One psychologist argues that we should consider people with ADHD to be highly imaginative people rather than people with a learning disability.
(David Malan/Getty)
Where does innovation, invention, or creativity come from? What part of the brain does it live in? Scott Barry Kaufman, a cognitive psychologist and scientific director at the Imagination Institute in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, says that people diagnosed with ADHD and people who we consider to be creative thinkers are actually extremely similar.
The brain’s default mode network, which controls cognitive processes like perspective taking, daydreaming, and mind wandering, is most active when our mind is resting. And when examining FMRI studies, Kaufman says that this part of the brain is more active in people diagnosed with ADHD.
“I refer to it as the imagination brain network because I think that’s what it really is,” he says. “The latest research shows that the imagination brain network is highly conducive to creativity and creative thought. And those who are diagnosed with ADHD seem to have greater difficulty than those who are not diagnosed with ADHD in suppressing activity in this imagination brain network. In a way, you can actually conceptualize that people with ADHD have an overactive imagination as opposed to a learning disability.”
Kaufman argues that, in some ways, the presence of ADHD may also be symbolic of the evolutionary process.
“About 50,000 years ago when a band of us left Africa, went to Europe, and eventually conquered the world, in order to travel and go such distances it was found that there was a genetic mutation,” he says. “This particular genetic mutation is associated with dopamine and has also been associated with ADHD. Without these characteristics, we may not have become Homo sapiens.”
Based on the research available, Kaufman says that the way our educational and psychiatric systems view ADHD may be seriously flawed.
“What I like to do is look at the different characteristics that are associated with the [ADHD] label,” he says. “It is a label at the end of the day, and it’s something that we put on people—especially in an educational context.”
According to Kaufman, people who have been diagnosed with ADHD appear to have more active imaginations. But the ADHD label can be profoundly determinative—the diagnosis can even channel kids into special programs, and sometimes narrow their options in high school and college. Kaufman says that parents need to work with schools to identify learning formats that don’t stifle creative thinking.
“This is a broader issue, and I think all students should get the opportunity to be active learners,” he says. “Give them an opportunity to actually take control of the learning process and be driven by their interior monologues, their interior fantasies, and their interior daydreams. Allow the student to have some autonomy in that process and you can see them flourish.”
Teachers seem to be impatient when it comes to creativity. According to Kaufman, recent studies show that the behavior educators identify as “disruptive” and “creative” often overlap.
“Quite simply, we don’t value creativity, and we don’t value imagination either,” he says. “Imagination is a necessary part of creativity. Every time that we force a student to passively listen to a lecture or something that a student isn’t personally interested in or doesn’t see the relevance to their future life, we’re robbing them of an opportunity to imagine their own personal futures, and a new curriculum that might not even exist yet.”
Kaufman says that, in many ways, students with ADHD are much more like our ancestors of 50,000 years ago.
“You could conceptualize people with the ADHD label as explorers—imagine being an explorer trapped in an educational classroom where the teacher is saying, ‘Pay attention to me and don’t explore,’” he says. “It drives them nuts.”
The show is a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in collaboration with The New York Times and WGBH Boston.
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Comments [8]
This segment is in line with "The Gift of ADHD" by Lara Honos-Webb. I'm glad this perspective on ADHD is gaining ground. The book includes some helpful ways to encourage the creativity and imagination of children with ADHD while helping them to find socially appropriate ways to channel it. I am concerned that the educational system is not equipped to bring out these amazing qualities in these children, rather it emphasizes conformity. I look forward to a day that ADHD children's uniqueness will be fostered and encouraged by our society.
My son was diagnosed with ADHD in 2nd grade and truly needed medication to keep his behavior controlled in school. He took up the drums and turned out to be remarkably talented, especially as a jazz drummer. Now in HS, he insists on using meds during school hours so he is better focused in classes, but hates taking meds when drumming because he always says they keep him from being creative when coming up with different rhythms for the band he plays with. This is the first time I have seen that creativity and ADHD are related, but I could tell this is true for some time now.
My son is seven and has ADHD, he also is competitive. We'll see how well he does on Saturday when he goes into his first Chess tournament.
I've tried to show him some standard openings. We'll see if he follows them or moves impulsively...
I have an overactive imagination and it has created problems in my life. I used to read textbooks in College and turn everything into a story. Great stories, not always such great grades.
I am happy with who I am and I just want my son to learn as much as he can and then use his imagination to fix the world.
I could have sworn someone was talking about our son as I listened to this story. He is struggling in Elementary school to keep his "acting" and singing and joking and accents (British, Scottish, crazy monster, etc) under control. He is an A/B student, and always scores high on testing, but could care less about anything, unless its math, sports and making other students laugh. I am so grateful to have heard this story and now shared it with my husband. Anything that can help us be better parents for him, we are willing to do!
Had a driveway moment with this story, and I saw myself and my two sons vividly in it. This is the first explanation for the ADD we all have that has made sense. None of us are hyperactive, except in our brains. So the typical "kid bouncing off the walls" wasn't a good model. And explained none of the issues we all have. It's the passion to learn, explore, investigate, think things out, to incessantly ask why, that is completely uncontrollable.
Thank you for this. Sharing with my sons asap.
Wonderful to see this. I've always felt that much of psychiatric labeling is an attempt to shoehorn the population into manageable slots, and to keep those trouble-making independent thinkers in line.
Bravo to Scott Barry Kaufman for making the connection between so-called ADHD and creativity. We can't have innovation if we don't let our imaginations roam, and color outside the lines. Nicely done!
The discussion you presented is well thought out and very easy to support. The only challange to supporting creative education choices as you outline is that teachers today are receiving more pressure than ever to teach to the test. Test performance is being used to judge teacher performance and there is little (NO!) ability to be creative and try to help these students grow and become all that they can be. This will become worse when we non educators press for "pay for performance" with the test being the judge. A teacher that doesn't focus on "the test" will be penelized even thought they may be producing the best, most well rounded students.
I'm so glad to hear this segment! It was a struggle when my child was in elementary school during the 1990s to keep from having the label ADD (no hyperactive component) assigned to my child. Although my child had been identified as gifted in Kindergarten, some subsequent teachers had noted daydreaming and disorganization, and in particular one guidance counselor repeatedly urged me to consider ADD, stating that her child had shown a marked improvement after Ritalin therapy. A 10-question screening by the pediatrician resulted in a referral to a psychiatrist as the pediatrician felt the results of screening were borderline. The psychiatrist asked only a few questions, was there daydreaming, forgetfulness regarding assignments. He then prescribed Ritalin. A month later at a return visit, I stated there was no change in my child's personality. The psychiatrist recommended doubling the dose of Ritalin and then added an antidepressant. When I protested that my child was not depressed, the psychiatrist said it would be necessary with the increased dosage. I asked if we could not also have behavior therapy or some sort of training for my child to improve study skills and work habits. I was told that by the psychiatrist that he would only continue seeing my child if the recommended medicine regime was continued. That was the last time we saw a psychiatrist and the last time I allowed anyone to influence me against my best judgement about my own child.
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