My name is Katie Harris. I'm a journalist, a surfer, a yoga doer, a musician and I also have ADHD. I'm speaking today because I really want to share my story and how I found out I had ADHD and what it's like to inspire other people to speak up and talk about what ADHD is and how it's affecting their lives. Growing up my report cards read like most other ADHD children. Always away with the fairies, always talking, always running amok and probably just being a bit of a chit chat in class. It felt impossible to even just sit through one lesson, was always just looking out the window, being yelled at by teachers. I never.

Ever would have imagined that it wasn't me that was the issue. I always thought when I was a young guy I just wasn't very smart. It just felt really hard because I thought I was putting in all this effort but on my report cards it would be like Katie could do well if she just tried or she has all this potential she just forgets to do the homework or it just It was really frustrating. Now I know it. I'm like, all these strategies I could have implemented when I was in school to help me learn that I can do now at work, it would have just made life so much easier. It wasn't until year 13 where I actually realised I love writing and I can do well at it. That was the first time I got really good marks in something consistently throughout school.

And so that felt really good and I'd never experienced that kind of feedback from teachers that oh wow, you're actually really good at this academic thing'. And I think it was because I was driving the learning myself and I could kind of decide what I wanted to do this story on, this topic on, or this speech. Thank you Mr. McConnell. I loved English in year 13 and that was where I realised I'm not actually dumb, I can do stuff really well, I just have to be interested. It wasn't until I was an adult that I got diagnosed with ADHD. Everything leading up until then was finally explained.

All of my quirks and my inability to focus on stuff that I found really boring and the things that affected my life so much were all explained by this diagnosis. For many people with ADHD diagnosis is a huge barrier. It costs a lot of money, some people pay thousands of dollars. Or even finding where to get diagnosed is hard. The way that we think of ADHD and the way that it's often framed in the common lexicon is that crazy little boy running up the walls and throwing food. There's so much more to ADHD than just that hyper side. Can just be inattentive. Could be that you can't It's not just one box. Everyone with ADHD is different. There is a huge variety of symptoms. As a society, we're just more attuned to.

Men's and boys' symptoms. So I think that's one thing I am concerned about, is being able to access that care. I'm hopeful that by speaking out more and by sharing the message people can realise that yes we can be diagnosed but it is expensive and that maybe in the future when we are more open about it there will be more avenues and more clearer routes for diagnosis. It was hard, I think I ended up calling so many different people trying to figure out who even could diagnose me. I just want to say that if you're feeling like you have any of these symptoms and that you may have ADHD, don't be scared to talk to someone about it. About one in twenty New Zealanders have ADHD.

And I'm really proud to be one of them. The more that we speak up and talk about it, the less stigma there will be and the less of these damaging stereotypes will exist. It's not something to be embarrassed about or ashamed about. It's not something you have to hide from your friends or employers. It should be something to be celebrated because being diagnosed has been one of the best things that's ever happened to me.