Colleen Adams helped teach the town learn-to-swim program while growing up in Clarence with two sisters and a single mom.
After high school, she earned a bachelor’s in education, master’s in psychology and doctorate in clinical psychology.
She worked as director of special education at a Catholic elementary school before she became a licensed psychologist in 2017.
Those successes came as she also learned to navigate Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
“A lot of people with ADHD can do a lot of things,” Adams said. “They just can’t do it without accommodations.”
More than 6 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD, making it one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders for those under 18.
Its symptoms can include inattentive, impulsive and overly active behavior.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that boys are twice as likely to be diagnosed with the condition, often in elementary school – although Adams and many others in the mental health field believe that is because its symptoms can present differently in girls, making it more likely they will be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed until closer to adulthood.
“I was diagnosed late in high school,” Adams said, “but I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression first.”
The rise of social media, the divorce rate, poverty, the opioid crisis – the list of challenges for today’s kids continues to grow. But for these…
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