Many people discover, sometimes much later than expected, that they are not neurotypical, often because the signs were there, but just interpreted as, say, a fun, personal quirk. So we’ve gathered examples of neurodivergent and ADHD traits that people thought were just “normal” behaviors for the longest time.
An important note, don’t diagnose yourself from an online list, many of these behaviors are not necessarily exclusive to neurodivergence. Settle in as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own experiences and thoughts in the comments down below.
#101
Thinking so multidimensional and in layers all at once. The pattern recognition that comes w that caliber of thinking. It’s very hard for me to have conversations w “normal ppl” and I’m working on how to articulate better to ppl
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7points
#102
I smell everything I eat and if it even smells a tiny bit off I can not eat it. 😬😅 My mom says looking back she can clearly see the signs but I’m a 90s kid so 🤷♀️😅
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7points
#103
Hypersensitivity, when I was younger I was diagnosed with ADHD and then I later developed 2 anxiety disorders. I thought having strong emotions and feelings towards people, environments, and words they say was normal. But I guess it wasn’t.
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7points
#104
Actually being a genuine person 😅 I learned the hard way people are not authentically kind or care about you
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7points
#105
15 conversations with myself. All in my head. All,with diff character voices & faces/bodies. Also, not officially diagnosed, but I've read a thing or two.
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6points
#106
Stimming!!!! My parents used to belittle & slap me for me doing it up into my young (mid 20's) adulthood.
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6points
#109
Knowing people’s intentions of what they’re thinking and feeling, even though they’re not acting like it, I thought everybody was able to do that until I realized that it was not normal
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6points
#110
APD. synesthesia. astigmatism. RSD. Limerence. Maladaptive daydreaming. Chasing dopamine.
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5points
#112
constantly being reminded how mean people will be to me, even though I always treated them with kindness, courtesy, and friendship - including family 😔
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5points
#114
“Zoning out”. I was getting called out by teachers for disassociating during class as a young child
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4points
#116
Just being extremely fast. Whether its walking, doing an activity or task. Telling a story i’ll skip to like 5 side stories so pplnoften said I was bad at explaining things in a step by step way
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4points