valzhangism asked:
hi! ^^ my oc kaya is black and both her parents are, too. she has adhd, which meant she had trouble with studies/school, and her grades were bad to the point where her parents were worried about her future. when she showed a natural talent for ice-skating her parents sort of pressured her to do it competitively, which she expresses later to her friends that she dislikes. it's always made clear that they do care for her. i was just wondering whether this perpetuates any negative stereotypes? :]
Black girl w/ ADHD, poor at school but good at ice skating
Bad at school, good at sports stereotype
One that comes to mind is bad at school but great at sports. (That’s an academic stereotype against black people). You could just have her be average at school and excellent in sports. If she has ADHD, it could manifest in other ways. For example, executive function. She finds it easier to get her ice gear in order because she can see it in a pile on top of her practice bag (ADHD centered design and organization focuses on piles where everything is visible)
-Norma
Like Norma mentioned, the “Bad at academics while good at sports” is a stereotype for Black people where we are thought to have low IQ’s and less interest in learning/school. This doubles with the AD(H)D angle where people assume that it means you also struggle with learning in school and have bad grades (which it can, but isn’t always the case and leads to people being undiagnosed for longer and lack of support). I think if you want to pursue this you’ll need to look into how these stereotypes are often perpetuated and how these scenarios can play out in real life. Finding the nuances will be necessary to not write this into a stereotypical portrayal that adds to the stigma.
Since this stereotype comes from both being Black and an AD(H)D’er, you’ll need to look into how these two identities and experiences play out against each other. How do they influence each other and create a whole new way of impacting one’s life? Then there’s also the fact that gender influences the whole experience as well.
Think of things like
- Getting misdiagnosed,
- Lack of support and not being believed by professionals,
- If afab (Assigned Female At Birth), AD(H)D symptoms can manifest differently, especially with ADD/inattentive type. Extra chance of getting misdiagnosed or going undiagnosed altogether.
- Other stereotypes from AD(H)D; being perceived as lazy, rude, ornery,
- Sometimes grades can be bad, but there can also be one or a couple of subjects which stand out and have high grades in due to deep passions that actually make her interested in learning those subjects (can be a temporary thing, can be a long term interest). Different learning styles also impact this and creative subjects could work out well too due to strong creativity, a common trait in AD(H)D’ers.
Another thing that I think is important to mention since even if you know, not all of your audience will, but being bad at learning especially in a school setting does not mean a lack of intelligence. And intelligence is a cultural thing (what people assume makes one smart shifts per culture and that is a deep oversimplification of subject matter the way I put this but that’s a deep deep deep rabbithole to dive into on it’s own).
Forced into ice skating
And last thing, just because it stands out to me: you mention the parents caring for her while forcing her to do ice skating. This is okay to write, but thought it would be wise to look into this relationship and how this impacts your character. It makes her dislike ice skating, which I can understand and relate to. With AD(H)D it can have a strong effect on her performance. Having this addressed in the book, how the parents unintentionally have this effect on her, would be awesome. Also look into if this happens elsewhere in their relationship (oftentimes, it’s not just one thing that unintentionally can backfire where someone will care but not understand how to see what the other person actually needs, especially when one is neurodivergent).
~ Mod Alice
