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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Lots of ADHD attorneys. The hyperfocus helps in this professions and they tend to think creatively to solve problems. My husband is a hugely successful attorney that has ADHD. I am sure most know this, but ADHD tends to correlate with really high IQs.[/quote]

And creativity too. 
Also the ability to quickly and intuitively synthesize disparate information…which is why ADHDers make terrific leaders of organizations. [/quote]

Creative people are also likely to be diagnosed with bipolar.

Do you people who claim it’s a good thing to have ADHD know what you’re talking about?

Symptoms are difficulty focusing, easily distracted, hard time finishing tasks, not good at organizing or figuring out priorities.

It’s nice to find the positives in a disorder but people who are accurately diagnosed struggle their whole lives with it.  [/quote]

PP. I am formally diagnosed ADHD. As are my kids. I know the struggles but in my line of work it has also had very real advantages. Every day is a dance to maximize the advantages and minimize the challenges. But it’s not just challenges. [/quote]

Do you take medication for the disability?  What are the advantages for you?  [/quote]

PP. This post will definitely get far off-topic from OP's initial question, but I'll try to bring it back around!

In the last couple of years, I finally decided to try a very low-dose Adderall prescription, but tbh, I often forget to take it (or I forget to take it early in the am, which means my sleep will be affected, so I decide not to take it). I have found the Adderall especially useful on the days when I need to either (1) hyperfocus in deep and narrow ways, or (2) move through tasks I find tedious, or about which I don't much care. In the latter case medicine is especially useful if I've made a to-do list list in advance, so I can just move through tasks almost automatically.

I agree with the PP that there certainly are challenges to my ADHD. Certain things don't stick in my brain -- they literally don't enter long-term memory. It's like information just blinks out while in short term memory, and then is gone forever. Over time, I've learned that the best thing I can possibly do is KNOW that things won't stick, and work with that fact instead of being surprised/aggravated by it again and again. This means I must be meticulous about writing things down the instant they come into my consciousness -- whether through calendar reminders and alerts, or notes taped to my mirror or steering wheel, or scribbled reminders on my forearm. It means recording conversations if they're especially important. It means creating routines, and then being more attached to my routines than other people need to be to theirs. It *definitely* means auto-paying bills. These strategies aren't failsafe -- I still mess up, sometimes in stupidly embarrassing ways -- but they help a lot.

In terms of advantages...It's hard to talk about what one is good at without sounding like an arrogant a-hole, so answering this question feels tricky. But in case it helps someone out there, I will say that I'm unusually good at learning new things, and at a pretty deep level. I'm good at jumping into unfamiliar situations, and unfamiliar subjects, and just...figuring them out: paying attention, asking good questions, learning wide and deep until I can solve problems that other people haven't been able to. I'm also really good at assessing what *others* need to know, and figuring out how best to communicate these things in a way that's vibrant and interesting enough to stick. I'm good at making connections between things that seem unrelated, but it turns out often aren't, or don't need to be. And I'm creative, though my creativity feels like a slower burn -- I'd be terrible at improv, but give me a long-term creative project that has a chance to simmer for a bit, and I can usually knock it out of the park. But these things are my profile; ADHD isn't one thing, so maybe your kids are different.

ADHD can be really hard when you're still in school. In school (primary, secondary, and even college), kids take so many subjects at once, and they're expected to be generalists -- equally good at every subject and every type of task. They also have to be good at transitioning *between* all those things. But life is different. There are amazing paths for non-generalists, and for people who don't want to zip between things. The trick is knowing what your unique/uneven brain is good at, and also what guardrails you need to put in place for the stuff that will probably always elude you.

Bringing this back to OP's question: I strongly recommend talking directly to disability support offices and getting a vibe for *how* they work with the students. What are the goals? To help students move through tasks and help them with their "deficit"? Or is the approach more "know thyself" -- the sort of process that will help them not only with classes, but also with building a life? Does the disability office seem to approach students with humor and a sense of respect and warmth? Often by the time an ADHD kid gets to college, there's been so much shaming for their "deficit" it can be hard for them to see their own strengths. But you can't optimize your strengths if you can't name them! So tone and approach matters a lot, both in the short- and long-term.

I hope this is helpful. I'm wishing everyone the best.[/quote]

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