<p>As I have discussed previously, I received a very late diagnosis of ADHD (despite symptoms reported since I was five years old) in my junior year of COLLEGE. This diagnosis came after much frustration.</p>
<p>I am finally learning to utilize my resources, but my past academic problems still haunt me on my transcript.</p>
<p>My parents, however, are still having difficulty accepting that I am "less than perfect". One parent thinks it's an "excuse for being lazy", while the other one thinks "everyone has to deal with the same thing" and thinks I could learn a lesson from my (non-ADHD) cousin, who is only a high school junior and is a positive example of a "role model" of "studying hard". How humiliating!</p>
<p>I don't see how this is supposed to help other than instilling feelings of jealousy in me.</p>
<p>(Believe me, as a college student, I put a lot more time into studying than this cousin - or really, any high school student, yet studying the conventional way is inherently harder for me due to the executive function impairment, which for some reason they can't understand.)</p>
<p>I have bought books on ADHD and told my parents to read them; they refuse to.</p>
<p>Yes my parents love me, but some things are difficult to understand for them. It's frustrating to be told you're lying to the point that you actually believe it.</p>
<p>I sort of wish ADHD was called something else - maybe something referring to executive function.</p>