Funny ADHD testing/diagnostic story.
When I got tested for ADHD last year, one of the “tests” was this challenge with color words on a page, but the ink never matched.
For example, “blue” would be written in red, “orange” in green. First I had to read the words. Easy. Then I had to ignore the word and say only the ink color. Impossible. My brain refused to see the word “Blue” and say “red.”
So naturally, I found a work around.
I held the paper as far away as I could and squinted, like one of those 90s Magic Eye books. If I blurred the text enough, I couldn’t actually read it. Problem solved!
The doctor blinked at me, baffled. “What are you doing?”
So I told him, “Tricking my brain. If I can’t read the word, I can just see the color.”
There was a long pause, then he said, “Yeah… don’t do that.”
We had to redo the test. Afterwards, he explained: “I’m trying to see if you have ADHD. If you keep finding workarounds, I’m not actually measuring ADHD.”
And that, guys, gals, and NB pals, is how I made it to my late 30s without a diagnosis: I’ve been hacking my way through life.
I have a whole laundry list of tricks that would sound unhinged to anyone else, but they’re just how my brain survives. I can’t just “remember things.” I can’t just “leave on time.” I procrastinate for months until one magical morning my brain decides, today we’re doing the thing.
So yeah, I absolutely do have ADHD.
I’ve just had decades of practice adapting to it. But adaptation isn’t the same as ease. Just because I can do something doesn’t mean it isn’t hard.
People don’t always take that seriously. Because it’s in the brain, not on the outside. It’s no different than wearing glasses: being able to read with them doesn’t mean your vision is fine without them.
Just because there’s a work around or a hack, doesn’t mean the problem isn’t there.
