“Pictures and diagrams
to get your message across
are far more effective
than pages of written words.”

— Nicola Askam

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is an expression that originated around 1911 in the advertising world. I learned the value of these words in my first presentation to families while trying to make ADHD understandable. It was a 10-year old-boy who made that clear to me that night in 1998.

The visual I created was two separate head outlines demonstrating the difference in how individuals with and without ADHD process information. As I was getting to the end of telling the story, this 10-year-old boy started walking up the center aisle. As he got closer, I could see tears in his eyes. He sat cross-legged on the floor right in front of me about eight feet away. He stared at me and then the screen as I spoke. I didn’t think much of it, but it did bother me to see him crying. Why was he crying?

Once the presentation was over, I knelt down to talk to him. I asked him if he was okay. Meanwhile, his parents were coming forward to get him. They apologized if he was bothering me. Then Johnny said, “Why didn’t my parents tell me this”? His parents didn’t know what to say, but I knew exactly what he was talking about.

“They didn’t know this either,” I said to him and his parents. “But now all of you know that thinking differently is okay. You and your parents can work on this at home by playing the game I spoke about, where you catch yourself being distracted and then write the distraction down. I do it all the time, and so can you.”

He gave me a big smile and wiped his little tears. Then he gave me a big hug that brought tears to my eyes.

This young man truly wasn’t bothering me. He really touched my heart. I was happy to see someone so young be moved by that photo. I felt he learned that it was okay for him to be himself, but managing it was the next step that he and his parents would work on together.

Twenty-some years later, I am still using that visual. It has had a great impact on my clients. And, yes, it brought tears to so many of them, especially for parents and spouses who do not have ADHD.

They say, a picture is worth a thousand words. But I know it’s worth so much more.

JOYCE

“Use a picture.
It’s worth a thousand words.”

— Arthur Brisbane