To my journal,
My name is Jonas and when I was 8 years old I was diagnosed with ADHD which the doctors said means Attention Hyper-Deficit disorder. My mom and dad keep telling me that I’m still normal just different, special even, from the other kids but I feel like a freak. In my class there’s no one else that has it and my teacher has to keep calling for my attention since I can’t focus on the lessons. Since I was pretty young my parents have had suspicions but it seems that they were right.
I was in the 3rd grade when I found out. I may have this disorder but I can still do everything that a normal person could. 6 months into the school year, a girl named Alana came to our class. She had the same disorder that I did and we bonded. Together the two of us told our fellow class-mates that we have ADHD. Most didn’t know what it meant; some even asked if it meant we were crazy but after we explained to them that we just have trouble concentrating and keeping our focus on things they understood that we were just like them.
Although some of my classmates thought I was crazy, different, a freak. I would get teased for being different and I wouldn’t be happy. I love music so I would always take my mom’s vinyl’s, they were always random, the first ones that I could get my hands on, and lock myself in the library/office. Music was my escape; it calmed me down and eradicated the thoughts that I wasn’t good enough. I could do everything like all the other kids could do; playing baseball, soccer and even dodge ball without a problem and have the most fun. I could play video games and hang out with my friends at my place and feel normal watching movies on the couch.
Despite it all, everything that I went through I always tell people to assure them that I am just like them. My teachers are always understanding and even are encouraging when I have bad days during some