Late diagnosis - What were you like as a child?

[Sir5r1]

Believe it or not my mom was a special education teacher.
She did her Master on Ritalin and decided Kids don't need medication.

I still argue with her that medication makes me more attentive and productive.

[momof3andadd]

I've just recently been diagnosed with ADHD, the psychiatrist didn't specify, but I'm assuming inattentive type.

My parents and teachers had me "skip" kindergarten and go straight to 1st grade because the teachers said I was bored and knew all the material. I don't know if that's because I was disruptive or just bored. When I went to 1st grade they said I was bored and restless as well but didn't want to skip me another grade, so my parents had my IQ tested and they said that it was in the 160s and that more than likely later in life I would have problems with ADHD and/or substance abuse, but my mom didn't think anything of it and actually didn't bother to tell me this until I started having problems with ADHD.

I always got really good grades in elementary and middle school, was in the gifted program but didn't really like it. I also REALLY loved reading; I would go through two or three books a day and read them in one sitting, kid encyclopedias, stories, whatever I could find. When I got in trouble, my parents used to "ground" me from reading rather than going outside to play. I still have a problem with hyperfocusing on things that interest me, and most subjects in school interested me (I love to learn new things) so I think that's a lot of the reason that I wasn't diagnosed younger. In high school and early college, I had a LOT more problems which I won't go into because I'm assuming the question you were asking was more related to younger childhood.

You're not the only one who didn't seem to have many symptoms in childhood, my parents were a little taken aback when I told them of my new diagnosis because my brother had ADHD and it was a huge problem for him as a child (beating doors, anger, couldn't sit still, problems learning) and it wasn't as readily apparent with me.

[kitty123]

momof3andadd, please do share about what you were like in high school and in college!

It seems like everybody with inattentive ADD loved to read when they were younger. I also loved to read books on my own, which is way different from now because I can't even finish one book.

I was able to go home this weekend and looked through all of my old papers from elementary school. I have a lot of old honor roll certificates and all of my teachers wrote about how I was hard working, well behaved, very creative in writing, and always working beyond grade level. They never wrote about me being too quiet or daydreamy. Overall, it looks like I was a child who just loved to learn and did good in all of the subjects.

Comparing them to my middle school and high school report cards were upsetting.. they consist of different combinations of A B C D's and a whole bunch of "in danger of failing" progress reports in almost every semester. My current college transcript is also a mess.

Well, thanks again for the posts everyone! I'm currently in the process of figuring out what's wrong with me. If I do get diagnosed with ADD-inattentive, I'll definitely come back and update.

[momof3andadd]

I messaged you!

[T-Rex65]

It's one thing to read a list of symptoms, and go "Yep, that's me." It's another thing to read the descriptions of your childhoods and to see myself reflected in almost every post. The similarities are overwhelming to me.

[Will1963]

Originally Posted by T-Rex65

It's one thing to read a list of symptoms, and go "Yep, that's me." It's another thing to read the descriptions of your childhoods and to see myself reflected in almost every post. The similarities are overwhelming to me.

I know this is absolutely a cliche, but the great pleasure of this forum is that until now, I never knew there was anyone like me. I've never met anyone face-to-face who had similar problems, as far as I could tell. When I read the list of symptoms, it was my whole life in front of me, and reading people's posts brings back every detail almost. Anyway, it's exciting to know I'm not the only one.

[Michiko74]

I honestly don't remember any particular symptoms in elementary school. I don't really remember being scolded about daydreaming or anything like that. I know school wasn't easy, and I certainly wasn't getting awesome grades. I was also pretty easy going as a kid. Had plenty of friends, really didn't have any problems making or keeping friendships.

I don't think I really noticed my symptoms until about high school. And I didn't think the 'symptoms' of inattentive ADHD were actually problemtic issues. The inability to finish projects, problems with instructions, etc. I always thought all of those things were due to my lack of intelligence and so called 'laziness.' I noticed that it took me a lot longer to learn things compared to my friends. I really didn't notice how hard I had to work just to remember things.

[Diatribe]

Originally Posted by kitty123

For those of you who were diagnosed with Inattentive ADD as an adult... can you please describe what you were like as a child?

What were you like in elementary school? Did you always have symptoms of Inattentive ADD even when you were a kid? Or did you seem normal and didn't have symptoms until later on..

