Dr. Ned Hallowell, a board-certified child-and-adult psychiatrist whose specialty is attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, will focus the lens on the condition during a discussion at the Park City Library.The presentation titled “Gaining a Better Understanding of ADHD” will start at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, at the Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave.The event is made possible by a partnership with student advocacy nonprofit PC READS and Park City Film. Other partners include Summit County Health, The Learning Center at The McGillis School, Park City Hospital and Park City Community Foundation. Although free, registration is strongly suggested because it’s expected to sell out, said Park City Film Executive Director Katharine Wang.“This isn’t a film screening but a follow-up to a film we presented a year ago,” she said.That film, Stephanie Soechti’s documentary “The Disruptors,” focuses on families with ADHD members and shifts the myths, and Hallowell appears in the film, according to Wang.“The house was packed, and people could not get enough information,” she said. “It became very clear that there isn’t a big support network in this particular community.”So, Park City Film partnered with PC READS — which stands for recognizing, educating and advocating for dyslexic students — to bring Hallwell to town, Wang said.“We have been working with PC READS for a while,” she said. “I’m dyslexic, and I have family members who are neurodiverse. A lot of people who are dyslexic have ADHD. So this topic hit close to home.”Wang has heard Hallowell speak about ADHD in the past.“He brings the science behind it and helps give more understanding about it,” she said. “He’s a global expert and will share his own experiences and show us how better we can support children and adults with ADHD.”Wang also said “The Disruptors” documentary is linked on Park City Film’s website if people want to watch it before Hallowell’s appearance.Hallowell will touch on three topics during his presentation — the latest brain science on ADHD, how to support kids with ADHD and co-existing differences such as dyslexia and strategies and lifestyle hacks that will benefit parents and families of those with ADHD.“The brain science has shown us that ADHD is highly inheritable,” he said. “While environment does play a small role, genetics play a major role in this than pretty much any other condition in the behavioral sciences.”Metabolically, the ADD and ADHD brain is less active than other parts of the brain, according to Hallowell.“That clinically correlates with areas we tend to have trouble with — executive function, mood regulation, memory scales and processing speed,” he said. Some people don’t understand that ADHD is a real neurodiverse condition, Hallowell said.“It’s not some lame excuse for getting out of doing homework, but it’s a powerful explanation to help you take responsibility more effectively,” he said.One of the ways that will help people take responsibility for ADHD is to learn about it, according to Hallowell.“That’s at the top of the list, and very few people do that,” he said. “Instead, they labor under flat-out wrong information.”The general public still think ADHD is a variation of being mentally slow, according to Hallowell.“What they don’t know is that the other side of it is being what people say is ‘gifted,’” he said. “Most entrepreneurs have it. There are Nobel Prize winners who have it, and there are Pulitzer Prize winners who have it. Lots of highly successful people have it, and that’s what the general public doesn’t know.”Once family members learn about ADHD, it’s up to them to show their kids support by working with educators and pediatricians, Hallowell said.“A lot of pediatricians, by the way, don’t know a lot about this condition,” he said. “So you have a lot of work to do.”Much of what Hallowell will convey during the March 27 presentation will be his own experiences with ADHD and dyslexia.“When I was in grade school in Chatham, a town where I grew up in Cape Cod, I couldn’t read,” he said. “Back then, they didn’t have specialists like me. So the diagnoses were ‘smart’ and ‘stupid,’ and the one treatment plant was ‘work harder.’”So, Hallowell, who is now 75, worked harder, but he still couldn’t read.“They didn’t have tutoring, so it was for me to just learn phonics and keep trying,” he said. “To this day I’m an incredibly slow reader, and it takes me forever to get through a book.”Still, Hallowell graduated Exeter High School, the same competitive high school Wang attended in New Hampshire, and attended Harvard University.“I majored in English of all things,” Hallowell said with a laugh. “I graduated with high honors while studying pre-Med. So my ‘stupid’ brain has some parts that aren’t stupid.”Hallowell didn’t learn about ADHD until well after graduation.“I had gone through a residency in adult psychiatry and was doing a fellowship in child psychiatry in 1981 where I learned about this condition called attention deficit disorder,” he said. “It was ADD  —  the hyperactivity — hadn’t snuck in there, yet.”That’s when Hallowell experienced a “Eureka” moment.“Not only was ADD me, I realized this whole deficient-disorder model was only half of the picture,” he said. “So this saga that continues today is me teaching people about the gifted side that goes with ADHD. It’s not a childhood diagnosis. It’s in adults, too. So, I tell people I don’t treat disabilities. I tell them I help people unwrap their gifts. When you unwrap them, the future is very bright.”Still, ADHD can be a “pain in the ass,” Hallowell said.“You lose things and you misspeak,” he said. “You show up at the wrong days at the wrong time at the wrong meetings.”While Hallowell won’t bring any of his 24 books, including his latest, “ADHD 2.0,” to the presentation, he will be happy to sign books if people bring them.“Although that book and my other more recent one, ‘ADHD Explained,’ have sold about 2 million copies, we still have a long way to go,” he said. “But we’re making a difference. I get emails every day that would bring tears to your eyes. They tell me that they finally are understood and can move forward to save their jobs or marriage.”Gaining a Better Understanding of ADHD with Dr. Ned HallowellWhen: 7 p.m., Thursday, March 27 Where: Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave. Cost: Free, but registration is encouraged Registration: tinyurl.com/487jtc5v Web: parkcityfilm.org, pcreads.org and drhallowell.com AlsoPC READS Informal Meet and Greet for Parents to Share ResourcesWhen: 10-11:30 a.m. on April 8 Where: Park City Library, Room 101, 1255 Park Ave.The post ADHD presentation will focus on the gifted side of the diagnosis appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less