My Story: Empowering Yourself to Empower Others

By Saniya Ghanoui —

IK discusses how important it is for women with ADHD to advocate for themselves regardless of what other people think.

Transcript:

OBOS Today: Is there anything else you want to talk about with advocacy? You’ve talked a little bit about how, how kinda of having advocacy for yourself has had a big impact, do you have anything else to say on that note? 

IK: Yeah, I do. I actually, I think, I think oftentimes when you’re a part of sort of any type of marginalized group, you don’t feel that, you know, your voice is worth as much and I mean you obviously feel that way ‘cause that’s how you’re treated but um I think it’s been a long like journey for me to feel, you know, that my life has value, that my voice has value, and that at the end of the day, if I speak up for myself, it will matter and it will, you know, have, whatever the impact is, negative or positive, it will have some sort of impact, just being able to, you know, empower myself with that in mind has definitely helped me improve and also, you know, helped empower other people that I care about, and I think it’s really, despite the fact that the odds may be stacked against, you know, matter what kind of marginalized group you are or, you know, just any person in general, you know, I think, I think it’s important for every person to know that, you know, that, you know, regardless of all those odds being stacked against you, if you can empower yourself and, you know, use that to empower others, at the end of the day, you will still end up somewhere better than you were yesterday so that’s great, I guess. [laughs] 

OBOS Today: Really that’s awesome. Is there anything else that you want to tell other girls who either are searching for an ADHD diagnosis or have gotten diagnosed with ADHD from your experience that you’d like to share?

IK: Yeah, I think if they really feel that their symptom, that what they’re, what they’re experiencing fits with typical ADHD or ADD symptoms, that no matter what psychiatrist, therapist, counselor tells them that, you know, that there’s nothing wrong with them, that they’re just anxious or depressed and should take antidepressants, I think that they stick through with finding a diagnosis that, you know, works for them. And no matter how many people try to, you know, I guess belittle their experiences and make them feel like what they’re feeling isn’t valid, that they should realize that’s kind of their job because, you know, society [laughs] so they should keep fighting through it until they find, you know, something that works.