exploration paper

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Kevin Fisher

September 26, 2013

EDUC 705Exploration Paper

Over the course of our lives, we meet many diverse individuals with various

strengths, weaknesses, and assorted assets – outside the school system, in many

multifarious fields, our variances between one another are fostered and developed

throughout the world. Nonetheless, with concern to the public school system, parents,

administrators, educators, and students too often punish juveniles for their over-liveliness

and over-excitement by means of medication and exclusion. Too often those in power

feel obligated to impose treatments and fixings upon these individuals with an extreme

amount of enthusiasm – any teacher of an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder-

struck (ADHD) student knows this enthusiasm as hyperactivity, a term coined with an

overwhelmingly-negative connotation. As a student, future educator, learner, worker and

community member with this psychological disorder , I find myself sporadically

reflecting upon my own educational experiences. As non-medicated student, how did I

get through grade school without a daily dose of Adderall? How did I manage to never

get one detention, suspension, phone-call home to mom, or time in the corner without

speaking? Perhaps a psychologist or psychiatrist may have some insight as to how I may

be able to answer these introspective inquiries.

As an individual with ADHD, I will initially reflect on my personal upbringing

and self, and then mention a handful of moments in my educational pathway. I come

from a small suburban town -- Norton, Massachusetts. I attended public school, played

sports, and took piano lessons. I was a Type-A kid growing up, always involved with

activities, always smiling, and always active. I was active in ways that were not



particularly peculiar – I was always first to raise my hand to participate, I was constantly

reminded to stop talking during class, and it seemed to others as if I could move from

place to place without rest, like I was running on batteries. I moved at 200 miles per hour

from 7:00am until 10:00pm. My excitement and eagerness were apparent to my parents,

teachers, and school principals, but I did not consider myself abnormally special. In my

mind, I was a normal kid going through the same things as my peers – so I propelled

forward. High school came and I remained the active, hectic, and spread-so-thin me that I

had always been growing up. I knew some of my peers needed additional help in school

because they had concentration and attention issues, but I never desired any extra

assistance because I felt normal and performed well.

I remember first grade. I would complete handwriting and 2+2 assignments well

before any of my classmates. I enjoyed music, storytelling, arts and crafts, recess, and

gym. I disliked silent sustained reading (SSR) and detested walking through the hallways

in straight lines with my index finger pressed vertically against my lips. Shhhhhh.

I remember sixth grade. Moving from seat to seat while the bus was moving

became routine. Creative writing and cooking class were some of my favorites, but I still

disliked SSR. Now the sessions were longer and I couldn’t escape reading a book silently

in my chair!

And senior year of high school. Making choices about colleges, running from

soccer games to yearbook club meetings, giving tours of the school – this fast-paced life

was so customary and so routine. My parents still nagged me for not following and

listening to their directions. I still spoke quickly at honor society inductions. And yet, I

felt the same…normal.



The senior AP Psychology teacher preferred that we do the reading for the

upcoming chapter before the next class. This chapter was on diseases and disorders. I did

not know much about psychological disorders, so I read copiously. It was at Dunkin

Donuts on Main Street that I learned something perplexing about myself – I have ADHD.

Was this legitimate? I read on, read the characteristics, read the qualities, read the traits.

Every facet of this disorder seemed so similar to my lifestyle, but it did not make any

sense. I was normal. Was there was nothing wrong with me?

I’m a senior in college now. I have a 3.7 GPA, an excellent résumé, a superb

social network…and an Adderall prescription. A few questions I ask myself often: How

well could I have done in grade school if I had been prescribed? Did my parents know the

whole time about my disorder? How did I get here? I suppose my argument is not

necessarily about the over-medicating of young people for their excitement and high

energy levels, but against the conformity of young people. My argument is against the

“factory-model” idea of a student. Today, Adderall curbs my appetite. It makes me non-

participatory, reticent, and glum. While I choose to take this drug, it is, indubitably,

forced upon young people as a punishment for their lack of compliance. It is the easy way

out and resists individuality and self-discipline.

According to Plato’s The Republic, “Educators should devise the simplest and

most effective methods of turning souls around. It shouldn't be the art of implanting sight

in the organ, but should proceed on the understanding that the organ already has the

capacity, but is improperly aligned and isn't facing the right way.” (518D3-7) What Plato

means here is that we all have educational capacities based on our different organs, our

different assets. “Implanting sight”, or a specific mode or way of life, does not work for



all members of society because of our variances within. Perhaps the organ just needs

some guiding and experience, or another point of view, just as we all do as individuals.

Those within the cave, in The Allegory of the Cave, are not living a life that is wrong;

they are living a life that is different. And by leaving the cave and seeing the Sun and the

outside world and shifts of perception, one becomes educated and a valued member of

humanity. In Michael Hand’s Against Autonomy as an Educational Aim, he says

“autonomy does identify a quality of character. The quality of character it identifies is the

inclination to determine one's own actions. To possess this trait is to have a preference for

relying on one's own judgment, to be independent-minded, free-spirited, disposed to do

things one's own way.” (537) I have always been autonomous in my ways of thinking. If

ADHD is a disorder, then autonomy and self-sufficiency emerge. Through holistic

experiences within the classroom, I have developed transferrable skills. It is

understandable that some young people need desperately a helping hand – whether it is a

teaching aid, a drug, or a boost of confidence.

This is what educators should be teaching. Even though I have difficulty

sitting through a three-hour lecture on educational perspectives, I can still do it. Even

though, constantly, my mind races and body urges to move, I have acquired abilities and

skills through education to assist me during problematic instances. I speak quickly and

pay little attention to detail, but I strive in creativity and networking. These should be the

aims within the classroom: for appreciating diversity and using one’s different energies

tactfully, for encouraging individuality, and for teaching all-inclusive skills. There is no

perfect way to educate. Every child is different and education cannot be learned out of a



textbook. It is a culmination of ideas, experiences, relationships, opinions, and personal

development.

I guess in a larger sense this exploration paper acts as the perfect example for my

disorder – I jump from paragraph to paragraph, without an outline or any form of

organizational tool, twenty minutes before class starts and the assignment is due. I

probably won’t even have time to proofread. Still, I am searching the Internet for sports

facts and current events, text messaging, and making small talk with the girl using the

adjacent computer. This process is still worthy, valid, and didactic. The developments

and learning progressions are authentic. As a young adult living with ADHD, I stress the

importance of the whole picture, the holistic approach and attitude.

exploration paper

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