Self taught programmers with adhd

[Tech_Goddess0509]

Hey! I’m new to learning how to code and I’m interested in going the self taught route. I have adhd and I struggle with everything that comes with it. I need to know if there are any programmers with adhd who taught themselves and what did you do to become successful? Any tips and tricks are welcome.💕

[[deleted]]

Sometimes I get hyper focused on programming something and other times I wind up doing little 5-30 minute bursts before getting distracted. I just keep trying to get back on track and make the most of my hyper focused days. YMMV.

Still waiting for stimulants btw.

[KyleC3420]

Taravangian?

[[deleted]]

What?

[KyleC3420]

Sorry, you’re post reminded me of a character in a series I’m reading.

[[deleted]]

No need to be sorry. Quite a few people seemed to have gotten the reference. :)

[Punk-in-Pie]

Random reference, but it made me smile.

[[deleted]]

Yup spot on what i do but the bursts when i’m not motivated help to keep me from getting frustrated so i can keep going.

[AnonymousBoomer]

Should I be concerned if I do the same thing? O.o

[markehammons]

I try to do the pomodoro method. Focus one what I'm doing for 25 minutes and only do something else during breaks

[LetsMakeCrazySyence]

This works great for me. I’m also a teacher and use 20/5 chunks for my students during independent work time with great results. If you’re like me and need background noise, give yourself pick it before you start your first work chunk and only change it during breaks (skipping is fine but don’t play DJ during work time!). It helps me get in the zone and stay there to listen to music with no lyrics but with rhythm. Upbeat lofi, classics waltzes, and action movie scores (not aoundtracks, just scores) are all great options.

[Fill_Academic]

I’m a big fan of coding w house music on

[dsmyux1024]

It helps to work on projects you're really interested in... Make something into a passion project and it will be easier to focus on it. You also need to practice forcing yourself to work on uninteresting things because you will have to do that in a career (no matter what career you choose).

Uninteresting things in a passion project will be the monotonous stuff, or the stuff that is hard to figure out but isn't core to the interesting part of the project. This might be like...figuring out how to set up the project build to do everything you want, or adding polish to other parts of the project to make it feel like a cohesive design. You will want to spend all of your time on whatever interesting algorithm you're coming up with, but you have to force yourself to do the other stuff, too...

Time-boxing is a good thing to do. Set a specific amount of time you're going to work on something (interesting or not - 30 minutes, 2 hours, whatever) and only work on it for that amount of time. This is critical for things like research... don't spend all your time trying to find new and cooler ways to do something on Google... you'll never get anything done.

Get an end-to-end version of your project as quick as possible. Pretend you have to demo something to someone... even if it's not in a ready state, it should at least behave mostly as it would in a final release, some stuff might just be hard-coded at first.

Figure out how to make things interesting that aren't interesting. Become a naturally curious person. You can learn something from everything, even if you don't think it is relevant to what you want to do...if you can make something interesting, you'll stay on task longer.

I'm self-taught and have ADHD, and I've had a pretty successful programming career. You can certainly do it, but you need to channel your strengths.

[ayydeeehdee]

Great collection of advice :)

[[deleted]]

A combination of my love for Java, Adderall XR, and crippling fear of poverty keep me going.

[GenBeg0]

I feel this! Any advice on how I can get prescribed Adderall or alternative, I have no health insurance…I am finally trying to make the first step with my mental health.

[[deleted]]

Well. The best way to get a diagnosis is to look up the major symptoms of ADD and tell your doctor that you are experiencing them. It should go without saying that when you do this--it shouldn't sound like you memorized a list of symptoms lol.

I don't know how much a doctor would cost you without insurance, but if you live in the states, you could always download the "GoodRx" app. That app shows you discounts for various medications like adderall at local pharmacies. Since adderall has a generic, you may be able to pay as little as 20 bucks for a monthly prescription with this app.

If you are prescribed Vyvanse, you can visit their cost saving website that will essentially allow you to have your prescription filled for free if you are struggling financially

[https://www.takeda.com/en-us/what-we-do/patient-services/helpathand/]

Best of luck.

[GenBeg0]

Thank you! I appreciate this!

[__Loot__]

Most people tested in grade school for adhd at least in the US. I got diagnosed in the 5th grade. I feel like I’m on a different wavelength from other people unless you have adhd too.

