I think about the 'potential' of ADHD people a lot. I have met so many incredible people through my work who seem far more capable than they assess themselves to be. Who feel like failures because they struggled at school, especially when they learn differently to others. No insight, just sad. - ThreadSky

roryreckons.bsky.social • 12 days ago

I think about the 'potential' of ADHD people a lot.

I have met so many incredible people through my work who seem far more capable than they assess themselves to be. Who feel like failures because they struggled at school, especially when they learn differently to others.

No insight, just sad.

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tigerpournelle.bsky.social•11 days ago

We're okay. Come on.

juliewb.bsky.social•12 days ago

And the low self esteem result is real.

juliewb.bsky.social•12 days ago

My biggest fear was math teachers saying ‘show your work.’ I wasn’t diagnosed until my 40’s.

cantse.bsky.social•12 days ago

Both my husband and child has ADHD. Had my husband been diagnosed when he was younger, he would have gone a lot further than he did, because he's brilliant, but just not focused. Our kid was diagnosed early and is now a Satellite Engineer. They have huge potential, just need to be realized.

laracoa.bsky.social•11 days ago

The "this was easy, it doesn't count" is quite the thing for me too.
Once a friend of my mother was really impressed by me making up a story out of nowhere. I was seriously surprised they found that to be a skill worth noting. Not only was it easy, but I always believed everyone could do that.

laracoa.bsky.social•11 days ago

And of course I believed that the few amount of learning needed was due to my exams and stuff being too easy, not me actually just being good at something.

laracoa.bsky.social•11 days ago

Then again, there were like three times in my life were I actually, actively learned for a test. Math test once, final school exams and once while studying.
Doesn't mean I did well on everything else, but I just never needed to do it. Because my brain always had at least *something* at hand.

beemoneycoaching.bsky.social•12 days ago

I wish I’d read and known this when I was younger. I was diagnosed last year at 54. Taking so long to finish uni, job hopping, so much.

So now I’m trying to help my son who was diagnosed at 19 and is now 21

ifutzwithfire.bsky.social•12 days ago

Potential has been weaponized against so many of us. Potential assumed from our strengths gets generalized and used to invalidate the things we struggle with, to deny us help with those because we don’t need help with others.
Potential is not ability. Potential is only that- potential.

nosoupforglen.bsky.social•11 days ago

It ends up feeling like a massive insult.
Any old rock has the "potential" of being a great statue.
It wasn't until I got dxed and medicated that I went from potential to actual.

lindseylulubelle.bsky.social•11 days ago

I was diagnosed at 42 and there is very much a mourning period. So many "what if's". I managed through my school years because I was able to absorb what I needed in class and I played on up to 6 sports teams throughout my teenage years. As an adult I feel like it's all been unreached potential.

chrisburcher.bsky.social•12 days ago

Neurodivergent people are the secret to saving the world because they will find solutions normal people can’t. We just think differently. And it turns out, nature rewards diversity.

rorymichaelson.com•12 days ago

I didn’t finish ‘high school’ in the UK. Got my career through an access course and am now one of the most senior specialists in my specific field in the world and have a distinction level MSc. The access course I used doesn’t exist anymore, so I’m training ppl for something I’d be gate kept out of.

beautynightmares.bsky.social•11 days ago

The algorithm said hey look. You need this, loser.

fiddies22.bsky.social•12 days ago

Getting diagnosed just this past year and learning how to handle it has been amazing but also frustrating thinking how different things could have been all these years. I’ve decided not to focus on that or it would drive me nuts lol better to focus on moving forward 👍🏽

roryreckons.bsky.social•12 days ago

There's a persistent belief a lot of us have that if something is easy because we are naturally good at it, then it doesn't count because we didn't struggle to achieve the result.

I don't know where this comes from, but it is quite ingrained in a lot of people.

rachdhd.bsky.social•12 days ago

I am still going through a lot of late diagnosis grief.
It's a massive thing
Mine relates to how ADHD affects me in other areas rather than academically.
Loss of " missed years" for many of us in many areas of life.
No real answers. But gratitude for diagnosis even though very late

amomanous.bsky.social•11 days ago

I understand. I spent about a year grieving the lost years and thinking about how much different my life could have been if I'd been diagnosed as a child. It still pops up when I'm feeling like a failure about something.

cantse.bsky.social•12 days ago

It's hard to have it diagnosed later because you would have had already developed some coping habits that are hard to break.

amomanous.bsky.social•11 days ago

💯

raventhered.bsky.social•11 days ago

Read somewhere, can't remember where, that it's been found that if something we do comes naturally we're just... better at it. To train somebody who's really bad at something versus training somebody who's just naturally good, is just less efficient. We all have our strengths and should be...

raventhered.bsky.social•11 days ago

...enabled to pursue them the best we can.

thechromeonion.bsky.social•12 days ago

Holds hand up.

shewyfly.bsky.social•12 days ago

ADHD knowledge makes it a superpower. I help teach people to harness it. Sometimes it’s still sad, but mostly we succeed in developing habits of mind.

jryankeerose.bsky.social•12 days ago

Completely heartbreaking 💔.

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