ADHD Does Not Mean I Am Stupid
August 12, 2008 
12 Comments
ADHD might mean a lot of things… I have heard all sorts of myths, misunderstandings, and outrageous claims about what it means to have attention deficit disorder. But what I cannot stand, and what I will NOT tolerate is name calling… I will NOT tolerate when people think that anyone, especially children, with ADHD are stupid.
It’s simply not true… It’s downright rude, offensive, and so many other things…
ADHD means a lot of things, to a lot of different people. And I don’t think you can expect otherwise with a (so-called) spectrum “disorder.” For some reason, people seem to think that ADHD only comes in a few varities.
But the truth is, ADHD is different in everyone. While there are some clear characteristics, ADHD varies greatly from person to person.
ADHD is a differnece in brain wiring and brain functioning.
That’s it! At least on a simple level, that’s what I want you to consider.
No, it’s not necessarily that simple. Yes there is more to know…but for our purposes, this is what you need to be aware of.
So I ask you, where do we get the idea that someone with ADHD is stupid?
You may have read or been told that people with ADHD struggle in certain key areas:
- Organization
- Focus and Attention
- Completing Tasks
But what is often overlooked, at least what is rarely given credit, is that children with attention deficit disorder are NOT broken. They are NOT stupid.
But beyond all that, children and adults with ADHD tend to have a general idea what is going on. Many of them know where they struggle or how they struggle. At least they know just as much as the next person…
Sure… We struggle. We have our moments. But, I ask you this, “Who doesn’t?”
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thank you
So I’m not stupid after all….thank you. BUT I fee like it sometimes. I have an issue with being impulsive and I sometimes say “stupid” things. My friends and co-workers laugh at me and I try to play it off although I am truly embarrased. I used to think this happened because I’m stupid, but it’s just one of my many adhd symptoms.
I agree completely. I am 16 and i have adhd and i hate when people make unintelligent careless remarks about it thinking im some sort of idiot. My iq is prodigy level. In the adhd brain the frontal lobe controlling concentration is about 3 to 4 years behind everyone elses, but the rest of the brain is fine, and often times developes to be extremely advanced. The adhd brain is extremely active, and a high percent of children with adhd are child genius’s that everyone praises. So yeah, if they wanna laugh now thats fine, but when we’re adults we mostly grow out of it because the frontal lobe catches up, so they will have close to if not normal or better than normal, levels of concentration and the rest of their brain will still work at a high speed, they will just be able to process it affectively.
I am 13 and my whole life i have been telling my parent not to parent me the way they do, i always knew that my brain worked a little differently, but until my mother recently took me to a therapist becouse i had trouble following rules and was fighting with her alot, my ADHD had been hiding behind my IQ. no one ever had any idea that i was easily distracted becouse i always got outstanding grades and am the top of my class. so, they never knew how to properly parent me becouse of my problem.
THE MAIN POINT:
i am just saying, that (and dont take this as bragging.) my IQ is so high (very very supperior, it was discribed) that it could mask my ADHD for 13 years. so there you have it, ADHD has absolutely nothing to do with how smart you are!!!!!!!
P.S. the only thing i hated in school was when we were ever timed, becouse ADHD makes it hard for me to focus on my work and i easily get side tracked.
and although people say that a part of your brain when you have adhd is behind everyone else’s your age, i have already skipped a grade, and teachers still say that my brain (or atleast the part not meant for “orginization”) is ahead of everyone else’s.
