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Antonio Guevara

Professor Nelson

ENGL 1302

2 November 2021

Awareness of ADHD

ADHD has been a big problem in childhood and adulthood and a lot of people

misunderstand the disability. Some people say that it is not a real disability and it is just used as

an excuse to not do specific tasks. They also say that Most patients with ADHD are diagnosed

with it at an early age in their childhood and some even take medications however, there have

been some cases where the patients do get misdiagnosed. In an article on childhood ADHD it

states, “Although considered a disorder of childhood, (ADHD) can persist into adulthood, with

the severity of adult symptoms being corelated with those observed during childhood.

Worldwide prevalence of ADHD in adults has been estimated to range from 3.4% to 4.4%.”

(Sarkis, 2). When people with ADHD do not get diagnosed they struggle later on in their

adulthood with the disability since it makes it more difficult to build and keep relationships and

it makes them struggle in school. Some families cannot afford the medication for ADHD

because it is too expensive without insurance and not everybody has insurance. So, if the family

cannot afford the medicine then their child’s ADHD can worsen over the years and can carry on

into adulthood. However, some patients with ADHD can outgrow it when they grow older.

There is not a lot of awareness about ADHD so people do not take it as seriously as it really is.

Also, that is why people do not believe that ADHD is a real condition. ADHD is a real condition

and it is important to know the different types.

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The long-term impact of ADHD on a person can impact their lives. The condition can

have the person struggle at school, have difficulty doing certain tasks, and also struggle building

relationships later on in their life. Adults with ADHD are more likely to be fired from

employment they have often tried to do a different number of jobs before finding one that they

are able to do. They also have a rough time getting adjusted in the workplace as said in an

article, “The organizational skills required for proper job performance may be impaired. Lastly,

the irritability commonly observed among individuals with ADHD can result in impatience and

difficulties getting along with others, outbursts of anger, and increased hostility in the

workplace.” (Sarkis, 3). Sadly there are a lot of cons for a person with ADHD in the workplace.

Some more cons are stated in the article, “Barkley and colleagues reported a strong relationship

between ADHD symptoms and work impairment as rated by the employer in a variety of

workplace functioning domains, including relations with coworkers, supervisors, and clients;

completing assigned work; punctuality and absenteeism; and managing responsibilities.”

(Sarkis, 4). Even though there are cons of ADHD at work there are also pros to having it. Some

pros are implied in the article, “It has been suggested that although some aspects of ADHD can

be considered an impairment in one environment, they can be considered a positive attribute in

another. For example, the broadened attentional focus and increased distractibility observed in

children with ADHD has been suggested to enhance certain aspects of creative thinking, a trait

that could be valuable in the workplace.” (Sarkis, 4). People with ADHD also interrupt others

when they are talking. It is proven to be true as it is said in an article, “In adults with ADHD,

impulsivity can result in poor social skills, such as impatience with others and frequently

interrupting people when they are speaking.” (Sarkis, 2). What the article is saying is that

ADHD can have people behave impolitely at times even though the
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person does not mean it that way. I have read several different articles that help prove

this statement is true and I have also experienced it. People with ADHD cannot help it when

they interrupt others so when they interrupt the other people will think that they are not polite

and that they are being rude.

Students with ADHD often struggle with the work they have to do for school because

they either get overwhelmed or they cannot concentrate. For me I have to only focus on one

class assignment at a time if I do too much then I will start stressing out. Believe it or not some

students with ADHD drop out of high school or do not complete a degree program at college. It

has been confirmed in an article where it says, “ADHD is characterized by developmentally

inappropriate levels of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that are exhibited across the

life span. Relative to typically developing peers, school-aged students with ADHD are at higher

risk for grade retention, identification for special education services, and dropping out of high

school. Relatively fewer adolescents with ADHD attend post-secondary institutions and, of

those who do pursue college, fewer complete degree programs relative to non-ADHD peers.”

