The form of hyperactivity I had was mostly fine to the teachers during my first years of school, but my inattentiveness made me unable to complete writing tasks

The form of hyperactivity I had was mostly fine to the teachers during my first years of school, but my inattentiveness made me unable to complete writing tasks and this was clear from my first year at school. Medication helped a great deal with this and more importantly it showed me what I could be capable of and I think it helped me develop coping strategies. I wasn't long on the medication, even in the 1980s there was a backlash against the overprescription and side effects of Ritalin so my mother took me off it. Later during my school years my hyperactivity was a problem, in a different school where the teachers were more strict. I received beatings for things like not sitting still on my chair and for messy handwriting. Medication could probably have helped here and also with my academic performance, though the school and the teachers really should have been more accommodating and understanding around what are rather trivial behavioural differences in the greater scheme of things.