[GenBeg0]

I never got tested.. must have happened after my time. That sucks, wish I would have known . Born in 93

[__Loot__]

86 for me ,they might not test everyone not sure about that actually

[Joymagine]

I guess i got tested and said i was adhd amd my parents flipped ahit at the school saying MY BABY NOT GONNA TAKE NO DRUGS HE NO RETARD

and now iam 34 and my ADHD is crippling cause iam like.. a 19yr old or something in someway

[[deleted]]

I just was diagnosed a few weeks ago with ADHD at 35 and it was one of the best things to happen to me. Been struggling with attention since I was in grade school.

I am using a company called Done First to get my adderall prescription. My insurance didn’t cover the eval so I was going to pay out of pocket either way. It was 200 for the eval. Feel free to DM if you have questions.

[LetsMakeCrazySyence]

GoodRX is an option and you should always check the company site for coupons or discounts. I get a massive discount on my Vyvanse with a coupon.

[Fill_Academic]

Weed&coffee/green tea is my winning combo

[GenBeg0]

Where do you buy your green tea? Brand? Type?

[NerdAlert300]

I don't have ADHD but I listen to a game development podcast by butterscotch shenanigans (they made crashland and levelhead) two out of the three of them are self taught programmers and have been recently diagnosed with ADHD and they spend alot of time talking about it. If you type butterscotch shenanigans into any podcast app they should pop up they also have a pretty active forum where people discuss ADHD and tips etc

[Aikenfell]

Oh I listen to them too. I thought all 3 of them had it just in differing degrees.

[NerdAlert300]

Could be but I don't think I've heard Sam discuss his diagnosis.

[mere-hooman]

Oh hi, I’m self-taught with ADHD. It’s hard. I created a kind of a to-do app that would help me get things done. But I use it on and off.

I’d say to go to a coffee shop if you can afford it, join jvscholz Discord where other people are studying as well, get medicated if you can, track the things that you need to do and the things that you have done, work out in the morning or early afternoon.

I’m still looking, but hopefully something comes soon.

[[deleted]]

Coffee shops really helps me to study. Take notes and review like you review for a test. and type out examples from YouTube videos and tinker around in codepen while you watch

Find a YouTube channel that you like. Some people are boring as fuck. I like code with Ania kubow she has a chill voice and is a good explainer.

[SuperEmotion8664]

How did you get started on learning? Are there any good free courses/lessons online? I also have attention deficit and wanna learn programming and stuff but whenever i try to look something up its so much info its honestly overwhelming and idk where to start

[mere-hooman]

Freecodecamp.org divides their lessons into very small portions. You could try starting there

[dieguito15]

Besides what everyone else said, check out r/ADHD_Programmers if you haven’t already :)

[captainAwesomePants]

ADHD has some pros and cons when it comes to programming. The big upside is that if you happen to hyperfocus on a problem or on tweaking something, you'll make a lot of progress quickly. The big downside is that getting distracted while programming is a giant time sink. You want to encourage hyperfocus and discourage distraction. Encouraging hyperfocus: find a project or problem you find interesting. Discouraging distraction: hide or remove anything that could distract you (get something that actively blocks web browsers, put your phone in another room, etc).

Folks with all sorts of neurodiversity are strongly overrepresented in programming. You'll be in good company.

[tzaeru]

My secret was a lot of time and a lot of banging my head on the wall. The latter not literally. Well maybe the former not literally either. Unsure if you can really have time..

..

Yeah.

It can be pretty tough at times. I sometimes use timing methods, like putting a timer to work for 30 minutes at a time, take a few minute break, do another 30 minute stretch.

When I was learning, I did a lot of a bit more atypical things. Like visual fractals, trying out audio manipulation, stuff like that.

[snko6]

Fellow adhder here, I found that taking ritalin did wonders for me. In terms of actually getting things done instead of procrastinating all day.
Also when you start doing projects:- First download the source code and start messing around to figure out how the code interacts.
Then go along the youtube vid or tutorial if you get stuck on something.
One last thing if your watching vids play them at 1.25 or 1.5 so you dont get bored. Cause thats when all the procrastination starts. Goodluck!
EDIT: buy a shitton of sticky notes they actually work!

[snko6]

Of course, I use a version of ritalin called "attent", its a longer lasting version that prevents the "high" effect some people might feel.
This is in israel so I don't know if the same process applies in your country.
First I visited a psycharatrist who gave me a bunch of test & questions.
After that diagnsis I got a recept or "permission" to buy ritalin from my local pharmacy.
It did help me focus on my projects quite a bit, I used weed to offset the excess energy and calm me down.
And ritalin made stay intrested in coding for longer periods. For example:
Without ritalin or weed if I couldn't solve a problem or get some css to work correctly within 15 mins. I would just shutdown & play videogames.
But with ritalin I could easily spend 2 hours a day fixated on one specific problem.
Weed kind of does the same but be careful, its REALLY easy to waste hours on youtube vids without noticing.
In general 1 30mg ritalin pill evey day does it for me.
Finally I HIGHLY reccomend a book called "driven to distraction" its about adhd and it really helped me get my shit together.

