I did well at school....!!!? | ADHD Information

Hi, just a question I did really well at school! I have realised now though, looking back, that I would always ask my friends for help! I would not of heard the teacher as I was daydreaming, so I would ask my friend to explain what we had to do! It did take me a while to work out what to do but once I did you couldnt stop me and because my written English is so good I did very well!

Can I still have ADD? You can do well at school and have ADD can't you? Everyone always mentions they did badly at school, I did well. I think I had a clever way of manipulating people!

I made C's all the way through 12th grade, but in college I made a 3.89 grade average.  It was hard work, but I did well. 

That you did well probably means you are pretty smart even if you did manipulate.  My written English is very good also.  I made a very good employee and for the most part got praise from my employers.  I was never fired from a job.  I learned ways to cope and cover up my shortcomings.  I think the ones who couldn't keep a job because of ADHD must be more severe.

I am also mildly dyslexic and can't type worth a hoot, but I always managed just well enough.
cynthiatweedle38727.8488888889No, I don't think it's completely unusual for ADHD to do well at school. We might have natural intelligence or creativity that make our work very high quality. Many of us are also able to find coping mechanisms like depending on friends for notes or getting extensions on papers or joining study groups.  I did very well the first 9yrs at school. I got 4.3 in grades and 5.0 is the best. The next 3yrs, as we call "gymansium" is volontarly and then I did good but could have done better if I paid any attention to the studies :"-) But when I got in to the universty I realized that I had problem. I couldn't listen and write at the same time and you have to do that at that level of studies. And ever time I had an exam it got totaly clean in my head, I couldn't remeber a thing. So I droped out after 3yrs at two diferent schools. And there I am today.

So yes you can be good at school and still have ADD or AD/HD as I have.

/Kaks

[QUOTE=taritac]In "Women with Attention Deficit Disorder" the authors write that women with ADD often do well in school because there is so much structure. We have clear direction (well, often) from instructors, have defined deadlines, and defined schedules. Also, the consequences for failing to do things like turn work in on time are not very great. No one dies, loses a contract, or pisses of customers for turning in a paper a day late.

The problem comes later, when we have to figure it all out on our own, when there is no structure, when relationships and life in general get more complicated.
[/QUOTE]

I totally agree

I did really well in school.  The kids called me the brain!  How awful! But it was the only thing I felt I could do well, so I think I hyperfocused on getting good grades and learning.  Plus, it was easy to connect things up in my mind, it was always going a million miles an hour. I just loved directing it to the learning going on.  I think that if you love it, you hyperfocus on it.

I also write really well.  I have published writing before and also won a scholarship for my writing in college.

So, yes, you can get good grades and still have ADD or ADHD.

Even though I was successful in school I still lost my business, my house looks like a hurricane hit it, and I have a hard time with organization.  Things improve only when I am on meds and now that I have been crawling (see the crawlers unite thread in the alternative thread)

 

Many ADHDers seek help as adults because they are tired of underachieving. They know they should be accomplishing more than they are, but can't seem to get a grip on it.

Many ADHDers don't do as well as they could in school and comments like, "Susie could have gotten an A if she opened a book" or "Tommy would do better if he paid attention . . . turned in assignments . . . took this subject seriously" are not uncommon.
In "Women with Attention Deficit Disorder" the authors write that women with ADD often do well in school because there is so much structure. We have clear direction (well, often) from instructors, have defined deadlines, and defined schedules. Also, the consequences for failing to do things like turn work in on time are not very great. No one dies, loses a contract, or pisses of customers for turning in a paper a day late.

The problem comes later, when we have to figure it all out on our own, when there is no structure, when relationships and life in general get more complicated.