I don’t have a diagnosis nor do I consider myself neurodivergent; however, I can see these behaviors in others AND myself. I’m a firm believer that we are all on a continuum (personality types, brain types, emotional/social/physical beings) and though “labels” can help (hopefully more than they hinder or pigeon-hole someone)—having answers or reason *why* you/they do or say or act a certain way. It can help build tools and skills to function in life and society. Our existence on a continuum means that we are not *only* in one place, but shift over time (be that years, months, or even hour to hour) as you say. Because you are correct—external factors (e.g gen X vs. gen z realities of information availability or even knowledge of how the brain functions) AND internal factors (our age, dehydration levels, glucose levels, etc) all affect our we function. Thank you for sharing this. Being able to understand that my husband has “jumpy eyes” and isn’t purposely leaving the one thing he HAD to take with him today on the counter or recognizing that I *need* to organize my life in color coded calendar events and spreadsheets, well, it proves that we all have a little “neurodivergency” even if we do not have textbook ADHD.
The missing diagnosis but still feeling some of the behaviors is the big part of why I am so reluctant to say ADHD all over the place. People with "confirmed" diagnoses definitely have some different wiring in their brain, but I don't feel like humans are like lego kits and anyone can have a different color piece in one spot, or a round piece instead of square. We all have some hiccups and mostly what I write I can definitely link to ADHD.
When my words resonate for others I'm delighted. I want to help people who feel shackled by ADHD, that is for certain, but I also just want to make life less confusing and "success" to be more attainable to everyone.
(I love color coding things, I need a way to visually link things in my brain and to catch the attention of my "jumpy eyes.")
Oh I loved so much about this post Jody and I can related to so many of the things you've described here. Getting my ADHD diagnosis was so life-changing for me because I could finally figure out how to cope with my atypical brain. That, and finally feeling like I wasn't just a lazy procrastinator. I still struggle a lot with things like texting my friends back timely and getting myself to do life admin like cancel various subscriptions and pay bills. I'm a work in progress but aren't we all?
Just having a label that can then be used to look for others in your 'tribe' is invaluable. As I learn more about different presentations for different people, I marvel at how that links to something I do or have done. I used to think "everyone thinks this" to normalize or mask my oddities, or I've written other quirks to just being weird. Having a label and seeing that I'm not the ONLY person who is weird like this is so great for my mental health.
Writing friends back, doing administrative things, having a consistent time I do things... those are all so hard to manage.
I don’t have a diagnosis nor do I consider myself neurodivergent; however, I can see these behaviors in others AND myself. I’m a firm believer that we are all on a continuum (personality types, brain types, emotional/social/physical beings) and though “labels” can help (hopefully more than they hinder or pigeon-hole someone)—having answers or reason *why* you/they do or say or act a certain way. It can help build tools and skills to function in life and society. Our existence on a continuum means that we are not *only* in one place, but shift over time (be that years, months, or even hour to hour) as you say. Because you are correct—external factors (e.g gen X vs. gen z realities of information availability or even knowledge of how the brain functions) AND internal factors (our age, dehydration levels, glucose levels, etc) all affect our we function. Thank you for sharing this. Being able to understand that my husband has “jumpy eyes” and isn’t purposely leaving the one thing he HAD to take with him today on the counter or recognizing that I *need* to organize my life in color coded calendar events and spreadsheets, well, it proves that we all have a little “neurodivergency” even if we do not have textbook ADHD.
The missing diagnosis but still feeling some of the behaviors is the big part of why I am so reluctant to say ADHD all over the place. People with "confirmed" diagnoses definitely have some different wiring in their brain, but I don't feel like humans are like lego kits and anyone can have a different color piece in one spot, or a round piece instead of square. We all have some hiccups and mostly what I write I can definitely link to ADHD.
When my words resonate for others I'm delighted. I want to help people who feel shackled by ADHD, that is for certain, but I also just want to make life less confusing and "success" to be more attainable to everyone.
(I love color coding things, I need a way to visually link things in my brain and to catch the attention of my "jumpy eyes.")
Love the Lego reference. Very appropriate!
Oh I loved so much about this post Jody and I can related to so many of the things you've described here. Getting my ADHD diagnosis was so life-changing for me because I could finally figure out how to cope with my atypical brain. That, and finally feeling like I wasn't just a lazy procrastinator. I still struggle a lot with things like texting my friends back timely and getting myself to do life admin like cancel various subscriptions and pay bills. I'm a work in progress but aren't we all?
Just having a label that can then be used to look for others in your 'tribe' is invaluable. As I learn more about different presentations for different people, I marvel at how that links to something I do or have done. I used to think "everyone thinks this" to normalize or mask my oddities, or I've written other quirks to just being weird. Having a label and seeing that I'm not the ONLY person who is weird like this is so great for my mental health.
Writing friends back, doing administrative things, having a consistent time I do things... those are all so hard to manage.