Based on Lyman Frank Baum’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, The Wizard of Oz tells the story of Dorothy, a young girl who arrives in the incredible world of Oz after a tornado blows her house into the air. In order to return to her home, she must embark on a long journey that will take her to the city of Esmeralda, home of the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, the only person who can grant her wish to return home. On the way Dorothy meets a scarecrow who complains bitterly about not having a brain that allows him to think and be intelligent, so he offers to accompany her on her journey in the hope that Oz will grant her most cherished wish.
The two continue on their way, when they meet a Tin Woodsman who has been rusted and immobile for years, and has no heart. Explaining to her that they are going to see the Wizard of Oz, she joins the trip with the purpose of asking him for a new heart that will allow her to have feelings. Finally they meet a huge lion who wants to bite Dorothy’s little dog, Totò.
The three hikers reproach him for his attitude: such a ferocious animal should not attack such a defenseless one, but fight for greater causes! The lion bursts into disconsolate tears, because he realizes how cowardly he has been. He tells them that he was born this way and that for some reason he has no courage. So he decides to join the expedition, hoping that Oz can grant him that virtue.
The most significant aspect of this story is that the characters who go to see the Wizard of Oz to ask him for a quality they supposedly lack, actually discover that it was part of their lives long before they began their long journey of self-discovery. And it is through the experiences along the way, the friendship and the magic that comes with the ingenuity of one of history’s most unique characters – the Wizard of Oz – that they discover powers they never knew they had. For with each small victory and breakthrough on the journey, their self-confidence and sense of purpose grows; and it is ultimately that confidence that helps them realize their dreams.
This paradigmatic figure of what the scarecrow, the tin woodsman and the cowardly lion represent, sometimes reflects the feelings and experiences of many children and adolescents with ADHD; and how sometimes their thoughts, feelings and even their worst fears, do not allow them to see clearly the world of possibilities that exist beyond their difficulties.
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Because they think they are not intelligent, feeling incapable of doing things that other children their age manage to do practically effortlessly; such as being attentive in class, remembering things, reflecting before acting or simply doing their homework without getting carried away by what is happening “at the next desk”. Their chaotic, volatile and restless minds do not allow them to focus and see their goals clearly enough to go for them; and they begin to judge their own worth based on the reactions of those around them, entering a spiral of helplessness, sense of failure and low self-esteem.
And although it may often seem that children with ADHD “have no heart”, being insensitive and even irritating, or finding it difficult to perceive the emotional needs of those around them; that does not mean that things do not affect them or that hurtful comments do not hurt them. Because they have feelings like the rest of the children their age, they just do not know how to manage them or how to adjust their responses to the different situations they are confronted with. This causes many children with ADHD to frequently suffer from “affective storms” and show a certain “emotional lability”, since they have an “affective dysregulation” of neurobiological origin that prevents them from managing their frustration adequately.
And to complicate things even more, they sometimes have many fears and insecurities, even in extreme cases perceiving as dangerous stimuli that are actually harmless, generating a “false alarm” response that makes the child behave in a different way: avoiding specific situations, presenting an exaggerated startle response or entering into a permanent state of “hyperalertness”. This is what is known in medical terms as “anxiety disorder”, and it occurs in 1/3 of the children diagnosed with ADHD.
However, we can all become, at one time or another in the life of these children, the wizard of Oz. Therapists accompanying and advising them with knowledge, experience and training in the management of ADHD and its comorbidities, parents fostering their confidence, listening to them and encouraging them. And teachers motivating them, feeding their interest and using varied and attractive materials that awaken their curiosity to learn. But above all by shifting our focus from what they don’t know how to do to what they do know how to do. Because children who have confidence in themselves are the ones who succeed in something, and it is in our hands as adults to guide them and help them discover what that something is, so they can achieve their goals and develop a full and happy life.
For more information, consult with a specialist in Child Neurology.