The magnetic attraction of ADHD

Since being diagnosed a few years ago, pieces of the puzzle keep falling into place. One was my childhood friendships. While my Inattentive ADHD did not present obviously in school, my friendships did.

A photograph of a group of children as friends in the 1970's.

Now bear this was back when autism and ADHD were not even in our language. Other words were. I lost count of the number of times I was asked by various children why I chose to be friends with those who were considered unconventional. Little did they know that I was the weirdest one of all, just quiet.

Now years leather, with a pattern of friends behind me, and I see that I am always drawn to neurodivergent people, even when it wasn’t so obvious. Some have only been diagnosed recently.

The thing is I see a similar pattern in my son’s choice of friends. Despite being more transparent about his conditions, he still appears drawn to individuals who share similar interests.

The logic of this troubles me though. If neurospicy people attract each other, does that mean there are people who are not on any spectrum who have absolutely no friends on the spectrum? Does that then colour their experiences, resulting in the doubt that it’s even real?

It’s just a thought, but ADHDers make friends with other ADHDers. So in school should we look for them in groups?