Understanding the signs- a reflective view

Like any good parent when you think your child may have an illness, a disability or a condition, you start reading and doing your homework as a way to help them.  It was doing this for our daughter that I started to understand the signs of ADHD , that had always been there but I didn't understand.  

As a youngster say about 10/11ish I spent so many days at hospital being poked and prodded by doctors because I didn't eat a lot and I had pains in my gut all the time, both now understood to be Neurodivergent traits, and those with ADHD suffer with IBS etc. Into my adult life it was headaches and a stiff Jaw, i put it down to my nasal issues at the time but guess what, nope ADHD signs, you clench your muscles without knowing and its manifestation of the always switched on mental tension.

Restless legs especially in the evening, when you are lying down to rest but its uncontrollable because that internal motor keeps driving you for stimulation...annoying for you but also worse for the person who you share your bed with, as its irritating and they don't know why you do it.  Well my wife knows now and she spots my leg stimming all the time and knows its how i regulate myself.

Feeling like your skin is ultrasensitive, so seams irritate you or neck lines on t-shirts feel too tight....yep had that too and it was a running joke that my t-shirts all had stretched necks and my skin would be irritated, still happens now but usually on the fronts of my legs i can scratch them sore.

Listening to the same song on a constant loop or watching the same film over and over, can all be subtle traits.  Now on their own none of these are a massive worry but when I look back and think of how many there were along with a million others, the signs were there but as people we didn't fully understand what they were signs of.  Now we know and the stigma is gone, I feel so happy being able to have open discussions with people on what my ADHD and ADD mean to me and how they impact me but also how they made me who I am - not perfect but me.