Looking at ADHD differently, part 5

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The photograph shows me, sitting in my studio knitting, whilst looking elsewhere, distracted by something or talking to someone. It's an older video still from the #FruityKnitting footage we recorded. I wear black and grey and instead of henna, my hair sports a turquoise quiff against my shaved grey hair. The knitting is gorgeous hand-spun in deep reds and black, which went on to become the #WWHandspunHat sample.

Here's the next post in my series for #ADHDAwareness month where I try and look at the condition I live with through the lens of my work.

Whilst most ADHD folk may not be the externally hyperactive type, the hyperactivity instead firmly in our brains, restlessness is still very much a thing. After all, our brains and bodies aren't separate - one impacts the other.

Us ADHD folk fidget. We flick our fingers, tap our feet, twiddle our hair. We do it as a way to help with processing and concentration. It's a self-regulation method.

The more we need to concentrate on a task, the more we need to fidget. Especially if it's boring, which everything is unless we're interested in it. If we've a lot to process i.e. unexpected news or plan changes, a truck-load of information dumped in one go, or something personal or of great magnitude, we'll tend to fidget.

This is one area where our disability needs are poorly accommodated by society as a whole. We're told to sit still and concentrate. To pay attention, not fiddle. We're not allowed to do something else while we're doing the thing expected of us because you can't comprehend that we need to do more than one thing at a time. Society labels us rude.

Let's look at it another way. When we face boredom our brains create distraction. When we face a processing jam our brains are there, honking the horn.

By fidgeting we distract the distractor. We give it something else to do. Regulation can then kick in.

When I need to write up a pattern I'll have my knitting to hand and a TV series I've watched umpteen times playing. It doesn't distract me because I've heard it all before already. But it provides comfort and the right level of white noise to replace the white noise my brain will create.

If I need to watch or listen for periods of time, you can bet I've got my knitting to hand. The subtle, repetitive movement helps me to listen and pay attention.

Knitting is my fidget aid. I take it everywhere with me, just in case. As you may have started to realise by now, it's no accident that I design and knit as many Hats as I do.

Do us a favour? Let the ADHD folk in your life fidget. It's not rude for us to keep our fingers busy while we talk, or to fiddle while we eat our dinner. If we're not allowed to we invariably find something else to do and then we'll be labelled disruptive.