In honor of National ADHD Awareness Week, Jerry Mills performed Extraordinary: A Concert-Style Journey into the Heart of the ADHD Experience at the Rackham Auditorium this past Thursday. Since being diagnosed with ADHD, Mills has dedicated much of his life to using the performing arts as a vehicle to spread his refreshing views on the link between mental health, education, and identity around the world. Combining storytelling, songwriting, and keynote speaking with active participation from the audience, Mills’ performance was both engaging and meaningful.
Throughout his performance, Mills not only dug into the heart of the ADHD experience, but of educational reform. His experience as both a troubled student suffering from undiagnosed ADHD and an elementary school teacher grant him a uniquely holistic view of the flaws of the one-size-fits-all educational system that dominates the majority of today’s schools. During Extraordinary, Mills conveyed through song and storytelling how he eventually came to believe that something was innately wrong with him solely because his teachers continually told him that his inability to fit this one-size-fits-all mold was abnormal. Using song-writing as a means of self-discovery, he slowly came to realize that the fault lied within the system, not himself. Now, Mills not only uses his song-writing as a continued means of self-discovery, but as a means to spread the message that the world needs all kinds of minds, and the educational system must therefore change in order to better cater to the healthy development of these diverse thinking styles.
Because of these positive and relevant messages his work advocates, I find Mills’ artistic intentions refreshingly genuine. Unlike many performing artists, his pursuit of music and public speaking clearly did not stem from an ulterior motive to become famous; rather, it stemmed from his genuine desire to let those suffering from ADHD know that they are not alone, while simultaneously helping people without ADHD come to a greater understanding of the daily challenges that accompany this mental illness. Ultimately, Jerry Mills not only filled the audience with a childlike, carefree happiness, but with a sense of urgency regarding the need for social change within the spheres of education and mental health.
