ADHD Resources
For Individuals
A first-hand perspective on living with ADHD, from someone who has it.
I myself have ADHD. I have family who have it, and friends who have it too — the diagnosis is so common that it's hard not to know someone who has it, and if you're reading this, it's likely you or someone close to you does as well. That said, I think the most important thing to remember (and one of the most difficult things to remember) is that nobody is defined or limited by the disorder. In the late 1800s, a boy was born in Germany with ADHD. He was unable to speak fluently by age nine, though he could play the violin by six and was fascinated by the laws of nature. He hated school, many of his teachers thought he was mentally handicapped, and in his teen years, while trying to find a way to drop out without hurting his chances of attending university, he was expelled for his attitude toward school. His name was Albert Einstein. He was not limited by his inability to excel in a compulsory education system. The Wright brothers, who invented the airplane, had ADHD. So did Bill Gates, Nikola Tesla, and Benjamin Franklin — all household names who displayed, or were diagnosed with, ADHD. None of them let themselves be defined by the struggles of the disorder — and none of them let it be an excuse.
Living with ADHD isn't always easy, and it isn't a choice we're given. Most of us with ADHD are born with the symptoms and have to learn to manage them to be successful. The geniuses and inventors with ADHD didn't magically become those things — they played to their advantages and managed the difficulties. Einstein hated school, so he took accountability for his own learning and taught himself geometry by age 12. It's easy to say "I have ADHD, I can't do this" and stop there — for much of my life, I fell into that mindset. I struggled through middle school and high school, losing thousands of points to missing assignments, performing far below my capabilities, and learning the hard way. In my last semester of senior year, I failed a class and had to take a summer class to graduate. I didn't get to walk across the stage with the friends I'd had since kindergarten, and the shame and embarrassment I felt was excruciating. That's what it took — and I hope you can learn this in an easier way — for me to understand that because my brain works differently, I had to take accountability for my learning and do things differently, rather than letting it be an excuse for laziness.
From a young age, I showed symptoms of ADHD. I was never the hyperactive type, but when it came to inattention and disorganization, I was a poster child. Maintaining focus, planning, managing time, and organizing physical space were all things I struggled with — and still do, to an extent. What's certainly helped is knowing and being honest with myself. No two cases of ADHD look exactly alike; some people experience one set of symptoms, others a different set, and some a mix of both. No matter how you frame it, everyone's experience is different. There's so much pop-psychology online about the "best" study or note-taking method, or the "secret" to paying attention with ADHD — the truth is, those things simply don't exist as one-size-fits-all answers. There's some value in them, and they often come from a good place, but often they're just clickbait advice drawn from someone's own experience. The real "secret" is knowing and being yourself, finding what works for you, and being honest with yourself — because the best thing for you may not be the easiest thing. For me, when it comes to note-taking, I found that no notes were actually the best notes. If it's something specific I have to memorize, I'll write it down; if I try to take notes in a traditional way, I get distracted, doodle, or feel overwhelmed trying to write and listen at once. That doesn't mean you should throw your notebook out the window if you have ADHD — it means that because I have ADHD, I do better focusing on the lecture or the reading, and I only learned that through experience. Finding what helps you focus, or what note-taking and studying methods work for you, can only be discovered through experience and honesty with yourself. If you stop taking notes, make sure it's because it helps you focus better — not just because it's easier to sit there. And if you find methods that work, find a respectful way to communicate them to your teachers and work with them, because more often than not they want what's best for you — but remember, you know yourself best, and you can take advice without letting others pressure you into something that doesn't actually help.
ADHD can certainly be a struggle, but there are also real advantages for those who learn to work through the challenges. The hyper-focus that can arise around something you're passionate about, and the creativity and drive to explore and invent — these have been necessary throughout history to move society forward. But using those advantages means being able to push through the harder parts of the disorder. Speaking from experience, I've had to force myself to build habits, set reminders, and start using a planner — something so simple, yet such a challenge — and be careful about what I let take up my time. People with ADHD are significantly more susceptible to addiction, whether to drugs or even social media. Everyone with ADHD is different, and knowing your own brain chemistry, what you're vulnerable to, what style of learning works for you, and seeking real challenge and real reward, is the closest thing to a real solution. Not everyone will follow the same path, but here's what I'd tell everyone with ADHD: find at least one thing you're passionate about, go outside, let yourself be bored, and make sure you do things that challenge you. If you can work through the struggles of the disorder, that can open the door to the creativity and intelligence behind some of the greatest minds and inventors in history.