Editor's Note: I was so impressed by Elena's compassion for her ADHD brother and the fact that she based her science project on ADHD in order to understand him better, I just had to post her story here -- but I let her tell it in her own words. The results of her Working Memory Survey are quite interesting too.
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My name is Elena. I am 11 years old. My brother, Ben, has ADHD, sensory disorder, and central auditory processing disorder. As his sister, it is partly my responsibility to help him along. It’s not always easy, because (it seems to me) he gets all the attention. Now he is much better, thanks to the homeschooling by my dad and the therapy for his learning disorders. I miss him at my school sometimes, and get jealous that he has Tuesdays and Mondays off instead of Saturday and Sunday. But, that’s what he needs, so I have to get over it.I know he misses his old friends, and wishes he could see his classmates, but sometimes it’s not that bad at all. See, at my school we have uniforms, change teachers a lot, experience mental bullying, and cliques. I know that if it is hard for me, then surely it would be extra hard for Ben. So, it’s not always bad to be taught alone. At least that is what I think.
Because my brother has ADHD and I can’t really ignore it, I decided to make the best out of it. This year, I based a science fair project on studying ADHD people vs. normal people. I tested working memory in different people when they took a survey. Some of the people on this blog and their kids might have taken the survey (thank you!). As a little side project, my mom and I learned about neuroscience and dissected a sheep’s brain. Why a sheep’s brain? Because it is most like a human brain and helped me to understand what is going on in Ben’s noggin. Unfortunately, the judge didn’t quite understand my project, so I didn’t even win honorable mention. But, my teacher did give me an A+ on my project, so it kind of helped me feel better.
I worked very hard on this project, and I want to share my experience with you because there really is a difference between a normal brain and an ADHD brain. I hope you enjoy my report.
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Elena lives in Tennessee with her mom, dad, brother and hound, Maggie. She likes to draw and watch Tokyo Mew Mew, an anime show. She also watches random funny videos such as Annoying Orange and Fred. She likes to sing, and she does so a lot at church.