One of my concerns with the ADHD label is that it only focuses on the negatives, while in fact there are many positives to having ADHD. One way to counteract the negatives is to learn about people with ADHD who have done great things with their lives. In this video I feature 12 positive role models who have been diagnosed with ADHD including Simone Biles, Steven Spielberg, Terry Bradshaw, James Carville, and Justin Timberlake. While ADHD has been challenging for most of them, they also attribute their creativity, vitality, and go-to attitude to their neurodivergence. At the end of the video, I consider whether Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, or other figures from history had ADHD, and while we can’t really know since they didn’t do any ADHD diagnosing back then, these famous names may have had traits suggestive of ADHD (Einstein, for example, may have had the ”inattentive” variety of ADHD, although in this photo celebrating his 72nd birthday, he may be acting a little impulsive, or more positively, playful).
______________________________________________
For more information about neurodiversity, see my books:
- The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Neurodivergent Brain (Completely Revised and Updated Second Edition), and
- Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strength-Based Strategies to Help Students with Special Needs Succeed in School and Life.
This page was brought to you by Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. and www.institute4learning.com.
Follow me on X: @Dr_Armstrong
Subscribe to my blog feed and receive a 200-item Neurodiversity Strengths Checklist
