Items

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  2020-11-19

  Hyperfixations through the past 9 months

  I am submitting this object because a very common symptom of neurodiversity is hyperfixation, and with the increased amount of time spent in the house, many people, including my dad are more free to spend hours upon hours doing the tasks stimulating tasks. An aspect of hyperfixation is the way it can “turn on” and “off” at seemingly random times, so for my dad, over the past 9 months, he began writing a novel, which he has 80 thousand words in, but is as yet unfinished, he then moved on to creating card and board games, complete with art and promotional material. Throughout quarantine, he has fixated and his health, and took up running. His most recent fixation is music, writing lyrics and music on a modular synthesizer. This object could be helpful in providing an example of how people with ADHD kept themselves stimulated through quarantine, as well as how their minds often flit from one project to the next, depending on how interesting or rewarding it seems at the time. It was also important to me to contribute this item because much of the time ADHD is only focused on children, so adding this object to the collection works to give representation to the many adults with ADHD who are working as well as trying to adjust to life during the pandemic. Sean Bateman (Provided screenshots and pictures) and Megan Bateman (made collage)
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  2020-12-02

  Trying to stay Organized and Self Motivated

  I am submitting this object as an example of how some people with ADHD struggle with self-motivation and how they create workarounds for this. This is a photo from the wall next to my desk. Taped up are daily to-do lists for the next couple of days, a monthly calendar so I don’t get so caught up in the details of something I lose sight of larger projects and due dates, as well as random reminders. This method has been useful for me because it is not only repetitive, which helps me to remember goals and dates, which is important since memory issues are common with ADHD, but it also provides a form of motivation for me. Scratching tasks off of a to-do list, even if it is something simple like “eat lunch” helps me to stay engaged with my required tasks throughout the day. This object speaks to the ways that many college students and young adults are trying to learn how to live on their own, while also going without much of the support from professors, friends, and family they could have had due to the restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the virus.