Names have significance and power. Words convey symbolic ideas beyond their meaning. 

 ADHD stands for “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder”. The name is inaccurate and misleading and part of the reason why ADHD , one of the most common neurodeveopmental “disorders” of childhood continues to be stigmatized and grossly misunderstood.

Individuals with ADHD do not have a deficit of attention. Actually, they have too much attention, to everything, all at once, all the time. The difficulty is in the ability to exert control over our attention. But the most pressing danger is that ADHD is not only about paying attention.

ADHD is a chronic developmental impairment of our brain’s executive functioning skills . The self-management system we use to “execute” all tasks. Executive functions include, impulse control, time management, sustained attention ,emotional control and self regulation.  

I wonder how anyone can ever properly understand ADHD with a name that doesn’t mean what it is, dangerously furthers outdated stereotypes and fails to include regulatory behaviors or the context .

Let’s call it was it is… Frontal Cortex Regulation Disorder and then maybe people will understand the far reaching impact ADHD has on the quality of a life.