The Struggles of Having ADHD, and Dyslexia

I am 33 years old male from Queens, NY. I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was in the third grade and I was only recently diagnosed with ADHD. Experiencing both these diagnosis at the same time has been frustrating most of my life. It has always been for me an uphill battle for me. Being that Im interested in doing UI/UX design, it has been challenging, although every very little achievement makes me realize how much I love what I am trying to accomplish. Im starting this blog to inspire anyone else out there that is also dealing with this and let them know it is possible to achieve what you want in life as long as you put the work in. Yes, you might have to put in more hours than somebody else. Yes, you might have to read a textbook and watch videos to fully understand what you are reading. Yes, you might stumble over words, but just don't give up. Just stay consistent even when you don't have the motivation to keep pushing forward. Being consistent will help you get through the hard times. Here are some things that are helping me achieve becoming a web designer.

The books I used

The books that I have read were very easy to read and follow along. They gave great examples of html&css design along with colorful pictures to give you a better understanding. the I read books were published by Jon Duckett who also made.

.javascript&jquery interactive front-end web development. .php&mysql server-side web development.

Videos

I studied Kevin Powell's YouTube Channel to help me get a Visual understanding of everything that I read, He has a playlist called HTML & CSS for beginners along with html & css tips for beginners.

Apps

With Speechify, you can take a photo of the page you are reading and it will read it for you. It was very helpful for the days when I would feel defeated with not being able to read everything on the page, or when I would be on the train, or walking. I can now listen to the book. I also use an app called Mimo. With Mimo you will learn to code in HTML through practicing bite-size coding lessons. You’re also writing code and running it on the app. I found it to be really helpful when I was on the train, or bus, or just trying to kill time with quick 5 to 10 minute lessons. It great because you can do it any time throughout the day.

Study Tips for those with ADHD

1. Break down your assignments

   As with dividing up your total study time, you can also divide up huge tasks into smaller pieces. They won’t seem that hard and will be easier to manage. As a result, you’ll get more stable with your studying.

2. Get rid of distracting thoughts

   Having intrusive thoughts popping into our heads is a sort of defensive mechanism when dealing with boring tasks. If you’re struggling to focus on studying, write down everything that distracts you on a piece of paper, then put it away until you finish studying.

3. Exercise

   Exercise boosts your brain activity. Next time you decide to take a break between studying subjects, take a walk instead of sitting around or do a few stretches it's better than doing nothing and just sitting there.

4. Prepare your computer

   Apart from installing the app or software necessary for your studies or work, get rid of all the junk. And, most importantly, remove anything that may distract you. like your phone or tablet. You know you’re getting ready to Study so let's try to minimize any distractions and try to make sure that there is nothing is in the way.

   Study Tips for those with Dyslexia

5. Repetition

   You can help your memory, by repeating things over and over, writing things out, organizing information into pictures or Making flashcards. This will depend on your learning style and your strengths.

6. Underlining and highlighting

   Highlighters and colored pencils are invaluable tools to improve note-taking while reading. Try to make photocopies of relevant chapters and then underline important points and color code what you think are the key points. This can help you emphasize what is essential.

7. Visual Strategies

   If you are a visual learner, make the most of this by using your imagination and creative strengths by developing picture codes in your notes. Make use of diagrams, charts and mind maps to link information. Try to remember things by forming pictures in your head and try drawing pictures in the book margin rather than writing everything. you can find videos on youtube make a playlist and you can with the videos over and over and which will also help with repetition.

8. Listening to information

   You may find it easier to listen to material rather than read it. Some software packages can allow you to do this like speechify or audible or you can use your speech text alongside your notepad app on your phone. This can help you to clarify the ideas in your head and prevent you from losing them when you cannot write them down.

9. Break tasks into manageable parts

   Break your tasks into several small steps and tackle just a few steps at a time. This can be less daunting than writing the whole essay or reading the whole book at once. For example, break down an exam question into chunks and focus on these individuals. This will help you to be more organized.

I do hope all this information was helpful and helped you along your journey, hopefully, one day maybe our past will cross with some of you and will be able to work on a project together.