Experience What It’s Like to be a Child With ADHD

My son has ADHD and I've often caught myself thinking, “What is he going through? What is he dealing with every day?” I'm sure those thoughts have crossed the minds of a lot of parents of ADHD kids.

Now you can use an online tool to experience what it's like for them. This article is written by a woman that used the tool and had a very eye opening experience about what her son deals with every day.

Our 10-year-old son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 8.

After he was diagnosed, I read everything I could about ADHD. I was surprised to learn that ADHD affects far more people than I ever imagined.

Thanks to the Internet and social media, I had access to dozens of helpful articles, resources and write-ups about how to support and parent a child with ADHD. But all too often, the mass of information felt like too much.

During one of my late-night worry sessions, I was searching online and came across Understood’s Through Your Child’s Eyes tool.

For a few minutes, I was transported to a classroom of a frustrated young child with ADHD. It became harshly evident to me just how hard it is to stay focused and to complete tasks-even simple ones-when you have ADHD. For the first time, it clicked for me. When my son looks like he’s not paying attention, he’s actually doing his best to pay attention to only one thing at a time. Many day-to-day tasks, which seem easy to me, are incredibly difficult for him.

In the months that followed, I tried to get more in tune with the challenges our son faces every day with just about every task.

I've become more sensitive to how our son benefits from specific strategies.

Wouldn't the world be a more welcoming place if we all took some time to try and walk in a child's shoes? Sometimes all it takes is a simple online simulation.