Things the Diagnostic Criteria Don’t Tell You About ADHD

Speaker: Caroline Carrier

Description

ADHD is often defined by what goes wrong—distraction, impulsivity, forgetfulness—but the full picture is far more complex, and often far more powerful.

Things the Diagnostic Criteria Don’t Tell You About ADHD is an eye-opening session. In this talk, we go beyond the textbook and explore five crucial aspects of ADHD that standard diagnostic criteria leave out. From the deep connection between emotion and attention to the realities of executive dysfunction, sensory sensitivity, and the brain’s default mode network, we uncover what ADHD really feels like—and what helps.

In this session, we’ll explore:

• The role of interest vs. importance in motivation and focus

• How sensory and emotional regulation challenges affect daily life and work

• Executive function struggles—and why it’s not about laziness

• Rumination and the ADHD brain’s relationship with the default mode network

• Strengths often overlooked in clinical descriptions—and how to harness them

  
  

This talk also includes practical strategies and tools to support each area, helping individuals, teams, and organisations better understand and work with ADHD, not against it.