ADHD, in examples — not in a quiz

People do not arrive at clinic saying “Criterion A2(d)”. They arrive saying they lose the morning, interrupt the people they love, and cannot make a form stay finished. Guidelines still have to translate that life into a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity. This page is the translation in the other direction: construct into examples. It is not a checklist that can diagnose you.

Inattention, as it tends to look

• Detail slip — a line in a form, a step in a recipe, a figure in a spreadsheet. Not because the work is beyond them.
• Sustaining attention — meetings, homework, a conversation. The mind leaves without deciding to leave.
• Appearing not to listen — spoken to directly; the words do not land. Often called rude.
• Follow-through — the email started, the tax return open, several loops, none closed.
• Organisation — deadlines, bags, the order of a morning. Systems built, then abandoned.
• Avoiding effortful tasks — forms, long reading, admin. Aversive load, not a moral verdict.
• Losing things — keys, phone, glasses, the object that was in the hand a minute ago.
• Distractibility — a notification, a thought, a sound. The original task is still open. It is no longer occupied.
• Forgetfulness in daily life — appointments, returning a call, paying a bill, the reason for standing up.

Hyperactivity and impulsivity, as they tend to look

• Fidget, tap, leave the seat when sitting is expected. In adults this is often an inner motor more than running the corridor.
• Difficulty with quiet leisure. A film, a waiting room, a classroom that requires stillness.
• On the go — described by others as driven; described by the person as unable to downshift.
• More words than the conversation budgeted for. Interrupting as the thought arriving faster than the pause.
• Difficulty waiting — queues, turn-taking, the spinning wheel on a website.
• Blurted answers, walked-into conversations. Not always intended as dominance.

The parts a list cannot do

• A pattern, not a bad week.
• More than one setting — home and school, or work and relationships.
• Several features present in childhood, even if nobody had the language then. Late recognition is not late onset.
• Interference with life. Difference without impairment is not what these criteria are for.
• Not better explained, on its own, by another condition — and not cancelled by another condition either.

AuDHD — a word, not a code

Track the medicine, not the myth