To just ask for really lovely ADHD success stories

Diagnosed when I was 42. Now 61. Long career in criminal investigations. Has suited my down to the ground. Also that I have had 30+ years with a disability positive employer . Son also has ADHD and despite it taking a little while and a good try at a few things since leaving school as soon as he could get away.. he is now a very successful chef.

Find an ADHD persons thing and they are away

Lovely update.

Yours was lovely so I'll give mine. Last time I wrote that DD had found her people, which was a huge achievement.

Recently she's gone from 'not meeting expectations' in every report to 'meeting expectations' last two years to a few 'exceeding expectations' this year. She's training herself to wait for the dopamine hit of academic achievement, the little weirdo

It's been a long road of sadness after reports and sad parents' evenings and sad everything, putting a brave face on.

All the best OP.

@CallMeMousie I’m reading this a year after you posted and I’m so grateful! Exactly what I needed to see today. And thank you to everyone who posted.

aaaah lovely. :)

FWIW I will shoehorn in an anecdote.

When we first started clap for carers it coincided with Autism awareness day. So DS (ASD and ADHD) was nearly 10.

After about 9 months of Thursday clap for carers he made the throwaway commnet; 'Isn't it nice that we clap for Autism awareness day every week?'.

its Autism awareness day today , a small bit on R2 earlier

@CallMeMousie I highly recommend reading up on a lot of experiences and things like this post. As a kid I remember having so much energy I felt like a fizzed up bottle of coke. I was able to focus in the last few weeks on GCSE & A levels as I decided I wanted to go uni.
I wish I'd learnt earlier to give up things that I found boring & channel my energy better. I'm more like that with my DC. I want them to try loads of things but won't argue if they want to drop things they find boring

I too think it's so much about getting right fit. Boring bits of my job are extricating. I really struggle. But give me a total incident mgt crisis situation and no one deals with it better. I am constantly on the go with new projects. I was never great with actually playing with my kids as I find it boring, but I'm happy to ferry them around to hundreds of activities they want to do. Love taking them to events or trips like london as I enjoy it too.

@Wednesdaysotherchild I’d argue that if studies suggest that at the very most 50% of children grow out of ADHD (but like fewer) then it would be more accurate to say some children do rather than many. Many others may find it easier to use strategies that mitigate the effects of ADHD as they get older, rather than not having it at all.

It’s harmful to adults who are struggling to manage the condition to have the myth that it’s something that only affects children out there. Women, historically under diagnosed, particularly find it challenging to be understood when the popular perception of ADHD is small boys who can’t stop running around. A staggering number of people in the criminal justice system are neurodiverse, but have not had the right support growing up.

I am a doctor and have ADHD diagnosed in my 30s. I did medicine at Oxbridge (I got a distinction) and am on track to be a consultant in a high intensity sub speciality. I got my training number in the sub speciality at competitive interview and came second in the country.

I find the appraisal paperwork we have to do really difficult but I am good at the job clinically. I can hyperfocus in emergencies and lead a resus team, and I can pick up details others have missed. I get really good feedback from colleagues - they notice I'm blunt and jump into conversation sometimes, but I think they forgive me because I have these other skills. I love my job (nearly all the time!).

I find I'm motivated to do the work at work because it's for patients. On my days off trying to do an audit project though... oh my it's dreadful!!! I can't do boring paperwork stuff at all. I have tried meds for it but have had too many side effects and haven't got round to trying a different medication. Now I'm reading all these stories I wonder if I should!

My ADHD has contributed to an exciting career but has also made life hard at times. My undergrad dissertation I got in 3 minutes before the deadline after 3 nights with no sleep.... Not very sensible.

I've namechanged as this is very outing.

Apparently rates of ADHD in Emergency Medicine and ICU doctors are sky high! It makes sense because these are the hospital specialities without outpatient clinics, the paperwork from clinics I found incredibly difficult. I do think playing to your strengths is important in getting the most from life! It's been so interesting to find out about ADHD because now I spot it around me all the time in other doctors. Often they are the doctors that I admire the most, who can think outside the box. By the way medschool teaches you nothing about ADHD (and my friend who does paediatrics says they only get incredibly superficial teaching on it or nothing at all).

I'm pretty sure my dad also has ADHD, he was also a doctor (a highly successful surgeon in a niche sub speciality).

Good luck to your son controlling his new superpower!

Medication has been life changing for our daughter who has severe ADHD. We are only on week 6 but I truly believe it's saved her life.
She has been on a downward spiral of incredibly risky and impulsive behaviour for 6 months now. With love, support, medication and understanding I feel we are getting her back. She's 13 and her emotional dysregulation is improving along with her focus and ability to function.
We feel our beautiful, funny, clever girl is coming back to us.

To add a friend of mine has a grown up son who has become a specialist sniper in the army. He had severe ADHD as a child and it proves what can be achieved when someone with neurodiversity finds the right career fit.

My DS is 9 diagnosed a year ago exactly. Medication has been transformational for him. Allows him to concentrate better and it's really helped his emotions/sensitivities. He's gone from playing on his own to being in a group of friends which is lovely to see.

Would highly recommend 'ADHD is our superpower' book. After his diagnosis it helped him understand what it meant and he did a show and tell about it at school. His class have been so kind and understanding about it, bless them. The book also made him see ADHD as a positive which was fantastic.

