The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.
–Arnold J. Toynbee
If there is one thing that someone with ADHD-I is good at, it is this: working hard at things that are play. When he or she finds something interesting, hours and hours (which often “should” be spent doing something else) are spent doing that thing. This can be in things that are actual play–like video games. Often, though, it is engagement in or research about a very productive topic. In fact, often when one sees a person with the inattentive subtype of ADHD zoned out, even though he or she appears to be completely spaced, the truth is he or she is most likely very, very concentrated on something that’s interesting to him or her, to the exclusion of all other stimuli.
I am so following you now! I first was introduced to your "Club Unicorn" post (excellent, btw); but I also am enjoying your posts on ADD, because my husband also has ADD and everything you say is so true for him, too!
Hey, Sylvia. You took the words right out of my mouth. I also came here because of "Club Unicorn" but am staying and following because of the ADHD posts (among other things.) 🙂 I have struggled with ADD my whole life. I love that there are people out there who not only understand but are willing to talk about it.
Hahaha… I guess I'm not alone in going back to read the original posts after this page went viral.
I never considered I could have ADHD-I because there are times when I can focus very intently on a single topic to the exclusion of all others, and that seems to be the opposite of inattentive. I am also a divergent learner, so jumping around while I should be focused on something is "normal." As is procrastination until the deadline or extreme productivity when the schedule is packed beyond capacity. I don't remember being too bothered by too much forgetfulness in school (although I know I called home for stuff a lot)… but I do remember that I was consistently marked down for "makes good use of time." I figured I was just lazy. And I always figured ADHD was a crutch diagnosis for everyone my age (kind of like peanut allergies seem to afflict everyone today) because we are a generation that simply doesn't want to take responsibility. Now I'm starting to wonder.
I was diagnosed with ADHD-I as an adult. It's funny you talk about being zoned out. As a kid, my parents would get complaints from teachers saying that I space out or daydream too much. Also, when I had homework to work on, I would end up reading the encyclopedia instead, lol.