I was just diagnosed last summer after years of considering it but I always knew I had it. It was first brought to my attention while in middle school. I wanted to get tested in college but was told the tests were unaffordable to me.

As a child, it was much worse. I couldn't pay attention for more than a few moments in school. I daydreamed for about 80% of the day, missing all lessons and homework assignments. I was constantly in a daze, not knowing what was going on or that it was even important to know. I never liked school, thought it ws boring, didn't want to learn any of the things they were teaching so I mentally "left" the room. Went to a fun place, to something I enjoyed. Mentally, I checked out. It wasn't until college that I realized I had a bad problem that I couldn't control and that I really had to pay attention. But I was so used to "leaving the room" when it got boring (which again was 70% of classtime) that I didn't kow how to control it.

I still fight with it. Fight to stay focused but work is 90% boring. Its hard to keep my brain from walking out. I fight it every single day.

[musiclvr2675]

Originally Posted by jengen

Last year at 33, I was told I had ADD. At first, I self diagnosed myself. Then with my therapist and doctors....it was official I had Inattentive Adult ADD with mild OCD that it brought out with stress. But first, I got hearing tests because I had a hard time understand or keeping with the conversation.

When they doctors figured out I had mild OCD, I was prescribed Wellbutrin 300 mg XL. It was amazing. Then I did not have Health Insurance and I had to go to the non-xl and finally I went off them completely. This cause all of my behaviors to come back. People very close to me could also tell I had ADD too.

As a child, I had speech issues, difficult with reading and spelling. It was hard for my short term memory to know the sounds. I loved to read on my own but not out-loud. One summer, I read all of the Sweet Valley High books. My room was either messy or extremely organized. Once I had to make sure each plastic hanger matched the color of clothing it was on.

I would spend hours focusing on one thing in the library. School was easy but my papers were always written last minute. In the 4th grade, my mom and I stayed up until 4 am building a CA mission out of sugar cubes. My mom had us in a lot of activities.....so the physical part was not visible and I know that I knew what was right behavior and our life was a picture perfect image until my parents divorce.

In HS I always lost my keys. I always had to be busy. I was involved in a lot of volunteer opportunities. At parties, I would be the one cleaning up the mess or rearrange the pantry. It was hard to complete any task without being thrown off. Example: in Chemistry I had to write a lab report. I went to the SF Library (pre-computers). I spent hours research things that were not on my topic.

I would being trying to do 5 things at once. Always cutting people off in conversations. I would get disappoint when something would not be how I imagine it.

I feel like whenever I was on task in a subject I would do something that would pull me back. I graduated HS with a 3.73 but it could of been higher and I did not apply myself.

I always was forget something. Paper, pen, losing my keys,.....the list could go on. My car was/is a mess. I will do my laundry. fold it then not put it away. My hand-writing is horrible plus I press down very hard. I will rewrite the same list or not 10x.

Recently, I was talking to a college professor and she said she knew I had add in college.

My mom says we are all made up differently and this is me! Part of me wants to be off all of my meds but I am worried. I have been in therapy for years but recently started going 2-3 a week for the last year.

I have found out that keeping a list and writing notes help me the BEST. I am on 30 mg of Adderrall XR, 10 mg on a as needs, 300 mg Wellbutrin XL, ***new triazolam 0.25 with 10 mg ambien, Donnatal tab, 5 mg Diazepam (as needed) and 20 mg Prilosec. Plus I get weekly allergy shots-6 for 10 more weeks until every other week then once a month.

I bolded things I could relate to. I have a hard time remembering a lot of my childhood. I have had some memories corrected by those involved because somehow I didn't remember them correctly. My best method of remembering things is by association or repetition. I was able to do well in grammar/spelling because we used to write things out many times as part of our practice/homework. I have always done well with words but horrible with numbers (they're the devil). I loved reading and sometimes would (and sometimes still do) confuse what I read with either a dream I had or a movie I saw. You know with reading how you create things in your head based on how things are described in the book...
I was the poor kid around a lot of middle-high class families. I wasn't dumb but I wasn't super smart; I was average. I always studied last minute for better results; was fresh in my head. I was motivated by my environment to do better and rise above my poor background. I had my distractions of course so as much as I dreamt of success, things still stood in my way. We didn't have health insurance, didn't see doctors unless we were super ill and went to the ER for treatment. I was well behaved because I liked positive feedback over stressful negative or violent feedback. I focused on doing well in school but it was a challenge because if a subject didn't stick or I wasn't interested in it I'd be up for HOURS studying just hoping I could make it happen but end up waking up in the middle of the night with my face in the book lol
I remember I liked drawing but they weren't of things, they were shapes, lines, always patterns. I like things to be symmetrical to this day. I like to color coordinate things, even now. If it's not highlighting notes/maps, I like my closet to be organized like that too. I used to fold my panties and stack them in my drawer. I've always liked organizing. When things aren't in place I feel lost. I rely on routine so when I don't have one I am a mess...like now at work. I can't find patterns in things so I don't know how to get myself organized at work, it's annoying. I need to tell my therapist this lol never thought to discuss this with him even though it's obviously important for me.

