ADHD is a bad term all-around, and I kinda hate the way it was named after the things neurotypicals observe about us that they consider disruptive, rather than the things we actually experience. (This is why I personally like the term some experts have proposed, which is EFDD, aka Executive Function Deficit Disorder, cause that’s what it actually is, but not many call it that)

I say this just so you know that when I say ADHD, that includes everyone with ADHD. You don’t need to ask “I have ADD, is it okay if I reblog this?” because you are included in ADHD (primarily inattentive-type) and therefore yes, it applies to you <3 

Side note: Autism and ADHD overlap a ton so if you’re on the autism spectrum and relate to an ADHD post/symptom, that’s valid, too! And if you’re questioning whether you have ADHD, you’re also welcome to reblog or whatever you like :) It only really bothers me when someone neurotypical who doesn’t think they have ADHD reblogging with stuff like “I don’t have ADHD but same” or “this isn’t ADHD, everyone does this sometimes”

TL;DR (cause every post about ADHD needs one lol):

ADD is an outdated term for Primarily Inattentive-Type ADHD (ADHD-PI)

The 3 ADHD types are Primarily Inattentive, Hyperactive, and Combined

ADHD is poorly named. “Hyperactivity” is about your mind, not your body

Executive dysfunction is the main component of ADHD

If you’re any of the types of ADHD, think you may have ADHD, or are on the autism spectrum, know that you are absolutely included in my posts about ADHD. 

I hate articles like this so much.

Dear parents,

No. Your kid is not broken. They may be having trouble interacting with the world, but I promise, they are not broken.

The issue is not that your kid isn’t capable of remembering, or focusing, or controling themselves. The issue is that their brain is wired in a unique way. They don’t take in and interact with the world the way neurotypical people do. Because of that, your ADHD/autistic kid may be struggling with executive function, anxiety and prioritizing the many demands they need to meet in life. What works to help most people memorize, prioritize and act literally does not work for them and actually goes against how their brain is meant to process information.

The solution is most definitely not a conversion therapy style program. I can promise you not only will it not work: it will do severe harm to your child that may not be reversible.

Please please stop trying to ‘fix’ your child. It will do more to hurt them than it will to help them. There is nothing to be fixed. Instead, start trying to nurture your child. Communicate with them. Try to understand how they operate. Work together with them to come up with coping skills that truly work for the unique way they’re wired. Not only will that help them get along in life, they’ll be able to understand and accept themselves better.

Good! Get help if you think you’d benefit from it! Regardless of whether you have ADHD, if the symptoms we talk about are things that you experience in a debilitating and pervasive way, those things you struggle with are worth getting help for. A lot of ADHD symptoms overlap with other disorders, and a lot of them can sound like things neurotypicals experience, too. 

So if you relate to an ADHD post, it could easily be because some of our symptoms on their own can be experienced by anyone, but we experience them to an extremely heightened extent that impedes our daily lives. But you could very well have undiagnosed ADHD (and/or a disorder that shares many symptoms, such as bipolar, bpd, ocd, autism, etc.) because most of what ADHD does to us is invisible and goes unnoticed. People claim it’s over-diagnosed, but everyone in the field has proven the opposite is true. 

[an hour later]

Me: Oh shoot! I forgot how badly I needed to pee!  ADHD: well you can’t go NOW -- you’re in the middle of something totally different! Better wrap it up first. Me: but I WANT to go now ADHD: oh do you? Watch this! Me:  Me: ...did you just drain all my energy so I’d stay in bed and finish this thing? ADHD: :)

[another hour later]

That sounds like such a great topic!!! I would be HONORED to help :D 

The first person I think of when discussing the term EFDD is Dr. Russell Barkley. He’s one of the leading ADHD experts, and has been a spearhead for studying executive dysfunction in people with ADHD for decades. Very much ahead of his time compared to the DSM. I’ve had his book “Taking Charge of Adult ADHD” recommended to me so many times, but have yet to read it.

Here’s some free stuff, though! 

[reblogs appreciated because Tumblr hates posts with links and I wanna make sure this anon sees it!]

I tried to include some short stuff and longer stuff, some articles, images, videos, and comic recs, so you can choose based on your current energy and focus level :) I’ve also bolded links and key points of each source if you like skimming. Let’s go!

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Here’s an interesting article/study on EFDD! They found that “ADHD [is] associated with deficits in inhibition, managing one’s attention, self-directed speech and rule-following, self-motivation, and even self-awareness [...] ADHD therefore involves deficits in self-restraint, [...] selfsensing and imagery, self-control of emotion, and self-directed play for problem-solving.”

