I will never forget the day that I was told my disability was not a detriment, but an asset.

In the words of Nicole Truesdell, the Senior Director of Academic Diversity and Inclusiveness at Beloit College, “If you have a disability, it means you had to work twice as hard to get [to college].” There is truth to this. Because of my ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), I take twice as long as my peers without intellectual disabilities to do an assignment for class. Nonetheless, I always finish the assignment no matter how long it takes, and I always carve out extra time to look it over and make sure it’s done well — even if it is 6 AM by the time I finally finish. I have also come to know the behavioral rhythms that come with my ADHD, one of which is my habit of procrastination. While I admit that this is something I am still working to overcome, I believe I have come a long way. I have started to work on my assignments earlier, and I have more frequently sent them to my peers of earlier graduating classes to get insight on how to improve my work. Because I have worked so hard to not let my ADHD be a detriment to my grades like it has been in previous years, my ADHD has most certainly made me a more hardworking person.

However, I would not say that motivating me to work harder is the only thing that makes my disability an asset. Another thing I love about having ADHD is the “H” — because of the hyperactivity aspect of ADHD, I have a boundless supply of energy. When I was in high school, I was the mascot for my school’s FIRST Robotics team, and my role at competitions was dancing in the stands and cheering on the people who drove our team’s robot. I could dance and cheer for hours on end, and people noticed. I was frequently complimented on my moves and enthusiasm, not only by people who came to simply watch the matches but also by other teams’ mascots. During all three years of my time as our team’s mascot, no one could ever figure out how I could dance like that for so long without fainting. For a while I couldn’t figure it out either, but when I received a professional diagnosis of ADHD in May of this summer, it all made perfect sense. Perhaps my ADHD was the reason I could never study or pay attention in my high school classes, but it also gave my robotics team a mascot worth bragging about.

I have also frequently been told that I am a fun person and great to talk to. This is largely due to my ADHD — all the letters of it. My attention deficit makes me very apt at holding a conversation. Have we exhausted this conversation topic? No problem! My short attention span allows me to generate a new one within seconds, and if that one doesn’t work out… on to the next. If that one doesn’t work out, I have many more up my neuroatypical sleeve. Moreover, my hyperactivity makes me quite an animated talker. I tend to be very passionate and enthusiastic about what I am talking about, and my way of expressing it tends to be over-the-top and dramatic. As a result of the extra energy surplus, I often act out what I’m saying and talk with my hands so that my body has more to do while I’m talking. One of my friends has said that when I am around, it creates an entirely different mood because I am so expressive and energetic. Others have agreed that this makes me fun to be around. (There are also some people who think it makes me annoying, but that’s okay. My existence has never been contingent upon people liking me.)

But wait, there’s more! Remember all those times you blew your money on coffee to keep from falling asleep in class? ...Okay, okay, I’ve had to do that too — but for me it’s different. If I had not slept well the night before, but had slept well the night before that night, then I would have sufficient energy to be as alert as I would normally be. If I had not slept well for two nights in a row or more I would need coffee to stay awake, but I would need less of it than someone without ADHD would to generate the same amount of energy. I once barely slept for two nights in a row, but I managed to have more than enough energy to get me through my day just by drinking one cup of coffee with two shots of caffeine in it. There have also been days where I did not sleep at all the previous night or the one before that, but even without coffee I did not fall asleep in class. I may have not felt so good due to sleep deprivation, but I still managed to stay awake while watching some of my peers fall asleep. (I have fallen asleep in class before, but that was because I had not slept well the entire week.)

My ADHD may impede me in certain ways, but it also gives me certain advantages that people without ADHD do not have. Thus, I will not be ashamed of it, and I will not be made to feel like less because of it — the second D in ADHD stands for “disorder,” not “detriment.”