Owain's Blog - 12 Days of ADHD 12: Reports

12 Days of ADHD 12: Reports
Thursday 28th October, 2021

October is ADHD Awareness Month. I've decided that I'm going to use that as a writing prompt, and to set myself a challenge. For the next twelve days, I'm going to write something about my experiences learning about ADHD as a very recently diagnosed adult.

Today is the final day of my challenge! I started off wanting to write some interesting stuff about working memory, because I'm fascinated by the neuroscience of this all - but I got stuck in a bit of a rabbit-hole trying to try and find studies which had tested people with ADHD diagnoses using the RBANS test in particular - as that's the one I happened to do, and admittedly in not-exactly clinical settings (sat in a bedroom, probably a bit hungover?). It's one of many other psychological test batteries that could be used to support a diagnosis. Unfortunately I haven't found any papers or studies that specifically reference the use of RBANS in comparing ADHD groups (especially ADHD adults) against healthy controls, so I can't really tell what my own scores mean.

In the midst of all that, though - when I dug up my scan of the RBANS test, I also dug up a document I wrote back in February, where I've conveniently taken all of the choice quotes from my school reports and onwards. I wanted to share them here, because they really tell a story of me growing up!

If you've ever wondered about yourself and you still have school reports - dig 'em up!!! You may find that yours have a similar story which only stands out when you have a better idea of what you're looking for - maybe my reports can give some insight...