[_yb2s]

ADHD is ultimately a disability of reduced executive function, and all of the seemingly disconnected symptoms are connected by that common fact. Everyone has challenges with executive function in life - especially if chronically sleep deprived, but the degree of severity varies substantially to the point where people with ADHD are radically different from people without on a lot of axes.

It's quite the opposite of "absolve[ing] people of the responsibility to work on their concentration." Instead the diagnosis shows that this is indeed the reason why people with ADHD have been struggling to meet expectation their whole life, and there are specific actionable things they can do to fix it, that aren't the same thing that work for people without ADHD.

I had a huge amount of guilt and shame that comes from having tried every productivity, organization, and concentration technique to no avail. I felt like I was pushing against an invisible brick wall that nobody else had. I could deeply care about something, focus all of my energy on it, and yet fail to do it for reasons that remained a mystery to me- when peers with less innate ability and less motivation/drive still did it easily. The diagnosis made sense of this, and pointed me to solutions that actually work.

As a parent of a young child with ADHD that was kicked out of 5 schools before getting a diagnosis that led to him thriving... the idea that it is just an excuse to avoid personal responsibility seems absurd. I could (and have) guilted myself into thinking this way about myself, but can't really apply that to an innocent young kid trying their hardest to fit in, and constantly being rejected and abused by adults and peers due to their brain just working so differently.

[void-pointer]

But how does “there are specific, actionable things they can do to fix it” mesh with the declaration that people with ADHD are part of a community of neurodivergent people who seem to actively push against the idea that they need fixing?

[_yb2s]

I don't think that's a fair way to characterize the ADHD community's stance. I follow some of the 'leaders' of the ADHD community including William Curb (Hacking your ADHD) and Jessica McCabe (How to ADHD) and they are extremely focused on specific strategies and techniques that enable ADHD people to live more effectively in a neurotypical world.

These strategies don't "fix" or "cure" ADHD, but allow us to do what we want in our life, and are generally very different from productivity and life strategies that work best for non-ADHD people.

One could imagine a world where ADHD was the norm, and things would work out just fine, with a lot less stress for those with ADHD. However, that simply isn't the case, and the ADHD community is quite realistic about that.

[void-pointer]

Thanks for the insight, I’ll take a look at those people.

[tbrownaw]

It doesn't.