I don't even know for 100% sure I have it but the last time I tried to talk to a professional they basically just wrote me off because my grades were good as a kid, I understand part of the diagnostic criteria is symptoms presenting themselves in childhood but to be honest I got by just fine without studying or paying very much attention.
Does anyone have experience with this
I read an ADHD book last year, Delivered From Distraction by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey, and one of the examples they used (it was at the beginning of a chapter . . . best I can do, sorry, I got it from the library) was of a good-grades teenager getting a late diagnosis. So although "good grades with ADHD" may not be the standard presentation, it is nonetheless a literal textbook case. Check out additudemag.org , too - they may have similar stories, testimonials, or dealing-with-doctors recommendations, if your doctor is the kind who'll be persuaded by evidence.
Yeah, this is exactly how my ADHD presents too.
I would absorb information if it was talked at me, and I was usually the student who was trying to raise my hand and answer questions or butt in whenever I saw the teacher get something wrong and so on, so I always ended up doing great on tests. I suppose the worst effect my ADHD had in the classroom was my tendency to be disruptive.
But I also couldn't make myself do homework or reading at home. So anything that required self-study and time management I really struggled with. I'd always end up in a cycle of "I'm not allowed to do things I enjoy because I have responsibilities to take care of," but then still procrastinating and not being able to force myself to get started on those tasks and feeling like a lazy piece of shit until the last minute panic set in.
Edit: It feels worth mentioning that I did get my ADHD diagnosis as a kid, but never got medicated while I was in school because my parents were of the opinion that "all kids are hyper and have short attention spans, that's not a disorder, I don't want to prescribe him drugs and have him grow up into being a drug addict."
So they refused to put me on medication growing up, and it wasn't until years after I stopped living with them that I had finally talked with my doctor about going on medication after I reached a breaking point from tolerating and struggling with my symptoms.
It took a little while to dial in the correct medication and dosage, but now I'm able to feel like a functioning human being. Would recommend.
:yea: