My son does, and I do.
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS:
- Not smart... ACTUALLY nearly all ADHD kids are gifted, some highly gifted, some profoundly gifted.
- Can't pay attention to anything... ACTUALLY, HYPERfocus (intense concentration) is part and parcel with the HYPOfocus (distractability). We struggle with paying attention to boring things. What is boring is highly individual. My passions = someone else's yawn.
- Can't sit still... ACTUALLY it's MOVEMENT that is important. Small muscle movement (facial expression, toe wiggling, keigles, breathing, tongue play, etc.) are equally satisfying, AS IS mental movement (thinking, daydreaming, etc.) for those of us who are ADHD-i, or ADHD-c. Common phrase "When my mind is moving, my body is still, and when my body is moving my mind is still."
- ADHD all looks the same ... ACTUALLY there are 3 types of ADHD (in attentive, hyperactive, and combined), that all express very differently.
- ADHD requires medication... NOPE. Medication can be useful, but is hardly required for successs. It depends on the person, their adeptness with coping mechanisms, AND the way their life is set up (ex: an ADHD-h girl in ballet school where 8 hours everyday is spent dancing can need no meds to get straight As in academics, but put her in a traditional school and she'd flunk out). When a kid lucks out with exactly what they need to max the positives of ADHD and minimize the negatives, it's VERY easy for it to be 'missed'.
- ADHD is caused by: lack of sleep, diet, parenting, allergies, etc.... NOPE, ACTUALLY, those are DISQUALIFYING factors. If, for example, the 'ADHD' is helped/fixed with diet, it was malnutrition, NOT ADHD.
- ADHD can be grown out of ... NOPE. Nothing magical abouth an 18th birthday. What DOES happen is that we learn and practice cooing mechanisms that make our ADHD less annoying to others and ourselves, or start using OTC stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, etc.), or more typically, both. ((HINT: my son has asthma -well, similar to asthma- & uses ventolin. The stimulant nature of ventolin helps a LOT with his ADHD))
ADHD is purely mental... ACTUALLY, there is a huge emotional component. We're not as extreme as bipolar folk, but we're a LOT more emotional than neurotypical folk. We can learn to monitor and manage our emotions, however, unlike bipolar folk.
ADHD meds make us high... ACTUALLY they make neurotypical folk high. We're missing neurochemistry that the stimulants are replacing. They don't make us any hiigher than insulin makes a diabetic high.
The list goes on, but these are some of the basics.
If your son thinks he does, at 15, he probably does. Take him in for an eval. And refer above : diagnosis does NOT equal 'having' to go on meds. It just makes it an option available to try.
I was diagnosed the first time at age 11, my son was unoficcally diagnosed as a toddler, and officially diagnosed at age 9. We didn't need an official diagnosis because it created no problems (ADHD in an ADHD house = no biggie / drop dead normal). We didn't need education, medication, or IEPs or other services (homeschool), so we didn't need the official DX until this year.