Personal Stories
The Importance of Giving Your Child a Key to Their ADHD Mind
by Simran Deol
I never dreamed that attending Harvard would be part of my life, but in two months, I start a Master's degree in Education-Human Development at Harvard University.
Let me tell you why my admission to Harvard is a knockout surprise. The simple answer for anyone with a short attention span reading this is, "I got diagnosed with ADHD and learning disorders in reading, writing, and math shortly before my 20th birthday." Read on to learn how my neurodiversity diagnosis changed my life.
Full article: Key to ADHD Mind
Another Life Damaged by Unrecognized Inattentive ADHD
Edited by Cynthia Hammer, MSW
My name is Grace. I was diagnosed with inattentive ADHD when I was 42. I know my life would have been different if I had been diagnosed during childhood. As a child attending a Montessori school I pursued subjects that interested me and advanced at my own pace, unless I fell too far behind, then I was given help. I excelled at math and mastered simple addition, subtraction and division when five years old. Math made sense and I liked manipulating physical objects to learn. Reading was difficult for me and I only learned when my first grade teacher sat beside me and didn’t give up until I could read. If teachers guided me and gave clear instructions, I learned quickly.
Full article: Another Life Damaged
ADHD Needs Early Diagnosis and Treatment
A Story of a Woman Who Went Undiagnosed Until 20 Years Old
by Charlie Swarbrooke
ADHD most commonly presents in childhood. When a person is diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, it means they have lived their whole life not knowing they had ADHD.
When we think of children with ADHD, we usually think of the hyperactive type, the troublemakers and class clowns with bad grades and unacceptable behaviors. Yet, research shows that fewer than 20% of adults with ADHD have been diagnosed.
Why is the diagnosis missed in so many children?
Although children with the hyperactive type of ADHD are more commonly diagnosed, they too can be overlooked with other explanations given to explain their distracted and disruptive behaviors. But the children with the inattentive type of ADHD are overlooked in more significant numbers because they are quiet and not disruptive. They are the daydreamers. They are the children who are not paying attention in class, even if they get good grades.
Full article: ADHD Needs Early Diagnosis and Treatment
What Does Inattentive ADHD Feel Like?
The following is from an unidentified person at r/adhd, condensed and edited by Cynthia Hammer, MSW
For me, ADHD feels like fog, sleepy white fog. It's always there but occasionally it clears up enough to allow me to watch a movie. The fog makes it difficult to focus on the outside world. I can’t focus very long as it requires so much effort.
I spend a lot of time in my head and often fail to listen, see or understand what is important.
Usually when I talk with someone, it feels forced. I only pay attention 50% of the time at best. I listen for a bit and then scatter. I miss body language cues, mostly the micro-expressions, because of not paying attention.
Full article: What Does Inattentive ADHD Feel Like?
My Journey with Inattentive ADHD
by David Dewitt, of Dewitt Capital Management and edited by Cynthia Hammer, MSW
My journey started with my diagnosis in March of 2006 when I was 15.
I felt different throughout my childhood, but I didn’t know why. I had a wild and crazy imagination which took me to vibrant worlds waiting to be explored. It was hard to leave those worlds to live in the present. As a toddler, I spent hours playing alone with Hot Wheels cars. I created complex stories where there was a massive traffic jam that a late-to-work father had to navigate, or where I drove to the grocery store to shop or got into car accidents. I entertained myself for hours. This was my normal.
I was a good student in elementary school, quiet and conscientious. There were signs, however, that I had difficulties with attention. On my kindergarten report card, Ms. Cappelletti, wrote that I "was a pleasant young boy who enjoyed playing with puzzles. His ability to focus remains inconsistent, however."
Full article: My Journey with Inattentive ADHD
Still Standing After Living 59 Years with Undiagnosed ADHD
Edited by Cynthia Hammer, MSW
Greg Boretz was diagnosed with the hyperactive type of ADHD but his story is here because he is a valued board member of the Inattentive ADHD Coalition
My name is Greg and I intimately know how devastating it can be to live with undiagnosed ADHD. I grew up in the sixties and seventies before ADHD was widely known. Looking back at my dysfunctional home, it is evident that both my parents had ADHD. Since ADHD is highly genetic, it is not surprising that I inherited it.
