I have had the privilege to live with family members, and extended family, who not only have ADHD but also have all of these wonderful traits.
Hyper Focus
I’m sure that many employers wish more of their employees had the ability to shut everything else out and concentrate solely on the task at hand.
This can be a great asset if you have ADHD.
Usually, this ‘hyper focus’ is reserved for projects and activities that the person is super excited about.
Most of you who have ADHD educate yourselves and look for jobs in fields that excite you thus giving you access to that superpower Hyper Focus at work!
Passionate
Those who have ADHD seem to go all in and put their whole focus into what they are passionate about.
My son has gone through different passion phases as he was growing up. His passion projects have changed over the years.
When he was two years old we lived next to a building site. Whenever we walked by he would beg to stay and watch the excavators.
He ate, slept, and breathed excavators for the next five years. When he was seven we sat in the car and saw a dump truck.
He stared at it for a while and said, ”maybe when I grow up I don’t have to only drive excavators. Maybe I can drive a dumper too!”
Although he still liked excavators his passion shifted and for the next five years, he was passionate about legos.
He would build legos sets like crazy. Usually, they sat on the shelf when he was done. He would occasionally get them down to play with a friend, but he was always careful to keep the sets intact and together.
Now that he is a teenager he is passionate about youtube and video games. He likes to go all-in whenever he finds something he is passionate about.
Senses the emotional state of others
Children with ADHD often sense the emotional climate in their homes.
I can not count the times that my son has told me to stop being frustrated and yelling when I am talking to him. By most people’s standards, my voice levels would not even come close to yelling.
Often I would start talking to him in a completely normal tone of voice, but when I had repeated my question three times without a response I raised my voice a bit and probably sounded frustrated.
His response to this was to tell me to stop yelling!!
I would always be a bit taken aback when he would demand that I stop yelling when I had not been yelling in the first place.
When I slightly raised my voice he perceived it as yelling. When I felt a bit frustrated and tried to keep my voice sounding normal, he would demand that I stop sounding frustrated.
Often I thought I was just raising my voice a little bit. I did not necessarily realize I was frustrated, but I think he picked up on my inner emotional state.
When his radar picks up, the rest of the family is a bit off emotionally, he can’t regulate emotionally. When the rest of us are doing well emotionally, he is in a much better emotional state.
When he talks about other people and he thinks they yelled at him or are frustrated with him, I try to explain that he is very sensitive to other people’s emotional state.
Often he thinks others are upset with him when what he actually senses is that they are not doing well emotionally.
Often they are not at all upset with him. They are not doing well emotionally because of a completely different reason, and he picks up on that in their tone of voice and body language.
The rest of us wouldn’t have noticed a thing.
Thinking outside the box! Ingenuity
I have seen my son come up with some of the craziest quick fixes for many different problems!
When I have a problem, that is big enough to get frustrated over my inability to fix it. My son usually pops up and makes a suggestion.
Often I try to talk him out of his idea and explain why that would never work, but in the end, he talks me into trying it. He is often right! His ‘Outside the box’ ideas usually work!
For example, one fall he saw me raking leaves, putting them in the wheelbarrow, and driving them to the other side of our property every day.
Then he had an idea to use parts from a couple of old wood-burning stoves to make a ‘leaf burning stove’ complete with a tall chimney so we didn’t have to smell the smoke. He set it up on the lawn so I didn’t have to haul the leaves so far! His contraption actually worked.
They want fairness and justice for themselves and others
If I have ever seen anyone take fairness to its extreme it’s my children! This goes far beyond the typical exclamation of ‘That’s NOT fair’ you would expect to hear from siblings.
Sometimes it’s fairness they are demanding for themselves, but it always makes me smile when they are concerned about fairness for their friends, siblings, or even for me.
Just imagine if you could channel that sense of fairness and Justice into feeding the poor, being a voice for minority groups, or fighting corruption.
There is no limit to what can be accomplished, and our world would be a much better place
Their motivation is extremely contagious
I can not count the times my husband and I have been drawn into a project because our son was so enthusiastic about it that everything had to happen Right NOW!
we have on several occasions been asked to help other family members (Who also have ADHD) with their rather mundane projects, but somehow their extreme enthusiasm is contagious!
