years old. She had spent her youth struggling in chaos, self-medicating and often in self-destruct mode due to this undiagnosed brain condition. The reason for the late diagnosis is owing to the commonly erroneous notion, that ADHD is something only ‘naughty boys have’ and something you grow out of! This led to her being missed and misdiagnosed many times over.
Michelle had, despite the odds gone onto become a coaching psychologist and set up the award-winning business ‘Find Your Spark’ to support at risk young people. However, she found both processes difficult and in part had to become self-employed as she struggled with being an employee. She would find basic tasks hard, which led to her to thinking that there was something completely wrong with her! This inability to doing seemingly easy tasks is because, ADHD affects the prefrontal cortex of the brain. This is to do with executive function, working memory and emotional regulation. As a result, the main symptoms of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
Michelle, now an ADHD coach, is passionate about raising awareness into this misunderstood condition. She was recently on BBC Essex with Rob Jelly on Tuesday 23rd May from 6-7pm talking about all things ADHD, which you can still listen to via the website www.findyourspark.co.uk The reason for her passion is because ADHD people are nine times more likely to take their own lives due to their heightened emotion and impulsivity traits so it really is important to understand ADHD so we can prevent this from happening.
Whilst there certainly are challenges that come with ADHD to do with organisation, prioritisation, and distraction, there are also lots of strengths. These do not get celebrated and shared enough. A few examples include, creativity, which is what comes from having a messy brain: intuition and innovative problem-solving skills. ADHD people have a can-do, courageous attitude, which certainly helps with entrepreneurialism.
Michelle’s vision is of creating a society which is more aware, understanding and accepting of neurodivergent differences. This is her purpose and spark. “Looking back in hindsight I can see it all as having been necessary pain, for me to be able to empower and transform others especially the next generation. If I can help just one person not suffer the way that I have done, then the pain would have been worthwhile’.
She is sharing all the ADHD symptoms and what she has learnt about ADHD since her diagnosis with the public, with venues booked in Colchester and Tiptree. The dates for these are July 18 and August 20. Please email [email protected] for further details. Testimonials from the last session include: ‘It was brilliant, I feel so much more clued up on what it is and what life is like for someone with it, how it is diagnosed and how it is treated. Best of all, I learnt so many superpowers of ADHD humans!!!’
Visit www.findyourspark.co.uk for further information on this and ADHD Coaching.