Thank you. I’m a teen with ADHD and people think I’m stupid. They do baby talk around me and always say stuff like the answer is SIX not FIVE! Then they add under their breath idiot Mollie, and I am sick of these down right rude people! They think the A stands for Annoying they think the D is for dumb they think the H is for Hell they think the D is for Danger. NOT AT ALL ITS JUST A SIMPLE DISORDER THATS ALL! WE HAVE RIGHTS! WE WOULDN’T BE LEARNING IF IT WASN’T FOR EINSTEIN! HE HAD ADHD TOO! SO THINK OF THAT YOU WOULD BE FEELING LIKE US! DUMB AND MEAN! SO THERE YOU HAVE IT MY FEELINGS ON A PLATTER. NOW GO BACK TO BEING YOUR NEUROTIC SELF. IF YOU WANNA HELP US PLEASE DO! I LOVE THE FACT OF ADHD, INFACT I HATE THE MEDICINE THAT MAKES YOU “NORMAL” OR SHOULD I SAY POOPY. NOW GO HOME AND LEAVE US PEOPLE WITH ADHD ALONE. WE’RE NOT DUMB!
We are gifted people. Rare in fact. I have grades so good. I exceed everything. My brain is weak at focus. My Brain is strong at grades.
I’m 15, and my entire life has been filled with confusion and depression. I never process things like most people do and a lot of my preferred conversations are deep and intuitive. I often sound very smart, but what people don’t know how intense my ADHD is. And you know why? Because it doesn’t matter. I day dream in class, and get home and study for literally seven hours till I do get the material. Having ADHD makes learning a huge challenge, but I’ve also noticed that my creativity, compassion and analysis of the human mind and people in general is well beyond that of the average person. I’m also a rather talented musician and artist. And when I learned that it may have been because of my ADHD, my Depression began deteriorating. Though I may have had something standing in my way from achieving common goals, I am better in the field of individuality. And really, who needs conformity anyways? No one makes a difference that way. And for us who have ADHD? We have the right type of intellect to realize that. A long-time suicidal outcaste has recently seen the beauty in what seemed to be her life-long misfortune.
Thanks, I have ADHD,.. my own parents think I’m broken and just plain worthless and stupid. I’m in my 30′s a honor student in college and plan to go to vet school. The sad this is my mother tess me ,.. they won’t take because I have ADHD and basically stupid. But despite what she says,.. I plan too apply to vet school. Also, most of the time the military take ADHD people,.. now that telling someone something there,.. if military is taking Enlistes and Officers with ADHD,… WE ARE NOT STUPID! There DR. and Vets with ADHD,.. we are NOT STUPID! Only STUPID ones are the ones that think we are STUPID!
Some kids at school say kids with adhd are stupid but I have a’s and b’s in almost all subjects. But not all kids with ADHD are exactly geniuses though.
I feel completely stupid. I’m 20 years old, and I have adhd. I have scored on my recent iq test a 75. I have become hopeless and quite frankly depressed. I feel really stupid, and I feel like my adhd is a god forsaken curse. No chance in hell I would consider adhd a gift. In my own experiences with adhd, I would consider it a gift from HELL, and a living nightmare. Every day I get older, I feel more and more delayed compared to the rest of the so called “Normal” 20 year olds! It has made my life a living hell more than you can imagine. My parents are suffering from my pain and misery. Sometimes I just feel like wishing I could just die in my sleep. I can’t even spell well, my math is completely pathetic! I believe that the god forsaken ADHD curse, has severely decreased my self esteem, let alone my confidence. I do think I am a good looking guy, and unfortunately I am still a virgin at 20 years old. I’m completely embarrassed about it. I find it a living hell with ADHD. I am trying to go to college this fall. I graduated high school back in 2009, and I took off two years before attending college, which is what I am trying doing right now. God Bless!
The truth can be unpleasant, but the fact of the matter is people with ADHD are stupid. I know this first hand. I have ADHD, OCD, and very mild tourettes syndrome; doctors say these come as a triad.
When i was a kid i was told “you’re not stupid you just have a learning disability”. I really resent those people for coddling me (including my parents) because they gave me false hope. Part of what it means to be stupid is learning things more slowly than everyone else. Even though i work three times as hard as my friends, whether it’s at school, games, work etc I still can’t measure up to them.
Some people are below average, most are average, and a few very lucky are beyond average. This is life. Some people are stupid and there’s nothing we can do about it.