ADHD Boy Mum

I realise there are many symptoms of ADHD that may be obvious to friends, family, medical professionals, etc. but there are many interesting things that you probably didn’t know were linked to ADHD that aren’t so obvious.

Stimming
I have previously referred to this as “fidgeting” as it makes more sense to neurotypical people, but the term “stimming” is an abbreviation of “stimulating” (obviously) and it goes deeper than simply ‘moving constantly’. This basically means that people with ADHD will do small things to stimulate themselves when their brains are getting bored. This can present itself as vocal stims – singing, humming, whistling, making strange sounds, or quoting something/ someone; physical stims can include playing with hair, leg bouncing, scratching or picking at skin, nail biting, cracking joints, tapping, clicking fingers or clapping hands. Even something they find funny can become a stim, or a silly little song that gets stuck in their head.
Stimming can help people with ADHD with emotional regulation, focus and attention (strangely), sensory processing, and energy release. Stimming can become habitual or automatic but will always provide the same result. It’s a natural and beneficial coping mechanism for symptoms, while often stigmatised, they are often essential for learning, focus, and emotional well-being.

Echolalia
Funnily, echolalia can be considered another type of stim as it is linked to our auditory processing. Echolalia presents as repeating words or phrases, joining in with a song someone is singing, or finishing a sequence or pattern. It doesn’t feel like, “I have to finish the sequence or something bad will happen” but it certainly gets under the skin. You know the common pattern to knock on someone’s door? The ‘tap tap ta-tap tap…’ you have to finish it with another ‘tap tap’, right? Echolalia!
It can occur as external echolalia where a sound will be repeated back, or internal echolalia in which we will mentally replay conversations, memories, or thoughts repeatedly, which can affect focus and working memory.

Scenarios
Speaking of which; people with ADHD will replay conversations in their head but will change the outcome, they will also plan conversations and interactions in their mind and explore each outcome of the hypothetical. This allows them to actually feel how each outcome would affect them. While strange, this is actually a form of emotional regulation in people with ADHD as we cannot do this on the spot. We might feel embarrassed by a past conversation, or feel we didn’t say what we wanted to at the time, so the memory is replayed and adjusted, allowing us to feel satisfied with it after the fact. Planning future or hypothetical conversations allows them to control their emotions in the instance the interaction does occur, and prepares them with a script (which you must follow by the way, but you don’t know this) which helps them with their difficulties or anxieties with social situations.

Astigmatism
I actually only learned this yesterday, but there is a link between ocular astigmatism and ADHD, whereby the condition is actually more prominent in those with ADHD. A study showed that 24% of participants with ADHD had astigmatism, while only 6% were neurotypical. I have astigmatism in my left eye, not enough to incur surgery, but enough to create “phantom vision” when I’m reading, which worsens when I feel tired.
If left uncorrected, astigmatism can exacerbate a person’s attention deficit due to blurred or distorted vision.
Understanding this highlights the importance of integrated care where both neurodevelopmental and visual factors are considered for optimal outcome. Corrective measures like prescription glasses or contact lenses and even surgery can aid both of these factors.

Time Blindness
Often described by people with ADHD as “living in the constant present”, and by neurotypical people as “procrastination, disorganised, or poor planning”. The concept of time blindness sounds strange at first, but let me give you an example to break it down. If you tell someone that they have ten minutes to get ready to leave the house, they’ll think they have loads of time, they won’t get ready and you’ll be late. But if you tell them they have six hundred seconds to get ready to leave the house, the countdown starts in their head and they get the sense of urgency because they can visualise each second like staring at a bomb. If you have a neuro-spicy person in your household who is always late, try this little hack – believe me, it works!
Time blindness occurs due to our executive functioning, internal time perception, and motivation systems. The brain’s internal timing system , which acts like a mental stopwatch, may run too fast or too slow, leading to misjudgements in task durations and deadlines. Executive function, which affects planning, prioritisation, and working memory, impair the ability to track and manage time effectively. Factors like stress, hyperfocus, and distractions can also exacerbate these factors. It can make us late for work, appointments, deadlines, and even cause difficulty transitioning between tasks.

MUSIC!
Many people with ADHD require music in order to start any mundane task including housework, homework, travel, etc. This gives the brain a dopamine boost to get them through the task, providing them with energy, motivation, momentum and rhythm. Music also helps to drown out all of the internal noise which can affect executive function by telling us, “you have one thousand and one things that need doing, and they all need doing within the next five seconds”; allowing us to organise our thoughts and feel calm.
People with ADHD can have obsessive tendencies that give them a particular dopamine boost – I have mentioned this with reference to addiction on a previous post – but in this case, it can be a song. Just one song that “scratches that itch” in a neurodivergent brain, and they will play that song on repeat all day for days, weeks, months – until they get bored of it, or find a song that scratches the itch even better. A certain rhythm, beat, bass level, vocal range, or instrumental progression can boost the brain’s function astronomically.
Now this is where it gets really interesting… due to their unique brain processing of auditory stimuli, people with ADHD will have a stronger reaction to music than neurotypicals as it can influence emotional responses, cognitive function, and even physiological responses. People with ADHD will feel music – actually feel it – some describe it as “it feels like my veins are singing” as their hair will stand on end, their body will vibrate in time with a song, they may even cry or feel it as pressure in their chest or throat, it can even influence arousal! Music can literally jumpstart an ADHD person’s engine into action by moving their body in ways that nothing else can.

Action Cancelled
Ever walk into a room and forget why you went in there? Like you’re a Sim and your player just cancelled your action, so now you’re just stood there like a lemon?
This is more commonly referred to as “The Doorway Effect”, whereby you walk through a doorway and you suddenly forget your previous intentions for walking through it. This isn’t only from the forgetfulness of ADHD, it’s because when you walk into a new room, your brain shifts focus to the new environment, which can interfere with your working memory and cause you to forget your original purpose for entering.
If this happens to you, try backtracking physically by returning to the room you entered from and look for visual cues which may help to trigger your memory. Mentally recentre by asking yourself what you were doing before you walked through the doorway. And remember to pause and breathe – it can be frustrating, but don’t be hard on yourself, Dear Reader.