Of Course I Have Sympathy for the MEDICAL DISORDER That Is ADHD

if you aren't trying to turn your disorder into an all-defining and permanently-exculpatory definition of your self, I'm not criticizing you

I think modern disability politics are, speaking broadly, about as unhealthy and misguided as any non-crazy/non-fascist political tendency can be, and I say so often. Because of this, I’m sometimes accused of having insufficient sympathy for people who suffer from particular disorders. Specifically, I’ve been told on multiple occasions that I don’t have the requisite respect for the difficulties faced by people with ADHD. But this is precisely the category error that I’ve tried to critique: ADHD, the neurodevelopmental disorder, is a vexing condition that deserves our compassion and, more importantly, treatment. The bizarre all-encompassing identity of I-Am-ADHD that a lot of too-online people have crafted, in contrast, is toxic and destructive, and I mock it because it deserves mockery. And in general, some people are guilty of exploiting the special sensitivity we apply to medical issues, using that sensitivity as leverage to self-define, climb the social ladder, and gain subtle power over others. I find that quite offensive, and I will happily say so to people’s faces, and that has nothing whatsoever to do with caring for those who are struggling with ADHD.

“I have ADHD and it causes great difficulty in concentrating and staying on task, in a way that has presented serious challenges in my life” is a statement that prompts immediate compassion for me. “ADHD people are deeper and more creative and more unique and also you can’t criticize me about anything ever because I have this” - which is genuinely not much of an exaggeration in some of these discursive spaces - is an attitude that adults should feel free to dismiss as laughable and self-interested. And I find it blissfully easy to make that distinction.