Their way of bringing family and friends together to accomplish their goals makes the whole project seem more like a big social event that is fun to be a part of.
Highly creative
Who knew that a rusty saw could be cut into a sword, or that some leftover bits of a 2×4 could be a ninja (if you had a bit of tape and a couple of nails), or that a 9-year-old could invent a new kind of cake, that was actually edible!
My children usually say that they feel most creative when they are not taking their ADHD Medications
We try to let them skip meds at school when they have a day of mostly practical subjects like home economics, Physical education, shop class, and the like.
Organized
I wish I could keep the rest of our house as organized as my son keeps his room.
If he doesn’t know where something is it can be a catastrophe, but he automatically makes a home for all his things in his room and puts stuff back (except for his dirty laundry on occasion).
The idea of giving all our things home does not come naturally to all of us. He likes to have all his ducks in a row and his days planned out in advance.
This can be a great life skill and helpful in the vast majority of vocations.
Takes care of his/her things
I do not know anyone who is as fiercely protective of their things as my son and daughter are.
My son can take this to an even greater extreme, but he rarely breaks or loses his own possessions.
If you ask him where something is he usually knows. He automatically makes a ‘home’ for his things, so he knows where they are.
Punktual
I do know people who have ADHD who are often late, and my son would be late for school every day if we let him.
But, if it’s something he is interested in he’s on his way to do or a good friend he is going to meet, he is often chomping at the bit and ready to go early.
Likes to take risks
I wish I could force myself to push all the buttons on my system camera, or play with all the settings on my phone, but I am always afraid I will ruin something.
Often my son will know how to do things on my phone that I can’t figure out or solve a problem on the computer that has me stumped. I can’t seem to turn off my fear of breaking things.
He pushes and touches everything so that in no time he knows how everything works.
I am not a big risk-taker. I like to weigh the pros and cons before I commit to taking a risk. Sometimes I wish I had the same faith that I see in my wonderful family members. Faith that, if I take this leap, everything will work out in the end.
Needs lots of touch
Lots of hugs and touch, like a pat on the back or a massage, are usually appreciated.
I think this helps my son know that we like him just the way he is and that he doesn’t need to be someone else.
When he was little he used touch to stay calm. He would sit beside us and play with the skin on the end of our elbows. This helped him sit longer and stay calmer.
Has the amazing ability to remember facts and figures
If it’s something they are interested in they can remember it!
My son could blow you away with his knowledge about countries he wants to visit, facts about Star Wars, details from history class, or facts about fast cars.
He can also explain in detail how to make a sword or lightsaber because that is the project he wants to do next.
He also has a treasure trove of information about computers and electronics that he will take every opportunity to share!
Innovative
Being able to look at a product and immediately see how it can be improved is a great skill!
I am always amazed by the suggestions my son comes up with for making everyday things even better.
Those who have ADHD are often forward thinkers who like to improve the ideas of others.
Some of these benefits our son has had his whole life.
We didn’t notice a few of them until he got older.
When my son was small he did not take care of his things. He often broke toys and I remember we had to buy his favorite excavator toy three or four times.
This changed with age.
You wouldn’t believe the difference between how clean my son keeps his room now and how his 7-year-old self kept his room.
The need for a minimized orderly room may have always been a for him need, but it never materialized until he could put his finger on it and put it into words.
Some things, like being hyper-focused, we noticed early on. He would spend hours building and following the instructions for huge Lego sets that were for kids five years older than he was.
ADHD changes during a lifetime and there are some great benefits at every age.
Embrace the things about yourself or your kids that make you unique. If you have ADHD use some of your superpowers to change the world!
If you need help with your ADHD child please read som of my other blog posts and LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES!
How Limbic Bonding Transforms ADHD Children
15 reasons why Kids with ADHD and Dyslexia should play games
How three different ADHD medications affected my son
What every teacher should know about the ADHD child
Why kids with ADHD need their own bedrooms
The Kiss of Death! Lead Lipstick can cause ADHD in children!
18 Positive traits of ADD (ADHD inattentive)
12 Issues Parents of ADHD kids need to fix in themselves!
If you would like to make a comment or have a question email me at annie@theadhdminimalist.com.
