When Alexandra Elmslie was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) at the age of 11, she became determined to make a difference by bringing attention to mental health and neurodivergence.
Elmslie is entering her third year in the developmental cognitive neuroscience program in Western’s psychology department, where she hopes to pursue graduate studies and become a school psychologist.
“Being diagnosed with ADHD definitely inspired me in my career path. It also provided me with a deeper sensitivity to social and mental health issues, motivating me to get involved in the community in several ways,” said Elmslie.
She recently received the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award, an annual scholarship for young humanitarians across Canada. It is named after Terry Fox, a Canadian hero who had one of his legs amputated due to cancer and went on to run across the country to raise money and awareness for cancer research.
Elmslie, originally from Guelph, Ont., has been an active volunteer in her community for many years, volunteering with occupational therapists working with dementia patients at Parkwood Mental Health Hospital, empowering children diagnosed with cancer at Campfire Circle and tutoring youth with ADHD, among others.
“In my current work as a tutor for ADHD students, I am helping them develop executive functioning skills, which is something I would have loved at that age,” said Elmslie.
“I’m able to use what I know from my own experiences and translate that into supporting the community and individuals.” – Alexandra Elmslie, third-year psychology student
Her first experience volunteering was in Grade 8 where she worked as a swim coach for Special Olympics, a sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
That experience affected Elmslie in a powerful way and ignited her future volunteer work with intellectual developmental disabilities.
Diagnosis led to new strategies, skills
Elmslie created a wellness program that reached hundreds of students in her first year and is now working alongside a graduate student researcher at the Western Institute of Neuroscience, giving her a deeper understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD.
She hopes to use the experience and education she gains at Western to help combat stereotypes and misconceptions about mental health.
“Girls and boys have the same prevalence for ADHD, but boys get diagnosed three times as much, since they often have the more stereotypical hyperactive form of ADHD, whereas girls have the inattentive type. Girls with ADHD tend to zone out or daydream and often get labeled as lazy and go undiagnosed,” said Elmslie.
She advocates for getting to know your brain as much as possible.
“Neurodivergence is a lifelong struggle. When I was in Grade 12, I thought I had finally mastered my ADHD. But, when I went to university and my life changed, I found that a lot of the strategies I had learned in the past weren’t working anymore,” said Elmslie.
“It taught me that neurodiversity isn’t something that is ever finished.”
She believes her ADHD diagnosis has shaped her passions and helped her gain key skills.
“ADHD has encouraged me to develop resilience, tenacity and grit. Qualities that are important for things like studying at university, postgraduate work, volunteering and a career in psychology and social work,” said Elmslie.
“I think I’ve developed those core competencies at a young age because of my diagnosis and it’s allowed me to succeed even more.”
