“Work alongside, not against, your brain.”

That's Alexandra Elmslie's motto to manage her life and help others who also live with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Alexandra was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 12. Like many girls with ADHD, she didn’t exhibit the behaviour more common to boys – excessive movement and energy. For Alexandra, it was the less obvious ADHD symptoms that often cause many girls to go undiagnosed – having trouble focusing and paying attention.  

At first, the diagnosis was difficult to accept.

“I felt like I was stupid,” says Alexandra, who has always had high marks in school. “Like it meant I was incapable of being like everyone else, a label that said, ‘you have ADHD so you can't do this or you'll struggle with this or this will be hard for you.’”

But she soon realized that understanding what she was dealing with was a good thing. And that’s when she knew working with the special nature of her brain was the way forward.

“A lot of people who have ADHD spend their lives believing they're stupid. I'm a big believer in early diagnosis because it prevents those internal monologues from developing. A big part of the diagnosis is realizing that it’s not about trying harder, it's about understanding that this is just a difference you have.”

Alexandra could have left it at that and managed her life with ADHD. But she felt a need to help others. Today, she’s at Western, working toward a degree in developmental and cognitive neuroscience with plans to pursue graduate studies and become a school psychologist, to help young people and their parents as they encounter ADHD.  

Among her many advocacy and volunteering ventures is “Wellness4All,” a program she developed in high school that promotes mental health for people with neurodivergent conditions like ADHD. She also volunteers for the London Disabilities Association and as a tutor. Her dedication earned her the 2024 Terry Fox Humanitarian Award.  

“I want to be a voice for little girls who have ADHD and aren’t sure why they can't do X, Y and Z. There are still challenges to face, but sharing strategies or my own life experience hopefully brings it down a little bit so that they can learn to overcome those barriers.”