Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition of the brain that may result in high levels of activity or hyperactivity, impulsivity or difficulty focusing, and affects people in many different ways. While everyone will show these behavioural traits sometimes, someone with ADHD will present with one or more of these difficulties persistently. Someone with ADHD may find it hard to sit still, concentrate and can act on impulse, all of which impacts on their everyday life. Often wrongly thought of as being something only children experience, ADHD changes the way it manifests from childhood into adulthood, with many people not diagnosed until they become adults. Approximately 4% of adults in the UK have some form of ADHD.


Strengths and Talents

Other traits:

 

Misconceptions:

Hyper focusing on a task; can be excellent in emergency or urgent situations

May fidget, doodle or do something with their hands to help maintain concentration

That we're rude or antisocial when quiet in a large office setting or loud spaces, or when we can't make eye contact or struggle with small talk

 

Thinking outside of the box and problem solving, seeing the bigger picture and creativity

 

Can be impulsive and act without fully considering the consequences

 

People think that we're not intelligent because we don't always understand something the way it's initially told. That we're defiant or 'talking back' when asking questions/reasons behind something, especially to authority figures, when really those questions help us to understand in order to progress.

Being personable, and having empathy for others who process differently

 

Jump from one thought or activity to another

 

People think that to have ADHD you have to be externally hyperactive and be running around the room all of the time. We don’t always lack attention, often it is hyper focus. We can find things over stimulating, such as loud noises, bright lights etc - because we are overloaded with attention for things other people may ignore

Being passionate about particular interests or subject areas

 

Struggle with attention to detail if their brain isn’t motivated by the task, or can get lost in their own world

That we are rude if we don't engage much in casual conversations when actually more 'processing' time is needed sometimes to complete tasks properly. That when we ask questions it's to understand the task so we feel we can complete it properly.


Last modified: Tuesday, 11 November 2025, 12:44 PM