I have been officially diagnosed, but only 2 years ago in January. I am an adult by now and married for 5 years, no longer living with my parents. (ADHD, inattentive and distractible type)
Nobody seemed aware of my difficulties related to ADHD, besides the early reports at school that made clear suggestions that align perfectly with the typical symptoms. But, without hyperactivity present, it is simply overlooked. You are mistaken for a lazy student, or for other students, you're just a loser that scores poorly during tests.
I was a hardworking student, eager to learn, eager to read, but I simply couldn't. Studying for a week in advance for a test? Forget it, I'd get black-outs within an hour and all that hard work spent to learn is simply gone. I couldn't read either, and my reading level was always two levels below the average. (They had a system for it) I received help for reading and pronouncing things as a child <12 years, but I didn't improve a lot, just enough to "function".
As a child I was usually misunderstood, bullied and neglected by my parents, friends, school students and even complete strangers. They didn't get me, neither did they have patience in the long term, but I'm uncertain if that's related to ADHD.
I never realized that I had ADHD, simply because it was normal for me to forget things easily and not to function properly. Things, such as remembering dates, doing math, reading, managing my energy, managing my tasks, excessive stress or even holding objects ... Everything is a struggle.
I'd always get nervous, feel urged to move and run from the standard expectations of the world. Feeling like an absolute failure, while no one else struggled like I did. I made a conclusion to myself that I am indeed "dumb" and "useless", giving in to what the others would tell me when they laugh in my face.
I needed to teach myself everything over (even basic things like reading the clock because I was too scared to ask), all by myself and established multiple systems to keep myself productive and mentally fight against the bullying, the statements and pure humiliation. I have developed a fear of speaking because I can't talk in a chronological order when telling or explaining, I can merely write it. It's a complete, chaotic mess in my mind.
When I told my parents that I am officially diagnosed with ADHD, they were skeptical, convinced that I just *wasn't* interested in the subjects. Then again, they aren't close with me, so ...
Traits
READING
When it's a short piece of text, I'm usually "okay", if it becomes longer than a sentence:
- Everything becomes blurry
- The words become unsharp and "move"
- I stare at the text, but it's like I don't know what the words mean
- I understand what the words mean, but I lose track of what I read while I continue reading the sentence
It's not necessarily dyslexia because when and how it happens keeps changing, but ... It's pretty much like dyslexia. I don't know if it's common.
TASKS
Invisible wall, spacing out
When I wish to initiate any type of action, such as getting up from a chair, start whatever task, it's like there is a visible wall. Something holds me from moving, my body refuses to respond to any "signal" that I give to begin the task, it simply delays or ignores it entirely. When I'm lucky, I also dissociate on the spot and won't notice the passing time. Sometimes, I simply lose 30 minutes without realizing it. (This is also how I lost my job, hey~!)
SPEED
Delayed response
When I intend to press a button quickly (Gaming), or need to grab something before it drops, there's a clear delay. Even if there is the urge and adrenaline, it sometimes delays with 0,1+ seconds and I can truly FEEL that delay. It's something people don't seem to understand.
SENSORY OVERLOAD
Processing difficulties
Hearing many sounds of different tones or specifically high and low tones, they hurt me and distract me. With too many of them, I become overwhelmed and I may shut down or get awfully angry. Any thoughts I had at that moment? Gone. I just lose it (temper) and feel urged to flee or do whatever it takes to turn off the sound within record time. Unable to think straight.
Physically, I am also extremely sensitive. When someone just holds my shoulder, the signals coming from my shoulder to indicate that there is a gentle pressure is leading all over my body. It's not painful, instead, I just get overwhelmed at times and blush for no reason but ahem. It's simply too much. Bright colors also overwhelm me, they give me headaches and just irritate me, also releasing extreme emotions at times. They exhaust me, as if I just had a (mental) workout, simply because of the processing issue.
SPEECH
When I talk to people, I talk too "soft" (might also be caused by my past though), I lose track of my sentence order, of what I want to say and talk impulsively just to fill the gaps, hoping for no one to notice (Spoiler: it's obvious). People would often make fun of it. Sometimes I'll just "shut down" in between and not say another word.
I'd plan out everything I want to say, but forget it all within fractions of seconds. It's a living hell.
HYPERFOCUS
My focus is (digital) art, I may not draw realism like you do, but a style in between mild semi realism and cartoon/manga. Sometimes, I'd swap things around, but I'd usually plan. When I draw, I enter a mental space in which I lose connection to the real world by mind. All I see is my screen and the illustration I work on.
"FUN FACTS"
I'll casually run into things because I lose my balance, I'll randomly drop objects because I lost the "signal" that I was holding something, I'll knock things over because I struggle to calculate my depth, ruining my ego and pride each and every day. (I try so hard hahah)
. . .
What makes me "different" is that the people who know me know that I'm, unlike most people with ADHD, pretty organized. I fight for clarity in chaos all the time, and also achieve this. I have days, however, where I do the complete opposite. It's more of a daily struggle to be my opposite while my body fights for control by forcing the ADHD symptoms onto me that I don't want. It's extremely stressful, though ... I am not medicated and refuse to take medicine because of the potentially dangerous side effects. I don't wish to put my health and survival on the line for a few hours of concentration daily.
If you are familiar with the MBTI system (16 personalities) I am considered a lot like a stereotypical INTJ-A (except that I am terrible at many things)
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I hope it's of any use to you! Sorry if this was a lot of oversharing.