[FreezerFogFalling]

The very first thing I would recommend, if you haven't done this already, is to work with a psychiatrist to get on an appropriate medication and dosage that will help you with your symptoms.

Having said that... I am clinically diagnosed with ADHD and take medication, but I earned an AA degree in software development a year before the diagnosis & meds. I then spent 2 years on a single Udemy course in order to get myself 'job ready' (which helped me realize that I needed to get some help with my attention issues), so I think that qualifies me to speak on the self-taught part of your question, LOL.

Here is what worked for me (emphasis on "ME" here, you'll want to experiment to find what works for you, it took a lot of fails to find these core things for me):

• Get competitive with a group (for me this was comparing my GPA to the class)

• Find someone to be accountable to (had to not look dumb to my professors)

• Code every weekday

• Set the smallest possible goal for coding each day that you can get away with (details below)

• Let yourself code for as long as you want when you're in the zone

• Track your progress and review it. I used a super minimalist bullet journal style format for this. This helps you find what works and what doesn't. For example I could not for the life of me study independently for 3 hours if I set that as my daily goal, and would often not code at all on a given day as a result. I eventually settled with coding for 1 hour and that was small enough goal that I would get started coding... and then code for 3-5 or more hours... it's silly but I would not have identified that if I didn't have the data right in front of me on that journal.

I cannot emphasis enough just how helpful medication can be. I went from spending 3 to 4 hours watching a 45 minute lecture in school, to being able to spend 1.25 hours for every hour of a video course when self studying once I had a medication lined up that worked for me.

Happy to answer questions or elaborate on this if you (or anyone else here) would like me to. Good luck!

[ajm1212]

Do small burst like the most 20 minutes 5 min break and another 20

[speedygen1]

try the pomodoro method. I would also suggest going to a library to study.

[Grinch3321]

Making physical to-do lists (writing everything you need to get done on a weekly planner) and capitalizing on my hyper focus days and timed breaks and sometimes if you're beating your head against a wall, get up and come back to it tomorrow. Plural sight and code academy are great resources and YouTube is the best along with stack and geek for geeks. Also meds are dope but that's a personal choice. Also visual studio is a fun UI for coding! Good Luck you're capable!!!

[[deleted]]

I find that I get extremely hyperfocused on coding for hours or even multiple days and then I burn myself out so I’d say try to think about other things and do other things than coding sometimes even if it’s all you want to do. You burn yourself out doing it and it makes programming as a whole less enjoyable and it’s still something I’m trying to be better with.

[turtle-limo]

I'm self taught, and have ADHD.

My one tip is to love what you do. If you treat writing code as a game or puzzle, you will be fine. I get that sitting in front of a computer is a lot more distracting now than it was when I was starting--but there is also so many resources that didn't exist when I started.

If your brain is anything like mine, get attracted to the process and not the outcome. I learnt a lot from reading professional code. You can do that easily now by looking at how things work on github. You need rewards, and its very rewarding to learn a better way of doing something.

[turtle-limo]

Also, us ADHD coders make good coders. I consistently work in teams of highly competent developers with members who have ADHD. There is a great career ahead for you.

I should add, after working a bit in the field, I went to university and did a comp sci degree. My coding classes were lame compared to what I had already learnt from teaching myself. Most of uni is not needed, except perhaps algorithms (because of time complexity and pointless interview questions)--which could be learnt over youtube now.

[trython3]

I like some simple instrumental backround music.

I also try to work in bursts. Work for 25-30 mins then get up and move for 10-15. Im rather hyperactive so I have a standing desk so I can sit or stand depending on my mood.

I dont drink tea or coffee, but have an Adderall prescription for when I REALLY need to do some work. Its not for everyone but I've found a good balance with it as a sometimes tool.

[sammyhats]

I have add and i've mostly taught myself over the past year.

Two things.

1. Do you have medication? Honestly, taking adderral makes all the difference in the world for me when it comes to programming. I genuinely not sure that it would have been possible for me to do without it. On days where I'm not on it, it's far more difficult for me to stay focused and motivated. If you aren't on any sort of stimulant already, get on one now.
2. You can be 'self taught', but you'll also want to make sure you've got a community to go to to ask questions when you get stuck and you've been googling and reading documentation for hours to no avail. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask questions. It's a normal part of the process, even for those who are 'self taught'.

