Sensory jewellery for women with ADHD

Most people are probably familiar with the phrase 'letter diagnoses', not least when it comes to the neuro-psychiatric disorder ADHD. A less well-known fact, however, is that girls and women are typically diagnosed 11.5 years later than boys. This is probably because the health care and treatment system have a very gender-specific perception of the symptoms of the disorder. Or, to be more specific: according to many experts and lay people, a typical ADHD person is a young boy who is highly energetic. Therefore, women with the diagnosis are most often 'caught' later in life. One of them is Sofie.

The diagnosis came late – and explained a lot
Sofie Graabæk Byriel is a recently graduated designer specializing in Accessory Design from Design School Kolding. But she has also quite recently been diagnosed with ADHD, which was identified in January of 2022.

- Being diagnosed made me see myself and my challenges in a new light. I have often felt that some things were harder for me than they were for others, without being able to formulate why. So, being able to name the challenges was a big relief. At the same time, it opened my eyes to how many other people around me were going through the same process. That inspired me to create objects that enable people to take care of their own needs without having to worry how society perceives them.

In her graduation project from Design School Kolding, design and diagnosis form a synthesis, for she has designed a jewellery collection that can alleviate some of the symptoms of the disorder. The phenomenon ‘stimming’ is a key concept in the project.

Children's toys for self-stimulation

- ”Stimming” is an abbreviation for self-stimulating behaviour’, says Sofie, sharing some examples. Most of us are probably familiar with the reassuring feeling of sitting and fiddling with an earlobe, turning a ring or clicking a ballpoint pen. These movements can have a calming or stimulating effect and help you to stay focused or calm down, and it is very common for people with ADHD to ‘stim’ several times during the day’.

There are already a number of items available that can assist in ‘stimming’ and alleviate other sensory needs. But through interviews with the users, it became clear to Sofie that there may be barriers in regard to these objects.

- Many ‘stimming’ objects have a very colourful and figurative expression that we often associate with children and toys, and other aids are almost exclusively based on function. There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but our conversations showed that there are situations where you are easily seen as rude, if you take out your earplugs, for example, or you may not feel like using your fidget spinner in public. That made me want to design a series of objects that play on some of the same sensory elements but address a different aesthetic universe’. Sofie’s choice became jewellery. 

Sensory assistance
The collection consists of several items that are pleasant to touch, to activate or that put a nice and soothing pressure on a part of the body. It includes a ring, for instance, where a thumb can glide against a soft surface as well as a necklace with a small extra chain that can be pulled through a pendant. And then there is the earring, which partially covers the entrance to the ear canal, and can thus dampen a distracting sound image that may have a really disturbing effect on people with ADHD.

Late diagnosis creates upheaval

- It can be an upheaval to be diagnosed late with ADHD. As an adult, you have already created an understanding of who you are, and suddenly you see yourself and your life in a new light for better or for worse. Fortunately, with this new self-perception, you can also discover what works for you. I hope that the jewellery can help people with ADHD and other challenges in their everyday lives, and that the collection may open up for a renewed understanding of what aids can do and what they may look like, says Sofie.

WHO
Sofie Graabæk Byriel

Bachelor in Accessory Design from Design School Kolding, June 2022

Find Sofie on Instagram under the profile flyinglawnchair

BRIEFLY ABOUT THE PROJECT

Title: Subtle Relief

Together with a focus group consisting of women in their twenties, who have all been diagnosed late with ADHD, as well as studies of their objects, Sofie Graabæk Byriel has uncovered which sensory experiences can have a calming or stimulating effect.

She has explored the effect using shape, weight, muted sound, movement, texture and placements on different parts of the body. Against this background, she has created a collection of jewellery that can strengthen the focus and the feeling of calm without stigmatizing the user.