Embracing the Journey: Reflections of a Neurodivergent Adult on Late-Diagnosed ADHD
Release Date: 11/02/2023
Five Things You're Guaranteed to Get at the ADHD Open Space
ADHD Open Space Podcast
Transcript: Welcome to the ADHD Open Space Podcast. My name is Gray Miller, and I will be your host and facilitator as we explore ideas, workarounds, accommodations, and other aspects of being a professional adult with ADHD. ...
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ADHD: The Scattering
ADHD Open Space Podcast
Let me tell you about the winter when the Idea Monster came and sat in his brain and almost kept the last five NaPodPoMo podcasts from happening. And also…about the fun game about ADHD that I’m creating. “Squirrel card, like…Someone sent a thumbs up emoji and you're distracted, lose, you're distracted, so you lose a certain number of emotional regulation tokens. Or you moved houses three months ago and can't find that one box with all the cleaning supplies. Immediately give up on all house related goal cards. So if you were planning on organizing your closet, or doing the dishes, nope,...
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ADHD in Relationships: Interview with my partner, Natasha
ADHD Open Space Podcast
This was a hard one to post, because my partner is loving and honest and so there are parts of this interview that my brain tells me will make you hate me. But authenticity is important, as is trust, and I trust both her and you, my listeners. So here it is in unedited glory.
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How My ADHD Brain Created a Nightmare of Social Anxiety
ADHD Open Space Podcast
After my diagnosis, even my dreams make more sense. Sort of. Note: all people mentioned in this article are fictitious constructs of my subconscious brain. Even the one who is real. Since my relatively recent diagnosis, I’ve been immersing myself in research, anecdotes, podcasts, videos, and social media related to adult ADHD. It’s been quite the revelatory experience, as my perspective of the last fifty or so years of my life changes with this new lens turned on myself. Last night all that knowledge finally seeped into my subconscious and I had what I suspect will only be the...
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The Dangerously Addictive Law of Mobility
ADHD Open Space Podcast
Made for Open Space. But tempting for the world... Here's the thing about Open Space: aside from providing people with the oppor- tunity to share the things they're passionate about, it also provides them with an op- portunity to be responsible. That one law I mentioned? It's known as "The Law of Mobility", and it is pretty simply expressed: If you are not benefiting from or contributing to whatever's going on in front of you, move somewhere you can. Note that it's not called "the opportunity of mobility" or "the you-might-want-to of mobility." It's the Law. It's the only law - as I pointed...
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The Four Principles of Open Space
ADHD Open Space Podcast
Whoever. Whatever. Whenever. It’s Over. That’s what makes it all work. My elevator pitch on Open Space goes something like this: “You know how regular conventions give you a program that tells you who’s going to talk, what they’re going to talk about, and exactly how long they’re going to let you think about it before they’ll stop talking? Open space is the opposite of that. People show up, and we ask them “What do you want to talk about right now? How long do you need?” And then we give them that space.” I’ve found it works pretty well, but some people...
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Why Open Space Events are Tailor-Made for People with ADHD
ADHD Open Space Podcast
Including some thoughts on overcoming impostor syndrome as a professional. I actually wrote an entire article about this on October 25th, 2023, and posted it both to my Medium account and to the ADHD OpenSpace newsletter. What was funny to me is that a few days later on October 29th the threads account of simple. mindful.adhd (who I have enjoyed following). (And by the way, I am, I'm quoting them not through any endorsement on their part of my event. I just found what they said interesting because they are at a conference and they were sort of doing a play by play as they were at...
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The Least Helpful Advice I’ve Ever Been Given About ADHD
ADHD Open Space Podcast
Please stop telling me my brain has a “Special Superpower." “I’m a fish in a forest.” I’m pretty sure at some point I’m going to make t-shirts with this statement. It’s my reaction to the oft-repeated “superpower” trope about ADHD. Here’s a bit of a rant…but I suspect it will resonate. TRANSCRIPT OF MAIN BODY There are two kinds of people when it comes to ADHD. On the one side, there are people like Dr. Russell Barkley, whose research has led him to call ADHD “the diabetes of the psychology”: It’s a chronic disorder that must be managed...
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From Now to Not-Now: ADHD and Temporal Discounting
ADHD Open Space Podcast
The many ways professionals with ADHD find to externalize their executive function and get %$#@ done. TRANSCRIPT OF PODCAST “Hang on a minute,” my coworker said through the zoom. “I need to take care of this now, or it won’t get done.” I nodded and sat back in my office chair. “I get it. Let me know when you’re done.” The task was small, tedious, and crucial to the success of our upcoming fundraising campaign for the rape crisis center where we work. I’d mentioned it in passing as we were covering a different topic. Now it had interrupted the flow of the meeting, not even a...
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ADHD Open Space - Professionals with ADHD Interview with Erotic Artist Nadia Vanilla
ADHD Open Space Podcast
info_outlineHello, I’m Gray Miller, and today, I want to share a personal reflection on being a professional adult who was late-diagnosed with ADHD. I’m a cis white male in my mid-fifties from the Midwest, and it was only a year ago (February of 2023) that I had it confirmed that I have been living with ADHD all my life.
Rather than have an exact transcript of the podcast episode, this is a summary for the TL;DL crowd; this is based on an article originally published on Medium.com.
I’ve written on many subjects, but I’m not an ADHD expert. Instead, I have half a century of experience in unknowingly navigating life with this condition — that’s expertise of a sort, right?
The Reluctance to Write About ADHD:
Despite having written over a thousand articles on personal development, I find myself hesitant to write about ADHD. This reluctance stems from a mix of emotions: shame for not recognizing my own condition, anger for the years of misunderstanding, fear about the future, exhaustion from the ongoing struggle, and sadness for the impact on my family.
As a footnote to the exhaustion, I recognize that ADHD, treatable but not curable, presents a lifelong journey of adaptation and self-acceptance.
Five Personal Reflections on Late-Diagnosed ADHD:
- Shame: I have explored numerous self-development techniques, yet I missed recognizing my own ADHD. This oversight challenges my credibility as a writer in this field.
- Anger: The signs were always there, from early school records to my eclectic career path. Discovering these as textbook ADHD symptoms has been both revealing and frustrating.
- Fear: Accepting that ADHD is a permanent part of my life brings anxiety. The dream of a consistent, disciplined life feels unattainable, and the public acknowledgment of my condition raises concerns about societal perceptions and career impacts.
- Exhaustion: The constant search for systems and routines that accommodate my ADHD is tiring. The realization of this condition in mid-life adds to the fatigue, contrasting starkly with peers settling into stable, predictable lives.
- Sadness: The impact of my ADHD on my family, especially the genetic implications for my children and grandchildren, weighs heavily on me. There’s a profound sense of loss for what might have been had I been diagnosed and treated earlier.
Writing about ADHD is challenging
Not only because of the personal struggles it entails but also due to the societal stigmas surrounding it. Have I jinxed my work life forever by being open about my diagnosis? Am I alienating friends and family by talking about it so much?
Maybe. But other people sharing their experiences has been crucial for me and other late-diagnosed adults like me. Discussing these challenges openly fosters understanding and support for all of us navigating life as neurodivergent adults.
What do you think?
Feel free to share your thoughts here in the comments, or email me at [email protected]. Background music for this blog post is “Funny Days Together” by Background Music Lab from Pixabay.com.