[musiclvr2675]

Originally Posted by T-Rex65

I seem to have trouble processing spoken language now, and probably had the same issue as a child. I go through phases where I have to keep asking "what did you say?" even when I'm looking at the person. It's because I don't understand the first half of their sentences, I only "get" the last bit. Which is frustating for me and the other speaker, because they almost always repeat the last part of whatever they were saying, not the whole thing. So then I have to ask again, and specify that I need the first part. Sorry, didn't mean to ramble off topic there. But I suspect I had that problem as a child, and it probably contributed to the perception that I was daydreamy, hard of hearing, or just trying to be a pain.

However, despite my problems following the spoken word, I loved playing with the written word. My teachers would frequently read my essays aloud as examples of good writing. (Well, when I finally finished them and turned them in!)

I know exactly what you mean!!!! It drives me insane. I'm looking at the person and I hear them talking but for some reason I'm not getting everything they say. Happens all the time :/ I hate asking them to repeat themselves like I wasn't listening. I can't particularly say I encountered this as a child because I can't remember specifics like that. One thing that does stand out for me is that I have always looked for affection or acceptance. I wanted so much to be important. I didn't feel that way at home. There was lots of drama, drugs, bullying, fighting, issues with siblings, mom always gone... School was my escape. Having activities and being around like minded people was more appealing. I learned to be involved and there was a normal better life out there. Issues like those seemed more important to me; building relationships, building character. That's probably why I can't remember specifics or could identify any problems I may have had. I learned coping mechanisms early in life and in part I'm thankful because it got me through. Now that I can focus on myself I can address these specifics.

[zoekate]

I was the weird kid. Distracted very very frequently - both daydreaming and just 'oh look, there's a butterfly!' distraction. Could not stay on task. I looked at old exercise books and we would be practicing writing letters. The first one would be perfectly and carefully done, the second sloppy, the third worse and the fourth non-existent. We were supposed to fill the line - about 10 letters - but in that entire book, not once did I get more than 4 down (usually 3) before obviously being distracted away.

I was an excessive reader. I read out the infants (grades kindy, 1 and 2) out while I in grade 1. I hyperfocused on a book a lot, or else I multi-tasked. Interestingly enough, despite the sheer quantity I read, it was usually below my tested reading ability. It was escapism, not exploration.

I don't think I was hyperactive - I was never called that - but I was restless and sometimes fidgety. In early high school (grade 7-9), girls normally spent lunch hours sitting down and gossiping. I, with a couple of oddball friends, used to play tag. So no bouncing off the walls but I did have unusual activity patterns. It was hard to stay put in my seat for classes, assembly or the like, but I don't think it was off the scale.

My grades were all over the place. Before adolescence, I rarely failed at classes but my actual marks for my work were exceedingly erratic. Later on, I couldn't just wing it without doing study (not something I have ever ever *ever* managed. It is some mysterious art, that's what it is) and I started getting some fails in there. My work was still very erratic and that has continued throughout school and every attempt at tertiary studies.

There were little incidents from school that have stayed in my mind ever since because they didn't make sense. There was the time when I was about 8, the class was split up to do some group work and for some reason, I was on my own. I did not do what task was assigned me - I saw a chance to try out this new toy/game thing that the class had had for a few months and which I had never managed to get chosen to be allowed to play with. My set task remained undone, when the teacher got back to me, she lost it, yelled at me and I started crying. Subsequent to this, the teacher sent me to the school counselor; their conclusion was that I just had a personality clash. In retrospect, the fact that I was an articulate, outwardly 'with it' kid, probably reassured them that I wasn't about to become a problem and thus they could get back to kids with bigger problems in the sense of being disruptive. To me, I was normal, so I certainly didn't tell them about any of the symptoms.

