Most of them are.
I hate these horoscope type ADHD memes. Everyone has an attention span, and no-one has perfect attention. ADHD is when these problem become so troublesome they’re an actual DISORDER.
ADHD Diagnostic Trends: Increased Recognition or Overdiagnosis?
But…does ADHD = smart? People that like to talk about having ADHD sure seem to think so. I’ve known some attention deficit, super hyper kids that were not at all smart. These people seem to think the diagnosis is a straight shot to MENSA.
But…does ADHD = smart?
Yeah definitely not.
Bad school success /problems behaving at school is one of the hallmarks of a diagnosis for ADHD. Well, used to be at least, before it came whatever the diagnosis process is today…
A kid with an attention deficit and a hyperactivity disorder is definitely not a model student nor some misunderstood genius.
No. That’s the problem with memes that offer a limited set of symptoms with no nuance or context. There’s a lot missing from the infographic, along with ADHD being a spectrum. Not all people have classic symptoms, don’t have all symptoms, and have varying degrees of difficulty.
ADHD people can also be people that give up on doing much anything and don’t try in school, getting bad grades, because they can’t hold and organize information the way normative people do. They’re not dumb, they just have a really hard time absorbing information in traditional ways taught at schools, along with having a hard time focusing on that info.
Of course. And I don’t mean I knew ADHD people that were dumb because they did bad in school. Maybe it was due to their upbringing (they were all pretty much nepo babies and all went on to work at their dads companies). I mean, in talking to them and knowing them more as friends…they were just not that smart. Some of them were dumb. Some of them were of normal intelligence. Actually, none of the ADHD kids I knew were anything more than of normal intelligence. Attention span problems and hyperactivity do not equate to intelligence.
Can and does ADHD develop in people who are smart? Of course. But I don’t think, contrary to what internet ADHD communities like to say, that it’s a sign of untapped or unrecognized intelligence. It’s just as likely across the IQ spectrum. It doesn’t bunch up on either the lower nor the higher side. Now, do traditional standardized tests accurately account for people with ADHD? Of course not. Standardized testing is nonsense. “Standardizing” anything in terms of teaching kids is incredibly stupid. It’s there for the government and the schools. ADHD kids will of course struggle, but they’re one of many groups that do. Because that form of testing is inherently flawed. So, yes, people with ADHD are not accurately represented by standardized test scores. But that is true for almost everyone outside of a specific type of learner.
And maybe if we managed to test everyone, regardless of symptoms, for ADHD, we’d see a more accurate picture. But, from my understanding, it has zero relation to intelligence.
they just have a really hard time absorbing information in traditional ways taught at schools
Poke virtually any subject that tends to make the rounds in Western society, and I will be able to provide at least a layman’s understanding of it, if not deeper.
But aside from a really small amount of math, physics, chemistry and history, almost none of that came from formal education. I’m like a Hoover when it comes to random factoids… but only on my own terms. Try to intentionally cram data into me, and it’ll impotently leak out all over the floor.
It often appears that way in children, but obviously isn’t an actual indicator of intelligence.
ADD discussions are full of the self diagnosed and people who are in wildly different positions on the ADD scale. Naturally a lot of people look for identity and it’s a thing to latch onto.
So you were told you were smart constantly as a kid, or you have some ADD features and get the whole “ADD is my super power” people.
Some with ADD also get that impulsivity issue around other people and make themselves look like bigger jackasses than they generally are.
I have ADHD and don’t know if I am smart, I am just really good at the stuff that interests me and struggle really hard with everything else. Fortunately my jobs interests me and I now know how to get into the flow. But other stuff like paper work is still incredibly hard for me. Now that I have it more or less under control I would not want to change, as I love the occasional fixation on new ideas in and outside of work.
For example on the one hand I did a PhD in my field of interest and it went really smooth, but on the other hand I struggle to brush my teeth every day…
