The Reality of Being an Adult with a Children's Diagnosis

 When I was 18, I had to take the ACT. Which is sort of like the SAT for those of you who are unfamiliar. It's one of the regulated exams here in the United States, and most high schoolers are encouraged to take either the SAT or ACT their senior year. My state just happens to use the ACT for college entrance applications.

My mother was very adamant that I try as hard as possible to study for this exam, she signed me up for study courses online. She bought me ACT prep books, and I took several practice exams. She also scheduled me with a local psychologist, one who was an expert on diagnosing ADHD; she did this because in order to get proper accommodations for ADHD, I had to have proof I had the diagnosis.

Here's the thing: I already had the diagnosis. But the ACT required my paperwork to be more up to date, within the last few years.

In short, I have a very detailed analysis from when I was both 8, and 18, of what qualified me for an ADHD diagnosis. I also remember most of my testing from when I was 18 more vividly than from when I was 8, which is unsurprising. However, the reason I remember most of the testing I took was because... most of it was was made for an 8 year old. I was this 18 year old young woman, who was reading at a college level as long as the text was in a large enough format. Taking tests that were about matching shapes.

This really should have been a sign that society kind of forgets that ADHD doesn't just end after childhood. I wonder how much of a myth it is that it is possible to grow out of ADHD, I do know that there are demographics of people who are wrongly diagnosed who "grow out" of ADHD because they did not have it. Statistically these people are usually just the youngest in their class, but pretty much everyone I have met who was diagnosed as a child still feels like they have their diagnosis.

That's not even mentioning the portion of adults who went undiagnosed in childhood - who often personally identify as ADHD because it is near impossible to get an adult diagnosis, or were told by a therapist that it may be something they have and not have a formal diagnosis. In reality, the way the DSM-5 has codified ADHD is as a diagnosis to be made in childhood and nowhere else. Adults are often forgotten about in the whole system.

I find it nearly insulting that ADHD isn't considered to be a lifelong part of someone's psychological health. It isn't a disease, but it is a disability in many ways. One that adults are often opted out of claiming by default of how the diagnosis is handed out.

It just makes me want to rip out the pages in the DSM-5, rewrite them to speak about all ages. To diagnose not just based on what is experienced in a classroom, but what is experienced at work, with friends, alone. To readjust the status quo to be inclusive of all who experience ADHD. Because while children are important, and their diagnosis and needs are a major focus, they are not the only people who have a learning disability that needs attention.