As a child, my parents gave me lots of love, but they were often distracted. I lacked parental guidance and supervision and often got into trouble. I talked excessively in class, failed to complete homework, and had difficulty staying focused and was regularly punished for my misbehaviors. I was forced to sit in a chair outside the classroom, miss recess, or got swatted with a paddle (a common practice at the time). In the eyes of my teachers, I was just a problem child.
Full article: Still Standing After Living 59 Years with Undiagnosed ADHD
My College Dismissal Was Just What I Needed
by Carl Sherman, Ph.D.
After facing college dismissal, Brian Polk was diagnosed with ADHD and began using coaching, medication, and counseling to earn his degree and become a teacher.
Full article “‘My College Dismissal Was Just What I Needed’”
My Treatment for ADD Changed My Life
by Adrian Chiles
My treatment for ADD changed my life, so why can’t I stop worrying about it?
I was struggling with listlessness and despair, as well as the classic inability to focus. The pills had an instant effect – so why do I feel like I’m cheating?
Full article “My Treatment for ADD Changed My Life”
It Took Forty Years Before I Found Out
That I Have ADHD
by Tom Hawking
In one way, I feel lucky: for whatever reason, I’ve been able to overcome most of the handicaps that ADHD has placed on me, to succeed despite it, to carve out a career, to appear “normal”. For 40 years, I’ve been able to pretend that I was fine all along, to talk my way out of missed deadlines and forgotten appointments, to scribble multiple “DO NOT FORGET YOUR KEYS” notes on every door between my apartment and the street.
But at the same time, I also feel sad that I was able to disguise or fight through my symptoms for decades, because it meant that it’s taken this long to get treatment. It’s hard not to wonder how things like jobs, relationships, friendships, etc. might have turned out differently had I been medicated all along. On those A+ days, I wonder if this is what life is like for neurotypical people all the time, and how lovely it must be to feel like you’re not constantly at war with your own brain. I hope that in time, I’ll also feel like that every day. For now, I’m grateful just to be able to tune out the static.
Full article “Tuning Out the Static”
This is What It's Really Like to Have ADHD
Video by How to ADHD
My Rugged Reality of ADHD
by Dylan Rosen
Do not read this if you are looking for a “Happy ADHD Story.” I do not have the gold medals of Michael Phelps or the arm of Terry Bradshaw. My life has been a struggle from the time I walked into first grade to my current age of 30. If you want something real and authentic to someone’s experience growing up with undiagnosed ADHD, however, I hope you will read on.
Full article “One Man’s Story: Growing Up Undiagnosed ADHD”
There’s No Way I Could Have ADHD, Right?!?
by Jane Harding
Who would I be today had I gotten my ADHD diagnosis in elementary school? High school? College, even? How would life be different?
Full article “‘There’s No Way I Could Have ADHD, Right?!?’“
I Have Inattentive ADHD, and in Many Ways, I’m a Good Example of Doing Well With It
by Barbara Luther MCAC, MCC, MA
I started college while still in high school, graduated with honors in three years, and got my master’s degree by age twenty-one.
On the other hand, while I have pages and pages of positive feedback, I still hesitate to say that I am a gifted trainer and coach. I’m easily bored and easily overwhelmed. My emotions dictate what I can accomplish on a daily basis. I have to vigilantly watch my thoughts and self-talk or I’ll quickly fall into rumination and negativity. I have friends and colleagues everywhere but no physically close friends. Thinking and ideas are my life, so I live with many, many books and lots of paper clutter.
Full article “Living with Inattentive ADHD“
Once I Accepted My ADHD,
Life Began to Change
by Carl Sherman, Ph.D.
How one woman with ADHD learned to balance her professional, creative, and family lives amidst a late diagnosis.
When adults learn they have ADHD, most look for ways to cope. Terry Matlen looked for her calling, and wound up launching a successful consulting business, www.addconsults.com. Along the way, the Birmingham, Michigan, resident has learned how to balance her creative side — she’s an accomplished artist — with her work life and how to be a better wife and mother.
Full article “‘Once I Accepted My ADHD, Life Began to Change’”
I Have One Thing to Say to Someone Considering an ADHD Diagnosis or Treatment: Don’t Wait!
by Gina Pera
She had sought help from a string of mental-health professionals—for decades—with her ADHD misdiagnosed as depression and anxiety. Again and Again. For decades.
I’ve met many women and men with this experience. If you love someone diagnosed and treated for “depression” or “anxiety” who does not seem to get better with treatment, you owe it to that person: Investigate the possibility of ADHD.
