ADHD Training Center offers coaching for children and adults with ADHD, as well as parent coaching for parents of children with ADHD. We hear many stories about what it’s like to live with ADHD, and we also know from our experience working with different families that the stories of what it’s like to live with ADHD and executive function disorder can vary considerably in how it manifests and what it looks like.
We wanted to take a moment to share a few of these stories to help you understand a bit more about how executive function disorder may manifest in children with ADHD, specifically those of college student age. Here are some stories:
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“I did not make a single credit card payment. I know I needed to, but I couldn’t get myself to do it. I would put it off, forget, think there was more time, get distracted, and just never could get myself to actually do this thing I needed to do.”
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“My daughter is so well behaved and adult, but she really struggles when it comes to doing the activities she has to do. She doesn’t apply for financial aid when she needs to. She doesn’t register for classes. I have to constantly remind her to do these things. It doesn’t make sense to me sometimes, because she is mature and caring. She’s not a troublemaker. But she just has this very hard time completing the tasks she has to complete.”
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“I know the material pretty well. I think I could do better studying, but I do know generally the material. The problem is that some of my classes change the tests. They go from multiple choice to long answer, and they don’t tell us in advance this will happen. I get so overwhelmed. My grades are struggling, and I don’t really know how to fix it.”
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“I have lost my sunglasses so many times.”
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“Sometimes I forget to eat. Sometimes I get on my phone and like 4 hours have passed and I didn’t do anything. I didn’t study, I didn’t see anyone, I didn’t even go to sleep. It’s like 3am and I haven’t had food or cleaned my room or brushed my teeth. I think one thing that’s really hard for me is when I finally get myself to study and someone knocks on my dorm door. It’s like all the motivation I had to work is gone, and I’m not even thinking about it anymore, so getting back to it is pretty hard.”