He has already completed two training sessions so far, but the British heavyweight has agreed to speak to The Ring about the diagnosis which changed his life at the age of 40. The \u201cJuggernaut\u201d hopes his own story might just force a change in attitudes toward ADHD, autism and everyone who may be described as neurodivergent. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to help others in my situation,\u201d Joyce said.<\/p>\n
Whether it was completing simple sentences at school or basic tasks like tidying his room as a child, the young Joyce would secretly struggle. He knew something was different about him, but he did his best to get by regardless.<\/p>\n
Approximately 15 percent of people in the UK are currently estimated to be neurodivergent, which equates to well over 10 million. But, given the phrase did not even exist until 1998, the awareness around such matters was largely nonexistent when Joyce was at school.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum actually thought I might be dyslexic,\u201d Joyce recalled. \u201cBut I was never tested. When I was in school, people would just say, \u2018Oh he\u2019s a bit slow, he\u2019s a bit different, he\u2019s a bit hyper,\u2019 or whatever it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fast forward two decades and Joyce<\/a> had to put up with endless comments about his performances during interviews, which became part and parcel to his day job as a professional boxer. These days, at the age of 41 and a veteran of 21 professional fights, the inference is that his on-screen demeanor attributable to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, CTE for short. He\u2019s just \u201cpunchy,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n But you only have to go back to Joyce\u2019s early interviews to see that it has always been this way. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist can trace that back to some of his earliest memories.<\/p>\n \u201cIn school, if I had a writing task I would think, \u2018Right, OK, I\u2019ve got it. I\u2019m going to write this.\u2019 But then halfway through I\u2019d be thinking, \u2018Hold on, wait a minute, what was I going to write?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to explain, but it\u2019s like I was missing the final piece of the puzzle. It\u2019s like I\u2019ve been living my life on hard mode. I just thought that was the way I was, but it all makes sense now, I know exactly what is difficult for my brain and what is easy, what works best and what is most effective.\u201d<\/p>\n The breakthrough came last year, when a member of his team suggested that he might be neurodivergent and that a test may be worthwhile. In the end, Jenna and Jordan Vyas-Lee at London\u2019s Kove Minds would provide him the answers he had been looking for.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of my close friends got diagnosed with ADHD and I thought that was really interesting and thought I should get myself tested,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cBut then I never got round to it. More recently someone on my team spotted that I might be neurodivergent, so I finally booked the test in. I saw a really good psychologist at Kove with Jenna and Jordan, and they\u2019ve been working with me for almost a year now and it has been really eye-opening.<\/p>\n \u201cI did the test on a computer, I did tests for autism and ADHD. It pinpointed what I was and then it taught me about the tools and medication I could take to help. It showed me how my brain works.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Armed with that knowledge, Joyce decided to go public about his diagnosis in the hope that it may inspire others in a similar position to seek their own support.<\/p>\n \u201cThere might be younger people out there going through the same things,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cIf they can resonate with what I\u2019m trying to say they might get themselves tested, too. Then they can see if they are on the scales and then find out what tools and help they can get for their own situation.\u201d<\/p>\n So, what tools does Joyce use since his own diagnosis?<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s medication that can help with concentration and retaining more memory, so you can be more practical,\u201d Joyce explained. \u201cThen there are also exercises and preparation that I can do that can really help. I made sure that I\u2019m allowed to take the medication while I\u2019m training and everything seems fine.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to spread myself too thinly and try to do too many things at the same time. But the medication helps you to individualize things, and get the tasks done.\u201d<\/p>\n Joyce (16-5, 15 KOs) is back in the gym following his 11th-round, technical-knockout defeat to Artem Suslenkov on July 11 in Moscow<\/a>. <\/p>\n The fight reached a bizarre climax after two minutes of the 11th round, when Joyce appeared to gesture to the referee that he did not want to continue. It was a strange and out-of-character moment for a man once famed for his ability to sustain heavy punishment.<\/p>\n \u201cMy routine after I\u2019ve boxed is to head back to the hotel and then review the footage of the fight, so I can see how it went and how I did,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cBut I was quite shocked watching that fight back and the way it ended. I thought I was up on points there and I was thinking, \u2018What actually happened?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI must have got hit with a big shot \u2026 it was quite unexpected and different from what I usually do. I guess it’s one of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n Many thought that would be the end for Joyce and that his gesture to stop the fight was also a white flag over his entire career. But he is now deep into camp under \u201cSugar Hill\u201d Steward, training alongside and sparring Tyson Fury<\/a>, who is preparing for his \u201cBattle of Britain\u201d with Joyce\u2019s former Team GB teammate, Anthony Joshua<\/a>, on December 11 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping to be out again before the end of the year,\u201d Joyce said. \u201cI\u2019m a free agent at the moment, so I\u2019m open to all opportunities. I\u2019m working in camp and I will be ready. I\u2019ve noticed in training when I take the medication, I\u2019m more focused and I can tune in and focus on what I\u2019m doing, rather than having the broad perspective of my surroundings. So, okay, I\u2019m in the gym and now I can completely focus in.<\/p>\n \u201cLiving in the world \u2026 life\u2019s difficult as it is. If your brain works in a different way it\u2019s about finding a way to be effective. I feel like I\u2019ve done that now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He has already completed two training sessions so far, but the British heavyweight has agreed to speak to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[90965,64,63,802,232239,1920,28241,85,2974],"class_list":["post-947443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-object-object","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-articles","tag-boxing-news","tag-featured-news","tag-sports","tag-the-ring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}