(DuPaul, GJ et al., 1). What was said in the article is true because I too have experienced that in

my friends where they cannot complete a degree program in college even though none of them

ever dropped out of high school. Students can struggle a lot in school if they do not take

medicine for it. ADHD medicine can be very expensive without insurance and most families

cannot afford it because they do not have insurance. The medication helps a lot with the

patient’s ability to focus and stay on task. There are ways to counter the struggles of ADHD in

the classroom such as writing down due dates whenever the teacher assigns them in class, sitting

in the front of the class to limit distractions, putting your phone away while the teacher is
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lecturing, and also having a binder can come in handy so that you can organize where your

things are for each of your classes.

Whenever I take my medicine in the morning I feel alert and I also feel very productive. There

are a lot of other creative ways to help be successful in school while you have ADHD and there

are still more learning strategies still being discovered today. One thing that student with ADHD

has trouble with is goal settings as said in an article, “Students with ADHD may be unaware of

the goal associated with an academic task or may also have difficulty remembering goals.”

(Johnson et al, 1). This is very true even I have difficulty remembering what goals I set for

myself academically. An article about children with ADHD and time management states,

“Specific deficits have been found in meeting deadlines on time, completing homework on time,

completing chores on time, and talking accurately about time.” (Prevatt et al, 1). Children with

ADHD have a hard time managing their time to do things that they need to do.

Children and adults with ADHD tend to have trouble building and maintaining

relationships. As it says in an article about social functioning with ADHD, “Children with

ADHD experience significant social difficulties. It is estimated that approximately 50-60 percent

of ADHD children experience rejection by their peers, whereas only 13-16 percent of children in

elementary school classrooms are rejected. In fact, many ADHD children are disliked within

minutes of the initial social interaction and then denied further opportunities to practice social

skills which, in part, leads to further rejection.” (Carpenter et al, 2). Children growing up with

ADHD have trouble making friends in and outside of school and that will most likely lead to

them being lonely going into high school or college. My own personal experience is I also had a

lot of trouble making friends in elementary and middle school. However, going into high school

I was a lot more social and was not afraid to be myself. Some people with ADHD grow out of
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the social issues they had when they were younger as did I. Also in an article about social

functioning and ADHD states, “In this review, social problems refers to difficulties engaging

with peers, as well as other problematic social behavior such as bullying, and aggressive

behaviors.” (Bishop et al, 9). A lot of kids with ADHD do get bullied when they are younger

because they cannot get along with others so there are basically outcasts. I was also bullied in

elementary and middle school because I was never able to fit in with the other kids so most of

the time I felt so lonely at school. But then high school changed everything and I became a

whole different person.

ADHD is not just one type but there are 3 different types. The 3 types are inattentive,

hyperactivity, and impulsivity. In an article explaining how the symptoms or types can affect

people, it says, “The core symptoms of ADHD, inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity may

make social functioning and participation difficult. Inattention problems may limit opportunities

to acquire social skills through observational learning at a young age and may lead to problems

at work or in relationships due to forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating on a conversation or

tasks.” (Michielsen et al, 1). I sometimes find it very hard to be attentive on certain occasions

where I need to be paying attention. Others find it the same way too but with our medicine, it

makes it easier for us to pay attention. Some teachers and coaches of mine in the past have told

my mom before that whenever they are talking I am not paying attention because I am not

looking at them. However, I really am paying attention to them I just don’t look at them directly

all the time. Kids with hyperactivity and impulsivity are different as explained in the article,

“Impulsivity and hyperactivity are associated with unrestrained and overbearing behaviour that

makes children and adults with ADHD aversive to peers. This is confirmed in studies that
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showed that children with ADHD appear to have less mutual friendships, are less well-liked, and

appear to be substantially more rejected by their peers than children without ADHD.”

