To mark Learning Disability Week, we spoke to one of our colleagues, Ashvini Kingman who is a Non-Clinical Performance Manager in our 111 team, about her condition.
Ash was diagnosed with ADHD shortly after having her daughter, and wanted to highlight what it means to her and how the diagnosis helped her to understand herself.
Ash told us: “I didn’t think I was struggling, it felt like I was juggling lots of balls and I’d dropped one. Having a baby, things felt chaotic and there were lots of things that were new. I thought it was more to do with that but having the diagnosis, it felt like it explained a lot about my personality.
“I was always good in crisis management, I found that out when I started medical training, and it always felt like I enjoyed the mayhem, I swam rather than sank and worked in some intense places like ICU and A&E. I worked as a doctor successfully for a while but wound up getting bored, experienced severe health issues like losing my sight, an autoimmune connective tissue disorder and eventually getting burnt out. It was also the easy tasks that I struggled with more, things like keeping the house organised, doing the laundry, even leaving the house.
“When I started at DHU as a Health Advisor, it didn’t impact me too much. My time management isn’t great, and I can sometimes over-compensate and end up working longer as a result. I think the fast pace of it suited me, but I do need to be careful and look out for signs of burnout which is where self-management can come in.
“One thing that can help is what I call ‘padding’ which is where I take two or three days to recover and decompress after an intense period of time. It helps me to reset, and I’ve become quite good at recognising that in myself. I enjoy being busy but know that I do occasionally need to step back and take time out.
“I was only diagnosed three years ago but I’ve probably lived with ADHD all my life. I’ve made progress but it hasn’t come without its hardships. You have to experience burnout to recognise it and any neurodiversity can bring other health problems. Me personally, I also have PCOS, Diabetes and Lupos that I need medical help for.
“DHU have been very supportive of my condition and I’m a member of the Neurodiversity and Disability Employee Support Network. It’s great that people like me can have a voice and a platform to encourage others to share and discuss how their condition affects their working life. Small adjustments and a little understanding can make such a difference for people living with a neurodiverse condition and help us to flourish.”