I’m currently working with several retired clients who were diagnosed with ADHD only after they retired.
When we sit down together, we talk about the 12 executive functions of the brain: what they are, and how to name the specific skills involved in this fascinating cognitive process.
Something shifts the moment we give names to these skills, and especially when they observe that those names connect directly to struggles they lived with back in school.
First, there’s a tremendous sense of relief. For decades, they carried around labels like “lazy,” “disorganized,” or “not living up to potential.” Suddenly, there’s language for what was really happening, and old narratives start to loosen their grip.
The challenges my clients experienced were real. So were the internal beliefs and the negative labels. But once those get replaced with an accurate name and a clear explanation, something remarkable happens: hope moves in, and thinking shifts! Yes! That is where the real magic happens, because we can begin to set up external systems that truly support them.
A Lifetime of Fitting Into the Wrong System
So many people have spent years – sometimes an entire career – trying to force themselves into systems that were never built for the way their brains are wired. Traditional school structures, rigid workplace expectations, one-size-fits-all productivity advice; none of these accounted for executive function differences.
And when the system doesn’t fit, it’s easy to conclude that YOU’RE the problem. That belief can follow someone for 40, 50, even 60 years.
Today, We Know Better
These days, we have far more options, not only for supporting ADHD and executive function challenges, but for understanding ourselves with a whole lot more compassion. An estimated 15 million adults in the U.S. currently have an ADHD diagnosis. Many of them spent years, sometimes decades, quietly wondering why certain things felt so much harder for them than for everyone else around them.
And that’s exactly why we need a month dedicated to ADHD awareness! To spread hope, empathy, and understanding, and to reach the people still waiting for an explanation that finally makes sense.
Imagine the difference it could make for today’s students and young adults to get that understanding now, rather than thirty years from now. A different story is possible, starting much earlier, with the right tools and the right support.