(Michielsen et al, 1). This is also true because I have witnessed this. People with hyperactivity

sometimes get a lot of energy and they become very hyper and so they start doing a lot of things

and talk a lot and some people find it very annoying so that is why some dislike them.

ADHD is not talked about a lot in society because people are not aware of the symptoms.

It is a serious condition that can cause a lot of problems in one’s life if it is not treated at a young

age. In conclusion, I do think ADHD is an actual condition because I have it and there are a lot

of articles proving that it is real. More people need to be more aware of how it can affect a

person’s life because it can be very bad in some situations if they do not take any medications

for

it.
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Works Cited

Sarkis E. “Addressing Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in the Workplace.”

Postgraduate Medicine, vol. 126, no. 5, 2014, pp. 25–30., doi:10.3810/pgm.2014.09.2797.

DuPaul GJ, et al. “College Students with Adhd: Current Status and Future Directions.” Journal

of Attention Disorders, vol. 13, no. 3, 2009, pp. 234–50.,

doi:10.1177/1087054709340650.

Harpin, V. A. “The Effect of Adhd on the Life of an Individual, Their Family, and Community

from Preschool to Adult Life.” Archives of Disease in Childhood, vol. 90, 2005, p.

7.

Bishop, Caitlin, et al. “An Examination of the Association between Anxiety and Social

Functioning in Youth with Adhd: A Systematic Review.” Psychiatry Research, vol. 273,

2019, pp. 402–421., doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2019.01.039.

Carpenter Rich E, et al. “Social Functioning Difficulties in Adhd: Association with Pdd Risk.”

Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 14, no. 3, 2009, pp. 329–44.,

doi:10.1177/1359104508100890.

Michielsen M, et al. “The Relationships between Adhd and Social Functioning and Participation

in Older Adults in a Population-Based Study.” Journal of Attention Disorders, vol.

19, no. 5, 2015, pp. 368–79., doi:10.1177/1087054713515748.

Johnson, Joseph, and Robert Reid. “Overcoming Executive Function Deficits with

Students with Adhd.” Theory into Practice, vol. 50, no. 1, 2011, pp. 61–67.

Prevatt F, et al. “Time Estimation Abilities of College Students with Adhd.” Journal of

Attention Disorders, vol. 15, no. 7, 2011, pp. 531–8., doi:10.1177/1087054710370673.

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Penalties Chart
(see the Essay 3 Assignment Prompt & Syllabus’s Course Schedule for more information)
Assignment Submission / Attendance Penalty
Draft 1 Yes N/A
Draft 2 Yes N/A
Group Conference (11.2) Yes N/A
Peer Review (11.11) Yes N/A
Writer’s Workshop (11.4) Yes N/A
Writer’s Workshop (11.9) Yes N/A

Feedback from Rubric

Controlling Idea 
 C | Text presents a controlling idea, though it may not be revelatory or clear and is
somewhat supported with sub-claims, though some may seem tangential. Text presents
ideas, but the ideas do not further the author’s purpose.

Evidence 
 C | Text presents evidence for the controlling idea, though not all the selected evidence
furthers the author’s purpose or it is unclear how the evidence works to do so. Some
tangents present.

Description 
C- |  Text presents an understanding of the concept of research, although it is clear that
that the author stumbles to fully comprehend. Text presents some evidence to
demonstrate the understanding.

Genre Competence (Researched Position) 

C | Text seems confused about the purpose of the position paper genre, though the
purpose is accomplished. Evidence of a misunderstanding of audience and how the
genre works for the author’s purpose.

Style, Grammar and the Writing Process 

B- | Style and grammar are somewhat appropriate for the assigned genre and audience.
Text appears to have not benefitted from proofreading and editing.

Instructor Comments:

See my marginal comments above.

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I have turned on Track Changes in your document and formatted it correctly (but not entirely—
I’ve only modeled in some instances that repeat) so that you can see what it should look like.
You can “Accept Changes” to keep this formatting.

Final Draft Grade: C (75/100)