I have since been diagnosed myself and we think my father has it! I have generally had a really successful career and if anything gives me strengths others don't have.

Recently diagnosed - I have a successful career and happy family life. It has definitely had some detrimental impacts on my life and relationships and I think it would really have helped to have been diagnosed earlier to understand and manage the impacts. But equally I wouldn’t be me without it and I think I can attribute some really positive experiences and achievements in my life to it.

I knew someone with ADHD who was a partner with one of the big 4 accountancy firms. He earned a small fortune, did extreme sports for hobbies, had glamorous women on revolving door. Incapable of being in a meeting without pacing about. Brilliant, butterfly mind.

Very similar stories to everyone here. Love my kids to bits but it’s a long road - so two pieces of advice( which I was given)

1. life is not a race. They will get there in the end.
2. my go to book- still relevant today ADHD the facts by Mark Selikowitz.

I’m a solicitor and we had a neurodiversity education session at work a couple of weeks ago. Apparently ADHD is incredibly common in the legal profession!

My biggest negative impact is not understanding emotional regulation difficulties as inherent to ADHD and accepting intense emotional responses as part of having adhd (adult diagnosed but really obvious combined type to the extent the psychiatrist was surprised other doctors hadn’t diagnosed given my mental health history). I’ve had several mental health diagnoses and whilst I can’t guarantee that wouldn’t have happened I would have probably got through my degree without psychiatric admission if I’d have been diagnosed and had meds/minor accommodations. I realised when I started working in a related area and my colleague spelled it out to me. I waited another 8 years to get assessed/meds as was in the pregnancy and breastfeeding decade so waited it out but did more research into it. Meds help. My little girl is diagnosed and I’m considering meds as she is cognitively able but I struggle to keep her at expected levels without a lot of creativity and persistence and it’s just stressful. Teachers say she’s got good ideas and vocabulary etc so it’s not just me thinking it. Thankfully this years teacher thinks she’s very funny but that’s not a guarantee as she goes up the school years. Honestly I’m a little biased but I always say that intensity of emotion can be hard to manage but it’s also quite special. My daughter is my middle child and loves at 500 percent and is so creative and enthusiastic (not glossing over the support and modelling needed with emotional regulation it can be a lot but I’m so glad I understand how to do that for her).

DS (18) was diagnosed at 13 (finally!) He had seizures when he was a baby and they, combined with the ADHD have made his academic life a challenge. He is an incredibly hard worker, has a brother in the year above who never really had to work too hard, things came easily so I see the huge difference.

He was put on Ritalin and hated it. Made him feel sick. So decided to walk at least 10k steps a day instead. It has worked - he does not feel the need for meds and walks instead. It helps his feelings, emotions and concentration. his consultant is amazed and has never know a child decide this, but it has worked for him. At 15 he was diagnosed with Social Anxiety and was lucky enough to go on a CAMHS course that helped a lot and is fine now. He still gets wound up now and again, obvs, but controls himself really well and knows how to alleviate it. Actually he is pretty chilled and has loads of friends and a great social life.

Prob due to his seizures he has found maths v difficult - retaining info when he has no interest was hard but finally passed his Maths GCSE in year 12. Passed 5 GCSEs in year 11. And now is in his last year of A levels and is on course for great results - at least B, B, C!! This is a boy who did the 11 plus and didnt even get a score as his result was so low - now on course to ace his A levels and go to uni next year.

Proud doesnt even begin to explain how I feel.

I have ADHD, I’m medicated, good degree from a very good university, I have a decent career (I’m an actuary), I played a sport fulltime professionally for quite a few years, I managed to save and buy my own home (lots of us with ADHD can manage finances) and I have two children with my husband (adopted, so I had to be approved to be a parent).

ADHD isn’t a bad thing, ADHD and not being given the tools to manage it can however be a bad thing.

My son has ADHD. Just like your son, funny, quirky and very bright. Had a complete mental breakdown at 12 and was out of school for two years. Got him a diagnosis, medication and a place in a specialist ASD unit that was linked to a mainstream school. He is now 18, predicted straight A's in his A levels and has an unconditional offer on a place at a great university.

Hang on in there. It's a tough journey with lots of ups and downs, but the future for kids with ADHD can be very bright.

AuDHD here, on my third degree currently. It took a little while to settle, but have done fairly well for myself.

ADHD husband, two ADHD kids. Medication, medication, medication! Older son got diagnosed first, within two terms went from bottom to top of class. Got four A Levels at A* now doing engineering. Still struggles hugely with personal organisation but has great support from Uni and lots of coping strategies. Younger son much more hyperactive even on meds but massively creative and funny and has a school “passport” which he uses to explain when he turns up for the hundredth time without essential equipment. It may well take a while to adjust to the medication but if your child can stick with it the benefits are astonishing in my experience. Does really affect appetite though so you’ll need to keep an eye on that.

Me and DD. No meds but whatever works!

Happy, healthy, mostly functional. It started to work when she found playing music. It helped her focus in a healthy way, not hyper or nothing. Then schoolwork improved.

She found her neurodiverse Nerd Herd at school.

She's technically got the most severe diagnosis in her friend group but she's now the sensible rock. From a child who was pretty unmanageable when first at school.

I found a job that worked.