'Time stretching' and an amazing granddaughter

I wrote about our wonderful, brilliant, neurodivergent granddaughter back in February, when she was visiting from Alaska. Sarah is 19, and has a sizable TikTok (Chaotic Philosopher) following. But nothing like the viral audience she recently acquired.

Nowadays she's known by millions as the “time blindness girl.” And mostly not in a positive way. One respondent said, “I don't think I've ever seen America be as united as they have been against this 'time blindness girl.'”

In her video Sarah claims she was “yelled at” for asking if there are “accommodations for people who struggle with time blindness and being on time.” The person yelling said, “Accommodations for time blindness doesn't exist and if you struggle with being on time, you'll never get a job.”

I smile, because I can just hear “this person” — our youngest daughter — tossing these objections in the background to her daughter Sarah, who was on the phone asking this question during a trade school interview.

Her mother loves her deeply, but she is also a registered nurse, for whom showing up on time is essential. In addition, she is a firearms instructor who must be there when her students arrive for her classes. Not that she isn't ever going out the door at the last minute.

The same could be said of me. I fiddle around, or think something's not going to take as long as it does, or get wandering in my thoughts, and suddenly it's almost time to go. My mother was the complete opposite. She was usually ahead of time. My last-minute rush was her nemesis.

But this “time stretching” — awareness of the clock, but pushing the numbers — isn't the same as someone who doesn't see the numbers at all. It turns out, in the clinical response to Sarah's TikTok video, that this can be a genuine problem for those like her who have ADHD. What looks like lack of consideration is a real challenge to understand the clock is moving.

What's the answer? There was talk of “flexible scheduling, job coaching, mentorship and time management tools.” I know Sarah can make great contributions in our world. How can this happen for her without the right person, the right work, the right place.

Meanwhile Sarah had this to say to her detractors, “Nothing you think, say, or do can really make me love you any less. I don't view you as just another mean comment. I see you as a whole human being with infinite value. I know that you have hopes and dreams and your own opinions, and you just want to be heard. Maybe you're tired of nobody hearing or seeing you. At the end of the day we're not that different. The only reason why I kind of can be is because my Savior Jesus Christ has saved me from sin — and He died for you, as well. He loves you and sees you as infinitely valuable and I do, too.”