I’ve met many women and men with this experience. If you love someone diagnosed and treated for “depression” or “anxiety” who does not seem to get better with treatment, you owe it to that person: Investigate the possibility of ADHD.
Full article “Misdiagnosed with Depression“
No, I Am Not an Airhead. I Just Have ADHD!
by Diane Stark
From an early age, I struggled with forgetfulness and disorganization. When my issues inconvenienced others, I apologized for “being such a ditz.” I thought the “dumb blonde” stereotype was invented because of people like me. It never occurred to me that there was an actual reason for my behavior.
I thought it was just the way I was.
Full article “‘No, I Am Not an Airhead. I Just Have ADHD!’“
Broke & Divorced: How I Found Out
I Had Inattentive ADHD as an Adult
(My Diagnosis Success Story)
Video by HIDDEN ADD - non-hyperactive adhd
How A Late ADHD Diagnosis Changed My Life
by Rene Brooks
I was 7 years old the first time I was diagnosed with ADHD. It was 1991.
If you think people with ADHD face stigma now, it’s a walk in the park compared to what it was in 1991. Kids with ADHD — and especially black kids with ADHD — were treated like outsiders.
My mother …took me directly to my pediatrician, an older doctor who “didn’t believe in ADHD,” and told her the best thing for me was to give me additional responsibilities and structure.
Spoiler alert: It didn’t work.
Full article “How A Late ADHD Diagnosis Changed My Life”
ADHD: Me Before and After My Diagnosis
by Kerri McKay
I don’t have a “before and after” for ADHD; I just have a before and after diagnosis. My brain has always been the same ADHD brain. The diagnosis part, though, has been key to understanding myself and embracing the fact that I see life differently.
Once I was diagnosed and learned more about ADHD, I discovered many aspects of myself that I struggled with connected to the disorder.
Here’s what I realized about myself and my ADHD once I received a diagnosis, and the changes I made in my life in order to adjust.
Full article “Before and After My Diagnosis”
Things I Love About My ADHD
by Rene Brooks
I know a lot of people who believe ADHD is a wonderful gift — some even see it as a sort of superpower.
I don’t fall into that category.
To me, the challenges of ADHD sometimes seem never-ending. Anyone who has experienced life with this condition can tell you how difficult it can be to manage. And I know too many people whose lives have been made very difficult by the challenges of ADHD to see it as a gift.
And yet — think about all of the people you know who live with ADHD. Are they not some of the funniest, most exciting people you know? There is another side of the story, and it is this: There truly are some things to love about ADHD.
Full article “Things I Love”
I Am Wondering, Is It Just Me?
Or are my experiences as someone with ADHD who was late-diagnosed, has combined type and is female been anything like yours? Do you know how to have an ADHD Friendly Lifestyle?
Today’s episode includes stories from growing up undiagnosed, how ADHD impacts our health and well-being as adults, mothers, and starts to explore why girls are easily missed. We share some ideas to tweak daily tasks and introduce the background ideas for how to build and maintain an ADHD Friendly Lifestyle.
Adult ADHD: Be the Person You Want to Be
by Kayla Empson
When I was 21 years old, I was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and for the first time, my whole life made sense. ADHD is insidious; it sneaks into everything you do and undermines all your work and self-confidence. It made me feel miserable and ashamed and overwhelmed all the time. I loved school as a kid, but as I got older and classes became more challenging, it felt like pulling teeth to make myself pay attention or finish a project. I grew sad and frustrated that my love of learning became clouded by mental battles. My family wasn’t supportive and everyone around me told me I was just lazy. At some point, I started to believe them.
Full article “Adult ADHD: Be the Person You Want to Be“
I Was a Stressed, Disorganize Mom
by Dana Dougherty Reinke
When I quit my job nine years ago, I had every intention of becoming a modern-day June Cleaver. I would bake cookies, plan Pinterest-worthy birthday parties and nurture my three children into well-adjusted adults, all alongside a flourishing career as a freelance writer. But life as a stay-at-home-mom turned out to be much harder for me than the other moms, who would be kissing their kids goodbye at the school gates as I raced in to the kiss-and-ride, scraping the side off my van. I couldn’t figure out why, until I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at the age of 43.
Full article “I Was a Stressed, Disorganize Mom”