The Forums › Forums › I Just Found Out! › I Have a Diagnosis, Now What? › Found out 20 years ago I was diagnosed. › Reply To: Found out 20 years ago I was diagnosed.
Sounds like you’ve successfully developed some coping strategies, jasoco! I think most ADDers have at least a few to help manage our wildly diverse symptoms. My husband has to file or pile everything neatly in order to avoid being lost among all the things competing for his attention. I, on the other hand, am afraid of straightening anything up, because once something is in a file or a neat pile, I immediately forget everything that isn’t immediately visible. Makes for some interesting times in our house. We have opposite methods of coping with our forgetfulness and procrastination (NB: I just spent ten minutes trying to remember the word “procrastinate”; then I gave up and used Google.)
If you had really grown out of it, you probably would not have to set multiple alarms and force yourself to go to required meetings. Having ADD isn’t a character flaw. laziness or weakness of will; it’s a physiological, neurological condition for which some people are lucky or persistent enough to manage with medication. Others don’t take drugs, but find other therapies useful.
Don’t beat yourself up about it, but please take advantage of the college’s offer of accommodation. You don’t have to use it when it’s not necessary, but it would be terrible if you found yourself unable to complete a paper or exam on time and did not have a documented justifiable reason to ask for deadline flexibility.
My husband’s severely-ADD daughter thought everything was fine when she finally ended up at a college (her third, after four high schools) and in an arts major at which she excelled – to her own amazement. But several competing projects left her suddenly unable to prioritize anything, even eating and sleeping. Luckily, in addition to meds, she had a request for accommodation on file with the school, and was able to use it effectively – after never taking advantage of it for two years – to get an additional week to get her work sorted out and completed.
It sounds like your college is inviting you to document your situation. If it were me, I’d take them up on it, even if it took a bit of effort to get it done.
Good luck – and please let us know how it goes!
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