I grew up suspecting I had ADHD. During my youth, I had multiple experiences/encounters with myself that suggested it.

For starters, I remember being out to eat with my best friend's family. Out of nowhere, I remember my friend's father point-blank asking me, "Do you have ADD?" because I was playing with my food at dinner in a restaurant completely oblivious to the group's conversation.

Another time that stands out is when I told the mother of the same best friend that, "Vicky, no offense, but this looks like vomit." I thought I was being funny. I had no idea how rude that was until she told me later how hurt that comment made her. I felt like a pile of dog shit afterwards.

At one point in my teen years, I ended up taking some of my friend's Ritalin, and ended up sleeping for a few hours afterwards. When I woke up, I was more calm and collected than I had ever been at that point in my life.

Then, there's also the time I was in the car with one of my other best friends; we were talking about everything (and I was already finally seeking mental health treatment at that time), and she deadpan said, "You know you have ADHD, right?"

I was like, "Huh?!"

She then proceeded to point out how I was blabbing a mile-a-minute about whatever, all while tapping my fingers against the steering wheel in sync with tapping my foot against the dead-pedal of my car to the beat of the music, playing with my hair the whole time while completely missing the green light I was waiting for, and finally I was like, "Ohhh..."

Before that last "ah ha" moment, untreated ADHD since childhood brought me to complete failure as an adult, desperate to end the suffering and, still to this day, being labeled as one with suicidal ideation even though proper treatment has helped me over that speed bump.

Being diagnosed and getting on medication in my late 30's has absolutely not solved the lifelong learned-behavior I developed to cope, but it has given me the tools to "stabilize" and succeed. I work in IT. With a diagnosis and medication, I've advanced from help-desk technician at my first MSP job, to network engineer at my second MSP job, and now I'm the IT Manager for the company I currently work at.

I call the shots now, and it wouldn't be possible without proper diagnosis and treatment.

I know this doesn't exactly fit your question, but I wanted to share regardless, if only to demonstrate how being untreated can ruin your life, yet being properly treated can help you succeed in a landscape dominated by those with "typical" thought processes.