Addressing neurodiverse stereotypes
Storyboard Text
- I wonder if the stereotypes that I have seen in movies, comics and on TV about children with differences are really true.....
- Hi, I'm Josh. Join me on my day at school as I learn more about my neurodiverse peers.
- Hi ADHD Sally. Seen as you have ADHD will you be unable to ever sit still in our class this year? Kids are saying that you will keep on interrupting our teacher when she is talking which will distract other students.
- I actually have ADD, not ADHD. This means that I can have trouble concentrating on complex tasks and get distracted easily when multitasking. I sometimes interrupt others, but I do not mean to do this. I do not experience hyperactivity which is only the case for children with ADHD.
- Hi Josh. My diagnosis does not define me. Please use first person language. I am Sally living with ADHD. I do not like getting called ADHD Sally.
- Thanks for explaining that to me, Sally. I saw a movie about a kid with ADD/ADHD once and he had to take really strong stimulant medication so that he could get his homework done. Do you take this medication?
- While medication is an option for managing attention difficulties, it is not always the best option. My parents and my therapist decided that behavioural therapy is the better option for helping me manage my symptoms.
- Can you not eat any sugar like the rest of us kids? Would sugar make it even harder for you to concentrate?
- While nutrition is an important component of managing my symptoms and for my overall health; I can still eat sugar in moderation, just like you.
- Do kids with ADD or ADHD tend to have lower intelligence levels? I get this impression because you are often given different versions of class tasks, I think these are called accommodations.
- He thinks I'm stupid?!!
- Thank you for explaining this, Sally. I didn't mean to offend you!
- Not at all! I have average intelligence, just like most kids. My brain is simply wired differently and has lower levels of serotonin and norepinephrine. This is why I have an Individual Education Plan with accommodations to cater for my preferred learning style.
- By the way, some kids with ADHD can have above average intelligence.
- I want to chat..... but sometimes it's hard for me to understand others intentions and emotions. I will face this way to feel more comfortable.
- Hi Peter, I understand that you have autism. Can I please ask you some questions so that I can better understand your differences and abilities?
- I will try my best to answer, Josh. However, sometimes it gets challenging to keep engaging with others for lengthy periods of time.
- I use my calculator often, I don't think that I have the same abilities as the girl in the TV show. I am good at other things though. I like playing video games, I bet I'll beat you.
- The psychologist told me that I have slightly above normal intelligence. But, not all kids with autism are geniuses, in fact the vast majority are not. This is just a stereotype.
- I saw a boy on a TV show once, he was a doctor and was only 17 years old! Are you also super intelligent because of your autism? I also saw a movie where a girl with autism was able to multiple numbers in the thousands when she was only 5 years old, without a calculator!
- I experience sensory overload which causes things to become overwhelming at times. Sometimes I shout to block out all of the loud sounds and bright lights in the classroom.
- I also heard that kids with autism are really badly behaved and they often shout out load or even bang their fists on the desk during class.
- Peter likes to feel prepared for his school day, Josh. For example, we use an activity board to plan out all of Peter's tasks ahead of the time so that he knows what is coming up next. This helps him gain control over his surroundings as surprises can worry him sometimes. Peter's brain is wired differently to yours, that's all. He still enjoys class activities, just like you do. He doesn't shout to be disruptive.
- Autism is a spectrum. This means that abilities and symptoms can vary from mild to significant. Peter has high functioning autism which means that he is verbal and enjoys many of the same things that you do, like video games. Right Peter?
- That's correct.
- Miss West, I heard that some children with autism don't speak at all, why does Peter talk?
- Hey, Sarah! I noticed in class when you volunteered to read out loud that you paused and struggled to read some of the words. Do you not do your reading homework? Maybe if you practiced more then you could improve your reading abilities?
- Actually, I have dyslexia. I always do all of my reading homework that is assigned to me. I am a good, hard working student.
- OH NO! he notice that my reading is worse than the other kids. Maybe now is a good time to explain my differences so that he understands that I am not stupid.
- Does that mean that you have trouble seeing the words? Maybe you should get your eyes checked, glasses could help improve your reading skills?
- I have already had my eyes tested. I do not need glasses. My dyslexia causes me to read slower than others, but I am still improving.
- Oh, I see. Thanks for sharing. So.... is reading slowly the only symptom of dyslexia?
- Thanks for explaining!
- No. Dyslexia can also make it harder for me to comprehend what I have read. I also have challenges with spelling words and may reverse the order of letters, sometimes.
- Hey, Ben! I overheard Miss West saying to another teacher that you are highly gifted.
- I saw a movie about a gifted girl once, she was so smart that she could move objects around the room without even touching them.
- I think that you are talking about Matilda. She had telekinesis. While I have advanced cognitive development for my age, I certainly cannot move objects using only my mind. That would be super cool though!
- So I guess you have a high IQ? Does this make you nerdy and socially awkward around your classmates? Also, do you know almost as much as the Google search engine?
- I don't just have all the information about everything and anything loaded into my brain. I need to learn it, just like everybody else. When I am interested in a subject that is when my intelligence shines. But, if something is boring then I can underperform.
- I do not believe that I am socially awkward, Josh. I enjoy many of the same activities with friends as you do. In fact, I'm quite good at reading people's emotions and I am in touch with my own feelings. Sometimes even more so than my peers.
- Wow! It must be so cool to be gifted. So does this mean that your physical abilities are also advanced for your age?
- While there are benefits that come with being cognitively gifted it can also be confusing because I experience asynchrony. This means that my emotional age, physical age, and cognitive age are not all in alignment. So, even though I am 6 and go to school with 8 year olds, I cannot play soccer as well as my peers because I cannot kick the ball as hard as they do.
- The way that children with neurodiverse differences are portrayed in TV shows and movies are not always very accurate, at all!
- Thank you for joining me at school today! I have learned so much more about my neurodiverse peers. I hope that you were able to learn something new too.
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