Blank page work…that’s a good way to put it. In grad school writing a thesis and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever, ever done with my adhd. And I used to do Stem Cell and Neurobiology! The lack of a deadline which I used to pressure myself in undergrad and no protocols to follow to a T, man…
Me (of yore) checking out my ex-gf with ADHD’s class notes: “Why are there so many eyes drawn in the tops and margins?”
Her: “Mind your business!”
I had a 2.5 GPA in high school during the Bush era No Child Left Behind times and remember their fucking brown boring ass book packets for homework and class…and LOATHING those unstimulating ass books just to get told I am just not smart enough to be in better classes. Until I unlocked the upper level AP classes my last two years of high school, which didn’t need an exam to get placement. Got a 4.0 the next school year and 4.5 cumulative my last year, its unfucking believable how many other students are and have likely been held back by how education is served to neurodivergents and hell even neurotypical folks.
2.0 is straight C’s
3.0 is straight B’s
4.0 is straight A’s
5.0 is straight A’s but with AP classes (college level) buffing it up
My response is even harsher, I go with lead has a 60% chance of causing adhd and lead was banned from being put in cars at the gas station in 1996. Then watch as most people my age realize they may have been exposed. The rest of the 40% chance is autism and more severely cerebellar hypodysplasia.
Hey! I do that too! Instead of saying I have trouble committing names/dates/verbal info, I just tell folks I have a short term memory disorder. Which is true! I need to mess up someone’s name or an important piece of info like 5 times until I cement it in, with guilt and embarrassment.
“You’re just using it as an excuse” is now a red flag for me that I’m talking to a garbage person and saves a lot of emotional energy kicking them out of your life.
Like getting incepted by a Spotify ad during a binaural sleep longplay.