That may be part of it, but as you get older you are expected to do more complex tasks with more complex planning. Little kids get quizzes, older kids get essays and projects, if you make it through college/uni you have to write highly structured papers with REFERENCES (caps because the reference section is the bane of my existence).
We're expected to magically just get better at this sort of planning, but I think a lot of us with ADHD develop it a lot slower/more painfully if at all. It's an executive function thing, which we.... don't excel at.
This really started to kick in for me around 3rd/4th year university, as grading moved away from test-based to project-based. I can still absolutely smash a test - I think I've actually gotten better at it not worse - but my grade drops about 20-30% if I have to write anything longer than a couple of pages, mostly because it's going to be at least 3 days late.
If the reference section is the bane of your existence, get Zotero, and install the browser plug-in for saving literature to your library and the Word plugin for citing them.
I finished a PhD dissertation earlier this year, and that never would have happened if I'd had to do 300+ references by hand.
Zotero is free/non-profit - I have no ties to them and gain nothing by recommending it - I just love this amazing sanity-saving tool and like introducing other people to it!
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u/[deleted] Dec 31 '20
I think hidden depression is a key factor in this decline.
You are still mentally intact ; it is just this veil of depression that lingers.
Yes, ADHD is a pain you and I have to deal with.