'If I had a visible disability, everyone would understand I need some space, slack, and grace. It’s hard for me to make friends, and when I do, my friends often joke about my problems. You’d never joke about a person with another kind of brain difference.'
I finally got sick of the stares. I got sick of the eyerolls. I got sick of the sighs, the glances, the shouldn’t-she-know-better looks. I had long ago accepted them as part of my life as an adult with attention deficit disorder . My mind doesn’t work the way that regular people’s do. I’m too busy thinking to remember my kid’s backpack. If my phone whirs, I’m too easily sucked in to have a conversation.
If I had a visible disability, everyone would understand that I need some space, some slack, some grace. It’s hard for me to make friends, and when I do, my friends often joke about my problems. You’d never joke about a person with another kind of brain difference. But other issues have pretty ribbons. Instead of a bumper sticker, I have what looks like a kid’s disorder — something kids grow out of. They don’t know aboutSo I decided to stop hiding it.
“Stop!” I said to another friend, who was yammering away about my pet-sitting for her. “I don’t have my planner with me. I have to write this down in my planner, or I won’t remember.” She started to giggle. “One of those with the planners, huh?” she said. “I used to be like that.” I shook my head. “No,” I said. “I have ADHD. Without the planner, I don’t know where I have to be when. I don’t remember some things as well as regular people.” She nodded, suddenly understanding.
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