Neurodivergent Girls: Growing up Differently

So, Steph, you have ADHD? Yes.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Okay.

You say very confidently.

So when you look back on your childhood, what were some early signs that you were experiencing the world differently? And how were those signs understood or misunderstood by others?

I think probably misunderstood for sure until I was obviously diagnosed at age 37.

So in context, I'll be 39 this year.

So it was about a year and a half ago I was diagnosed.

And yeah, I think it's been misunderstood my whole life.

And this is common when I'm speaking to other women who are late diagnosed like me.

But the thing is with me, I do a lot of trainings for schools and I do a piece on neurodivergent girls or specifically ADHD and what it looks like and spotting the signs.

But I got so good at hiding it when I was a kid and when I was a teenager, probably to the point where I hid it so much online.

That I probably lost a little bit of who I was or a sense of who I was.

I was a perfectionist.

I was your straight A student, highly academic, got involved in everything in school, all the plays, all the singing, the dancing, the drama, the reading and assembly.

I was in a Catholic school, so I was always doing something in Catholic mass, you know, in choir.

There was always something I was involved in.

And I loved it and I loved academia and I loved education to a point.

But it wasn't spotted because I was doing well.

Yeah.

And I think that's the difference.

And the question then becomes, or should be, it shouldn't be a case of, you know, is she doing well? It's what is it costing her? But it also showed up, I think, and I've done a lot of work as a grown woman.

I've had to do a lot of work on the experiences of being a teenage girl, navigating hormones, which there's very little research on anyway.

I think it's a feminist issue, but maybe we'll come to that later.