Thank you for motivating me to look up some articles, because I learned some new things, too! For instance, they assert that ADHD could also be called SRDD (Self-Regulation Deficit Disorder), but conclude the article by saying either SRDD or EFDD fits better than ADHD, and that the terms could be used interchangeably, because SR (self-regulation) and EF (executive function) are effectively talking about the same things. So his assertion is that even if the name ADHD never changes, it can still be scientifically classified as either of the other terms. I believe in recent years he’s preferred EFDD more and more.

[note that the above article/study is from 2011, back when we were on the DSM-IV, so a lot of research has been done since then]

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If that article’s a bit wordy or you want something more visual and up-to-date, here’s a really detailed PowerPoint presentation used during the 2018 ADHD Symposium! It’s long but well-organized so you can just read the big headers or you can read all the bullet points explaining it. Keep in mind this was a lecture, so some of it probably made more sense in person. I’m glad I read this, because I realize the terminology I’ve used is slightly off: according to the Symposium, there aren’t “subtypes” of ADHD, but the different names (ADHD-PI, ADHD-PH, and ADHD-C) are really just used to show the prevalence of certain symptoms in that individual. So they’re all terms for ADHD, but “subtype” was poor word choice on my part. 

Oh! I just found a video of him giving a lecture in 2012 using many of the same PowerPoint slides! Here ya go! It’s a bit longer than the other videos I’ve linked below (13min), but it might make the slides easier to interpret :)

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If you want a really short and basic overview, here’s a video explaining 5 main ways executive functions affect the brain and how they work differently in people with ADHD. [I put the video below as well if you wanna stay on tumblr] It’s from 2010, but it holds up. It only covers 5 big ones, so remember (if you can) that executive function affects EVERYTHING and the symptoms will affect everyone differently and at different levels. 

This is just the most basic overview and a good place to start:

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Here’s one where he talks about our Time-Blindness! (below) I was going to pick a couple favorite quotes to give you an idea, but that’d wind up being a transcript of the whole video because HE GETS IT. This is from 2014, but I CANNOT recommend it enough!!! He mentions that ADHD doesn’t have a deficit of attention, but rather a deficit of intention. He describes us as having a near-sighted sense of time, and talks about deadlines, “laziness,” etc.

 ALSO he talks about how our brains DON’T CONNECT our knowledge to our performance (back of brain to front) like everyone else’s, so we have the same level of knowledge and intelligence, but can’t access and use it the way others can. This is why teaching skills and organization/memory/time-management tips isn’t helpful -- we can learn them, but our knowledge and action centers are separated, so actually doing them/sticking with them is just as hard as before. 

If you don’t watch the whole thing, at least skip to 3:29 cause that part’s really funny and relatable (ok the whole thing is relatable):

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And of course, I highly recommend the YouTube channel How to ADHD! I have a couple friends who work on it, and they REALLY know their stuff! (They’re the ones who taught me during a game night that RSD isn’t a real term and it should be called “rejection-sensitivity” as part of the emotional dysregulation umbrella) 

I went looking and found this video (below) has the BEST explanation of it that I’ve seen in such a concise, entertaining way. I hadn’t seen this one before, but it even covers some of the things I mentioned in that post your ask is about! Especially the Internal Restlessness that I mentioned as the true “hyperactivity” we all share; even though some of us also express outward hyperactivity, both presentations come from the same restlessness in our brains.

^^^This has some great examples, visuals, animations, and different ways of explaining and thinking about our symptoms! If you want more about this, the description has a bunch of links to their sources! Jessica and everyone else who works on this channel is great at making the videos watchable for people with ADHD (even if we have to rewind sometimes)

Here's Jessica's official Twitter @HowtoADHD! (I was today years old when I found out that she follows me)

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And if you want something REALLY short and simple, here’s a 2 minute animation comparing living with ADHD to trying to film a movie with a director who keeps falling asleep [below]

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If you like comics:

My favorite ADHD comic artists are: ADHD Alien [@ADHD_Alien on Twitter and @adhd-alien on Tumblr]; Dani Donovan [@danidonovan on Twitter and @danidonovan on Tumblr -- we’re somehow twitter mutuals and she is such a sweetheart. She has some really good infographics, too!!]; ADHD Bri [@AdhdBri on Twitter and @adhdbri on Tumblr]; and dreamadept [@yume_dango on Twitter and @yume-dango on Tumblr]

They’re all well-researched, funny, genuine, intelligent, insightful, talented artists who depict ADHD in a very accurate and relatable way. Go check ‘em out and support them! :D

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