It seems like the term “ADHD” is thrown around left and right nowadays, with students claiming it and teachers questioning it. Many high school students seem to struggle with it, having difficulties with getting started on and prioritizing their work. However, despite how it may seem like simple laziness or procrastination, ADHD is a genuine concern; As IA Counselor Wanda Moran put it, “For the brain, it’s more of a difficulty in prioritizing things and figuring out, what do I need to do, when do I need to do it?” Research also backs this up, with a study on academic motivations reporting that adolescents with ADHD “exhibited a significant motivational deficit” compared to peers, and that less motivation was linked to poorer homework performance and lower achievement (Smith et al.).

But the research shows this goes deeper, stating that “Amotivated students typically feel detached from their work and may believe their effort will not change the outcome” (Smith et al.). This detachment affects how students start assignments and how well they stick with them, which is a skill that high school students especially depend on. Procrastinators are able to push through once pressure builds, but ADHD often interferes earlier in the process, especially with initiation. While students who procrastinate can rely on this push to the finish, those with ADHD often cannot, and do better with concrete structure and explicit planning of their goals. Additionally, as IA School Social Worker Brady Varga pointed out, “students will mention they don’t have any time in the day to do something, but then they’ll spend their entire virtual period doomscrolling… And that’s fine if that’s what they want, but they’re not accounting for that time.” Both ailments are worth one’s attention to balance, but recognizing how motivation and management allows overcoming of challenges more effectively than just hoping the problem solves itself.