“My son was diagnosed with ADHD at 19, while attending his first year of university remotely from home during the pandemic. Wanting to be well equipped to support him, I started reading everything I could find about ADHD. And the more I learned, the more it started to feel like I was reading about myself.
When I was growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, ADHD wasn’t widely known or discussed. Very few kids were diagnosed in those days, and those undiagnosed kids grew up into undiagnosed adults. I’d read that ADHD is highly hereditary, as hereditary as height, so I asked my son’s doctor if she did adult assessments. It turned out I’d also always had ADHD.
So my son and I have been on this journey at the same time. His university provided excellent support and accommodations, and he’s thrived as a result, both in school and now in the workforce. He has confidence and an awareness of who he is and what his strengths are. I think the sky’s the limit for him.
Getting support in your 50s is harder. I was already well into my career. I’d had success, but it was built on a decades-long battle to build ad hoc strategies for managing my own impulsiveness, my inattention, and my inconsistency. My boss used to introduce me to people by saying, ‘Craig’s the most organized person I know.’ Being so organized, of course, was nothing but a coping mechanism. It was the only way I could do my job.
It was through CADDAC (Centre for ADHD Awareness, Canada) that I found my community. I started going to their monthly support groups and took part in their six-week coaching program, where I built skills and learned to understand myself. It was one of the most valuable things I’ve ever undertaken. For the last three years, I’ve been volunteering with CADDAC as a support group facilitator myself, and I keep learning more about myself every time someone new shares their own ADHD experience.
Getting this diagnosis has taught me that I was never lazy or dumb or immature; I was just wired differently. It’s helped me find better strategies, and it’s given me the confidence to go after a promotion at work that had long seemed impossible, and to get it. I’ve learned that everything is in reach for someone with ADHD, once they have the supports and tools to actually do the things they know how to do.”
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