Ste Wiggins

Website Manager

I was diagnosed with combined type ADHD around 18 months ago.

I had always been a well behaved, and intelligent child, who progressed through school and university without any real issues. I was doing well in my career and enjoying my work. I had had some struggles, yes, but then, who doesn’t?

Looking back, many of the struggles I have experienced in my life can be attributed to my neurodivergence. My constant want to fit in, but being aware I was somehow different. My heightened sense of anxiety. My clumsiness and poor time keeping. All symptoms of my ADHD.

Something I learned as part of my journey to diagnosis is that ADHD is far more complex than I ever knew. It isn’t just the stereotypical uncontrolled disruptive behaviour that we see portrayed in the media. It can be much more subtle than that, and (as with me) almost entirely internalised.

Like many people who have an adult diagnosis though, my symptoms weren’t enough to raise concerns to me or anyone else. I was able to cover them up, “masking” them, or simply ignore them entirely, chalking them off as character traits. I was able to tell myself I was fine until I really wasn’t.

I was very lucky in my journey to diagnosis as I qualified for private support from my employer at the time. This meant I could be seen in a matter of months and could begin to access support like counselling almost straight after. Unfortunately, a private diagnosis doesn’t mean I was able to access medication without paying privately too. To access NHS medication, I need an NHS diagnosis, which I am currently on the waiting list for.

My diagnosis provided me a great sense of relief – it was strange, but cathartic. Relief that I didn’t have anything potentially worse wrong with me. But more than that, giving it a name meant that I wasn’t in an outgroup any more, just a different in group. That sense of belonging has been huge in helping me adjust to life post-diagnosis.

October is ADHD awareness month, and I think it’s important to talk about it as a condition.

For me, talking about my experiences has really helped me adapt and accept myself for myself. It takes a lot of work to unpick a lifetime of pretending you aren’t different, to accepting that you are and that there’s nothing wrong with that.

More conversation about the subject can only help to normalise it and reduce any stigma associated with it. If it hadn’t been for other people talking about it, I likely wouldn’t have considered ADHD as something associated with me.

The more we share and support one another, the more we can empower each other to succeed.

It’s so important that we don’t think of people with any kind of neurodifference as being less or being a burden. We all have strengths and weaknesses, it’s just that some of us are tuned slightly differently. Yes, we might need some additional support with certain tasks, but we can also add so much too. Creative and lateral thinking, emotional intelligence, and excellent pattern recognition are just some of the positive traits I have as part of my ADHD.

By providing the right environment and support people with ADHD, and many other types of neurodiversity, can flourish and truly add to any organisation, situation, or relationship. Raising awareness through conversation and action are definitely a great way to make this happen.

You can read the experiences of our other TAAS colleagues here.