dear chloe
what is it like to be the voice of reason in a tempestuous sea of insanity?
my family could be the poster group for adhd. we are six; four daughters and two parents all with adhd, all diagnosed later in life, at ages 54, 44, 27, 25, 21 and 14. you can imagine our homes growing up. we lived on the same street as our school but were always late, could never find our hairbrushes, always had grubby clothes… the list goes on ad infinitum. none but our father has ever found a path; how did you do it? we are proud of you.
there’s a grief and sometimes a bitterness about the situations of those of us who have not achieved what you have. me, i’m not really anything. i do often wonder what life might have been like. could i have won the itm supersprint? don’t know, i never learnt how to drive a car. an olympic medalist? never done any sports, nor can i swim. an au pair in gay paree? i never finished learning to speak french. a winner of the melbourne cup? never been on a horse. a university professor in classics? i forgot all my latin after my master’s degree. yet another list goes on…
how does one go forward successfully when they can’t go back and fix it all? one simply does, because it beats the alternative. but just getting by isn’t good enough: the neurodiverse deserve equal quality of life. how do we get there? make it your career.