Let’s establish one thing up front: I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I mean, if ADHD existed as an actual disease, I would have it. I should say, I have all of the “symptoms” that the mainstream medical and educational establishment currently view as proof of a disorder called ADHD. However you want to phrase this, it’s important for you to understand that I have “personal experience” here.
Personal experience shouldn’t actually matter — only the facts should — but if I have to play that game, then this is my Personal Experience Token. I am submitting it at the beginning of this discussion, hoping that it will get me through the gate and allow me to engage with the people on the opposite side of it.
I am very familiar with the “symptoms.” I’ve had them my whole life.
Even now, I daydream all the time. I can’t sit still. I can’t concentrate on mundane tasks. I get lost in my own head. I forget things. I can’t stay on one train of thought for very long. At this very moment, I have four different word documents open on my computer and I am working on four different posts at the same time. Three of them will never be published or completed. Ask my wife, she’ll tell you all about it. Ask my high school chemistry teacher who failed me once, made me repeat the class, then finally gave me an unearned passing grade the following year because he didn’t want to deal with me again. Ask anyone who knows me. If ADHD is a disease, I have it. I have it in spades. I have the deluxe king sized version. I have ADHD Turbo. ADHD on steroids.
I have all of the “symptoms,” but I don’t have a disorder because there is no disorder. There might be people with legitimate disorders who get labeled with this one, but this one, this specific thing we refer to as ADHD, is a godforsaken lie. I don’t care who is upset by that statement, who will stop reading me because I said it, or how many angry and disappointed Facebook comments are coming my way. ADHD is a fraud…
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