Did the hare in the Hare and the Tortoise have ADHD?

[SnappyCroc]

I've been re-reading this to DD2 this morning and see great similarities between myself and the hare (minus the unpleasant gloating) in terms of starting things with great enthusiasm and then getting fed up and exhausted a bit of the way into them and being unable to finish the job. I'm currently on the waitlist for an ADHD assessment but it's going to be a while.

Interested in what people think. Is there anything I can do to 'fix' myself while waiting for diagnosis/treatment so I'm more like the tortoise?

No, he was just a dick choosing to rest to humiliate the tortoise.

I wish you the best of looking finding a way to deal with your difficulties, op, but I don't think Aesop has your back.

No. Not everything is about adhd...

I actually think the hare and the tortoise is a really unhelpful fable. Lots of us work in short bursts, and it's just as valid as 'slow and steady wins the race'. I also tell my students that frequent brain breaks are an essential part of studying, and that you can (usually) always revisit things once you've had a bit of 'diffuse' time.

No, he was just a hare.

That's not what the fable is saying, though. The hare loses because he arrogantly assumes that because he can sprint he will beat the tortoise with time to prat about. It's not about shaming those who work differently.

However the "Princess & The Pea" on the other hand 🫣

She doesn't have adhd either

I always assume that, because I am capable of achieving huge amounts in short periods of times when I'm 'hyper-focusing', I can achieve more than I actually do in practice. I am incredibly bad at estimating how long it will take me to achieve something because I always seem to measure on the basis that I will be totally and completely engaged the whole time. Is this a form of arrogance?

And when I disengage, it's like I've switched off completely. I'll google endless theoretical holidays, go to sleep, get really interested in the UK programme to reintroduce of beavers in the UK...

Of course you're not being arrogant. The hare is. It's not a story about adhd. I hope your assessment gives you the answers you need

ETA - it would potentially be arrogant if you assumed that your ability to hyperfocus meant you were superior to other people. That would be behaving like the hare, but that's not what you're saying

@MegTheForgetfulCat she was definitely ND, I was always called this by my Mum and I'm still the same now. Have to smooth out the bottom sheet every night it's so difficult to get my mattress to be comfy

How long before Red Riding Hood turns out to be a narcissist?

I never did finish that story because a squirrel came into the garden.
What happened? Who won?

Not as quickly as Goldilocks turned out to be one - no boundaries, breaking other people's property, stealing other people's food, sleeping in their beds - and then ran away as the victim in all of this. Especially as she rewrote history to go from being a dirty criminal to a beautiful little girl who the victims felt bad for scaring away.

😂😂

No OP, it's nothing to do with ADHD and everything to do with arrogance and being unkind.

Little red riding hood had been over parented- who the hell doesn’t notice their granny now looks like a wolf!

I can't believe you just wolf-shamed someone!

As someone with ADHD (and autism! Lucky me) I don't think it's a helpful analogy. The hare's downfall is his arrogance / attitude.

I am terrible at sitting down and doing long thinking/typing sessions. So I don't. I will work for literally 5-10 minutes at a time, interspersed with other work/break/tasks that need to get done, and I start well enough in advance to facilitate that. I also work for myself, so an employer isn't having to accommodate my whims (I'm a terrible employee, like a lot of ND people, but great at working for myself and leading others).

I also have a paper calendar with EVERYTHING set out far in advance, to accompany the above approach.

Even without a diagnosis - what could you do differently today, that you'd do with a diagnosis in hand? Do that.

But she's not real! That's not to say that sensory issues aren't real - of course they are - but it's not a story about neurodiversity! It's just saying princess = spoilt little fusspot.

🤣

Well quite she wasn’t real but the fairy tales or all stories based on aspects of life.

The "Princess" could have been based on a child refusing to sleep, a rude & demanding adult, or someone with sensory needs who struggled to get to sleep.

Sure, but that doesn't mean it's a story about neurodiversity as we now understand it! That's trying to retrofit modern understanding of humans into an old fairy tale.

Threads like this are why I love MN!

I clearly needed to put lighthearted

In all seriousness though just because ND didn't have a diagnosis pathway and label back then the story origin really could have been from a person who had sensory issues because they were ND.

Oh don't worry, I get it's lighthearted and please read my comments in the same way! Tone does not convey easily in writing, does it...

No she’s just a whiney cow!

The correct response (of an overnight guest to the person who kindly took them in) when asked “did you sleep well, dear?” is “yes, thank you.”

It isn’t “no, I am too precious and delicate for your shit mattresses.”

No, the hare didn’t have ADHD because he finished the race just behind the tortoise. If he had had ADHD, he would have gone missing and the race organisers would have had to send out a search party. They then would have probably found the hare up a tree watching birds having completely forgotten about the race.