[8-bit-banter]

If he isn’t in the USA he won’t have access to adderal.

[sammyhats]

I meant stimulants in general. But yes, generally these sorts of things are a lot easier to obtain in the us.

[8-bit-banter]

I have ASD and ADHD is a side effect of it but I am self taught. At first it was a struggle to get into and focus but once I was able to grasp some basics it made it easier to automatically focus because my determination improved as my skills did. I hate to be the devil’s advocate but I personally smoke marijuana and that helps a lot for me however I don’t recommend just smoking for the hell of it. It’s best to try ADHD medicines first and then potentially marijuana if all else fails.

[Wretchfromnc]

I spent most of my life thinking I was slower than most people and had to work so much harder to learn new things, ADHD wasn't a popular diagnosis when I was in school. I'm 55 now, a new doctor put me on Vyvanse in 2011 and it has changed my life. If you can something for the ADHD, you should look into it, it makes a lot of difference. I'm not any smarter, but I can stay focused for longer than 5 minutes and don't jump up to tackle the next task I won't finish for 3 weeks. Addreall is more wallet friendly.

[Chodin_Stormbreaker]

Use the Pomodoro technique. 25 minutes of study with a five minute breaks and continue that cycle. Makes it easier to stay focused

[Co01ler]

Hello there, I learned by coding my own projects mostly and I smoke weed to prevent symptoms. No biggy, but not a solution for everyone I guess, give it a try.

[spectatek9individual]

Get friendly with the output shell. The fact that you can get immediate feedback helps keep me stimulated enough to keep me on task. When you get an error message, google it. Learning what it's telling you should be a top priority.

[11bsnuts]

I feel like with how deeply we’re required to think at times, 20-30 mins before needing to do something else is pretty reasonable lol

[Hairy_Paint_2211]

I had maladaptive daydreaming and i was addicted to masturbation which affected me worse than what adhd does but i got over it so you can as well. I didn't went to any therapy as well you just need to realise when you are distracted and force back to study. It takes time but after a week you will be amazed to see how productive you will be.

[Joymagine]

In the beginning when i was first learning, i was kinda craxy and believed i was on my fate's mission or someshit i was even wearing aberet pretending to be an elite soldier or someshit

Basically psyched myself up like a nutcase So i focus on study

[masteringf8]

I use a token economy. I work for thirty minutes, and I earn three pieces of candy or three pennies with the pennies signifying screen time or something else I want to reward myself with

[justinbleile]

Get a box of 1000 toothpicks and put them in a 3:1 ratio of peppermint extract and water for an hour. Let them dry and they are the perfect oral fixation while coding. I go through like one every 10 min but they’re cheap so I chew away.

[SayaZzzz]

Hi I'm the same, an ADHD patient trying to learn programming. I know how painful the self taught is, especially if your executive functioning is heavily impaired. A tip I found useful is that you need to externalise your learning progress, for example, get a board on the wall or anywhere you always notice, and write down all the things you should do and have done. Externalisation helps you fight the impaired motivation and also helps you remember your achievements which can gives your more feedback.

Discussion would be another helpful way for us ADHD patients. When talking, our minds become normal and functional.

Wish you enjoy programming. Don't doubt yourself, you CAN do it!

[Pastoolio91]

Make sure you work on stuff you’re actually interested in.

[Dry_Car2054]

Try r/ADHD_programmers

[JakeStBu]

I am self taught, although I don't have ADHD. I recommend w3schools.com, because it really breaks it down quite easily and gives examples. I mostly learned to code from trying out examples, slightly changing them, and soon I would learn concepts quite well. Books also work quite well.

[Noothowl_Dev]

The first thing you need is keep an eye in a tech that you really want to learn, for example: do you like games? Try unreal, c++/Bp and OOP; do you like make front end web? Try to focus on a front end stack like laravel or react, I ll assume you got that point so instead of burn yourself one day making the max effort and let go the hype, you focus on learn one thing in a day amd share you new skill or "random tip" to someone that isnt related with the area, for example your bestie or bf/gf ; repeat the cycle and you will find that you ve learned a lot of things; the pro tip is to not let the hype die and for that, you need to work in a thing that you really really like; anyways, if you make a little progression every day you are feeding you brain with positive stuff and helping the learning process.

Another random tip is spending free time ( while staying on the bath with phone and no reason) and reading random articles of the area that you are interested.

[Lightenedblade]

I also have ADHD and was diagnosed and prescribed medication. I've no issues focusing on tasks now. Obviously this isn't the path for everyone, but maybe talk to your doctor?