One last hot take and then I’ll shut up: the reason adhd is framed first and foremost as a learning disability when it is in fact more apt to call it an emotional processing disorder is bc our society is only concerned w the ways neurological disorders impede a person’s ability to “function” aka get a job and contribute positively to capitalist society. How adhd affects interpersonal behaviors and emotional health is only relevant insofar as it relates to a person’s level of societal functioning PERIOD. There is no interest in improving our actual livelihoods
This is why girls are often not diagnosed w adhd until they are much older, bc they are forced to develop certain social awareness and self-surveillance capacities at an extremely young age and thus don’t perform “poorly” in the areas usually looked at to signify the disorder. But that doesn’t mean girls don’t take that distress out thru other avenues, just that the many alternative iterations of the disorder are ignored by professionals bc they don’t matter as far as society is concerned, as long as a girl is performing “well enough”
And it often catches up with women later in life, either while pursuing an advanced degree or with the responsibilities of caring for herself and/or her family. And then the self-blame and self-doubt has been there all her life. It’s awful.
I just wanted to add: ADHD is actually not considered a learning disability. Learning disabilities are classified as a difficulty in a particular area such as reading, writing, mathematics. ADHD effects all areas of performance. That is literally why it is not a learning disorder, because it is broader than a specific learning disorder in it’s impact. And then on top of it all there’s the emotional components and other executive dysfunctions that impact life and learning. Now wanna hear some BS? Because it is not in itself a learning disorder, it’s just a “learning difference”, ADHDers often have a harder time getting accomodations and having their disorder taken seriously in terms of the impact on academic performance.
Jamie Lynn shouting “well then move the fuck out” in a random woman’s face after hearing her yell no one wants Britney in the neighborhood. that was a classic