Studies have highlighted that symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity tend to be more present in men and boys and are more outwardly visible than symptoms of inattention, which are often more associated with ADHD in females. However, even with this knowledge, ADHD symptoms, particularly when more subtle, can be difficult to spot.
In a series of interviews by Dr. Samantha Hiew, Dr Aaron Dodini and his daughter, Sydney, discuss Sydney’s experiences of living with ADHD, and the impact of being diagnosed later, as a young adult.
The challenge
ADHD can often go undetected, especially when symptoms don’t fit classic presentations
Dr. Aaron Dodini shares his experience of being an ADHD doctor and parent to a child with ADHD who wasn’t diagnosed until age 19.
His daughter, Sydney Dodini, was performing well in school, achieving good grades, and outwardly demonstrated few, if any, notable signs of ADHD. However, as Sydney herself shares, in a second interview, she was working late at night and spending hours on schoolwork to achieve those results.
Understanding the subtler symptoms of ADHD
Sydney speaks of the mental preparation required for tasks and the challenges of perfectionism and anxiety that come with her ADHD.
“It takes a long time to get focused on something, and it takes a long time to understand something enough to approach it.”
Speaking separately to Dr Hiew on the challenges of living with ADHD, Sydney elaborates how she "feels with ADHD, there’s no such thing as being able to compartmentalize correctly and give weight to all the tasks correctly and get everything done correctly.”
How coping strategies can mask ADHD symptoms
It was only when Sydney went to college and was sharing a room with classmates that it became clear she was having to do so much more mental work to be able to complete the same schoolwork, and they suggested she may have ADHD.
Sydney had developed this scaffolding technique, as Dr Dodini describes it, of working late at night on tasks, to help her achieve the school results she wanted.
Coping strategies such as this are not uncommon for those living with ADHD, as highlighted in a recent episode of the Rethinking ADHD podcast. However, these strategies can often mask ADHD symptoms from those around them. So much so that for Sydney and Dr Dodini, Sydney’s coping strategies were so effective that her father, even though working with ADHD patients daily, did not identify Sydney’s ADHD symptoms.
The solution
How an objective, digital ADHD test provided answers
Dr. Aaron Dodini explains that he used a range of tests and tools to assess Sydney for ADHD, including QbCheck .
“We did a variety of different tests. We use one that I think is a really exceptional way of measuring the symptoms of ADHD. It gives us objective data. It’s called the QbCheck.”
How digital ADHD tests can help diagnose with confidence
Dr Dodini was surprised by Sydney’s QbCheck results, which were indicative of her having ADHD symptoms. He started talking to her about her experiences. It was then that the combination of subjective and objective data started to correlate, and both father and daughter began to realize how many of Sydney’s experiences were explained by her ADHD diagnosis.
“But without the objective data, without being able to see literally how much she was moving, literally how much she was impulsive, literally how much she was being distracted with raw data and numbers, I don’t know that I would have believed it.”
The outcome
An ADHD diagnosis becomes a way to understanding and acceptance
Sydney’s diagnosis helped the whole family to make sense of so many previous challenges and experiences. Dr Dodini shared how Sydney had experienced Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria as a result of her undiagnosed ADHD, and that this had affected the way she viewed herself and her relationships with others. He notes how Sydney’s perspective on the condition varied from that of her mother and his own.
Since the diagnosis, Sydney has finally felt that there is a name and explanation for how she has felt over the years. It’s a sense of relief that many of Dr Dodini’s adult patients feel when they get a diagnosis for the first time.
Why it’s important to diagnose ADHD early
Diagnosing ADHD early isn’t just important for improving understanding and gaining acceptance; it can have a significant impact on all aspects of life. Dr Dodini highlights that identifying ADHD before the age of 12 can lead to fewer accidents, lower mortality and incarceration rates, and reduced rates of substance use and abuse.