One of the most frustrating things about support is the expectation that once we have found the adjustment, the problem should be solved. We agree the quieter space, the written agenda, the fidget, the reminder system or the flexible way of preparing, and there is an unspoken assumption that we have now discovered the permanent answer.
My experience is much less consistent. The thing that makes a huge difference on Tuesday can be almost irrelevant by Thursday because the task is different, my sensory capacity is different, I slept differently, the environment changed or the amount of executive function already spent that day is not the same. That variability is not evidence that the adjustment was unnecessary. It is evidence that human beings are not static systems.
This is particularly important with ADHD because so much depends on context. Novelty can make a difficult task suddenly accessible. Stress can sharpen focus for a while and then leave nothing behind. A busy environment can be stimulating on one day and completely overwhelming on another. Even my choice of fidget changes because the movement and texture my brain wants are not reliably the same from one meeting to the next.
Rigid support can therefore become another demand to manage. If I have to use the approved strategy even when it is no longer helping, I am spending effort complying with the adjustment rather than benefiting from it. The better question is whether the support is achieving the intended outcome and, if not, what has changed.
That does not mean endlessly redesigning work around every fluctuation. It means building enough flexibility into the arrangement that somebody can respond to their own capacity. Headphones available rather than compulsory. Written information offered without insisting that it replaces conversation. Space to move, pause or change approach when the original route is no longer doing the job.
I think this is where review becomes part of good practice rather than a bureaucratic afterthought. Ask what worked, what did not, what it cost to use and whether the barrier is still the same one we thought we were addressing. Sometimes the most useful adjustment is permission to stop using yesterday’s adjustment.
Barry seems deeply unimpressed by the idea that every part of a living web should respond identically every day. He keeps adapting to where the tension is. That feels like a sensible model for support too.