Alternately, the time when I was stuck at school because the rest of the class was on an excursion and I'd forgotten to bring back a permission slip. Was supposed to do some maths problems. Hah. As if. Another project - we were supposed to write a 'novel'. This was 6th grade so we were about 11. It was supposed to end up something like 30-40 (smallish) pages, which we then bound into a 'book' with cardboard and covered in contact, etc. I failed that dismally - at one point we were supposed to bring in our draft, which was required to be over 10 pages worth. I think I had two plus a shoebox with a few scraps of paper. Everyone else (except one boy who in retrospect, might have had ADHD, he was certainly hyperactive) had done it, the good girls had done much more than 10 pages and there I was scolded in front of the class for being a lazy layabout. I an flushing with humiliation now - 2 decades later - just thinking about it.

Socially, I was certainly the weird kid. I have one friend who became my friend when I was 5 and was my best friend throughout although I'm not sure I was hers. We're still friends now but live in different states. Other friends - well, I tended to adopt the other misfits but then we just got to all be the weird ones. None of those friendships stood up to the stress of leaving school.

[gracious_mama]

Hmm where to start...
I did ok the first part of school but had a really hard time making friends I was just socially awkward and shy or whatever...never knew what to say

Grade wise I did alright, math was my worst subject and in 3rd grade and up I had to stay after school to be tutored and STILL never really "got" it

I was definitely a loner but not really by choice. For one I'm an only child and for another when I was really little I was bossy and didn't share ANYTHING...as I got older I was just the odd one out

Hated sports of any kind and was never good at them

Teachers liked me because I was always quiet and I kind of kissed their behinds so they wouldn't hate me so much for having to explain something 5 different times

I did get in trouble for "not paying attention" I would zone out and not know I was doing it.

At around 13 I started staying up late and got really lazy. It was IMPOSSIBLE for me to get up in the morning (or go to bed at a decent hour) and in 6th grade I started just flat out refusing to go to school so I got in trouble for excessive absences but never went to truancy court.

As a result of my bad 6th grade year my parents "home schooled" me for the rest of high school. This actually worked pretty well for me since I could go to bed late and wake up at noon and stay up till 2 am doing my schoolwork when my brain was most active and my energy level the most high.

[bradd]

Originally Posted by Sir5r1

Believe it or not my mom was a special education teacher.
She did her Master on Ritalin and decided Kids don't need medication.

I still argue with her that medication makes me more attentive and productive.

Moms, gotta love em. They love their kids so much they are often determined to be of the immovable opinion that nothing could possibly be wrong with any one of them. Such denial is easily maintained in cases of inattentive ADD/SCT because even though a kid may be suffering deeply inside and trying --in spite of his own bewilderment concerning the 'what, how, why and where he hurts', etc-- to communicate his solitary struggle to her, it cannot be simply and compellingly voiced.

brADD

[Sir5r1]

I'm Inattentive as well. I read everything I could get my hands on. I was very distracted in school, never finishing anything. Middle School was a disaster, I was sent to a private school and was truant and retained for it. After three years at private school I went back to public high school, in the same grade as my younger brother. I finished high school in typical ADHD mode. You all know it. Do everything at the last minute with just enough effort to get a passing grade because there's a mountain of work to do and it all has to be in or you fail. I spent most of 8th, 8th and 9th grades stoned. I don't know what did it but before I went into 10th grade I decided I hates being high. I always drank a bit but never took to it. It was weekends only and not every weekend.

[rockydaydreamer]

I have to wait until next week until I'm diagnosed, I'm 24 years old now.

I was teased scolded alot for talking too much and teased often at school ever since I started school. Virtually all my report cards have comments by my teachers saying that I talk to much, don't stay focus, and I either don't finish assignments or I do them very messily (I tended to rush through everything in life).

I read about ADHD in a book on natural remedies when I was in 8th grade, but I didn't really think much of it, I forgot all about it because I wasn't seeing any doctors at the time. Then in college I learned about developmental disorders and this brought back a curiosity about if I had ADHD, so I'm currently seeking an official diagnosis.

I've been posting short updates on my ADDF blog about my journey through the adhd diagnosis process.