Hi! I'm Raven, and I have ADHD. This is a thread and very much an incomplete collection of my early childhood shenanigans and experiences that will be in my book one day. (Enters 6 year old Raven)

I am/was very smart and would ZOOM through my work as a child. The INSTANT I got the work it was done. Instead of sitting at my desk like a neurotypical child, I would pretend to be a frog and jump from desktop to desktop. I was literally playing leapfrog with myself on DESKS .

I also would get up and spin around during the middle of the class. I had no idea that wasn't the right thing to do, it just felt natural for me and very relaxing. I was still learning, just spinning around while doing it. The teacher would tell me to sit. I COULDN'T.

We had a behavior indicator system where we went home with a log. Green=good day. Yellow=had some trouble. Red=bad day. I couldn't fix the red ones but I would run over the yellow ones with a blue crayon to make green so my mom wouldn't know that I royally BOTCHED my school day.

My teachers kept putting me in time out. My mom was pissed & cussed out the teacher. Told her to stop putting me in time out. I went to "special ed" & calmed down a LITTLE BIT. They also at the same time put me in the "gifted and talented program". I was confused by the changes.

I rode the "short bus" and I was told that I would smack all of the kids on the bus. Including myself. WHY? I don't know I also jumped off of a really tall statue and have a scar on my knee from this incident to this day.

They decided to let me skip grades. I went from first grade to third grade. That actually helped me A LOT, although it took me a while to get used to being with older kids. I aced my way through high school & sports. I ended up starting high school when I was about 12 years old.

In high school, I was no longer "in special ed", but I liked to go in the special ed classrooms sometimes during lunchtime or study halls because it was a comfortable place and I had friends in there. I was a cheerleader, track runner, and in science olympiad.

Little did I know at that point that I had not grown out of my ADHD and I was to experience a new journey as an adult with ADHD that looks pretty much nothing like childhood ADHD at least in my case. I'm still navigating it but I'm learning new things about myself everyday.