Should we stop calling ADHD a superpower in order to be more inclusive of women?

Lately, a spate of women with ADHD are declaring their neurodiversity is a superpower, especially related to boundless energy and hyper-focus that keeps them permanently engaged. For example, Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado triumphantly outlines how being a mom of three with ADHD is a superpower.

For women, this sort of thing can be enviable. However, as a self diagnosed non-neurotypical, I’m compelled to warn that we need to be careful of saying this, especially if we want to be inclusive of women at work. While utilizing aspects of neurodiversity is a positive thing, generalizing conditions leads to ableism and, frankly, an unfair comparison.

Neurodiversity’s benefits are highly contextual, and can depend on the type of employment, condition severity, and additional complications like co-morbidities. That’s aside from the fact that surprisingly, despite many women across the globe now being diagnosed, many still struggling to get a definitive diagnosis . . . including me.

For me, neurodiversity has never felt like a superpower. Any boundless energy in the workplace, including stimming, has always been seen by coworkers as a form of anxiety or even psychosis. By the time I’ve finished masking, my energies are flagging by mid-afternoon. As a writer I’m unable to sit and focus for long periods of time, can spend hours trying to sift through subjects that seem endlessly strung together, and then become exhausted with the many other chores left to do. 

As per The Autistic Girls Network, in an article about Autism and ADHD:

“An individual may feel they don’t relate wholly to autism or to ADHD. The two can mask each other, either compensating for each other’s difficulties or making those challenges even harder. For example, the organisation and focus from the autistic brain may compensate for the disorganisation and chaos of the ADHD brain. Or, the mess and chaos from the ADHD may leave the person in a constant state of overwhelm, feeling unable to function because there is no order.”

It seems that ADHD is not a representative commonality for those identifying as neurodiverse. According to Autistica UK, “ADHD and autism frequently co-occur. Many people with one of the two diagnoses show elevated traits of both ADHD and autism.”

In addition, what was formerly known as ADD or Inattentive ADHD, which involves solely a deficit attention span, seems to have fallen by the wayside. People with this type of neurodiversity really struggle with mistakes and blunders due to momentary lapses in concentration.

If we keep reiterating that ADHD is a superpower, it might ostensibly appear that neurodiversity is being embraced when it isn’t, leading to acceptance by proxy, especially from workplaces. The easiest non-neurotypical conditions to manage—those who hyperfocus—might become priority employees. Already, as a result of positive and negative seesawing about neurodiversity, businesses are grappling with how to implement equity in the workplace, or are simply bypassing the management or accommodations required for those perceived as difficult cases.

If you search for the impacts of AuDHD in the workplace, you’ll find scant data on the issue. On the otherhand, an abundance of rubric ADHD references is at your fingertips.

AuDHD is best summed up by detailed behavioural symptoms: 

• They may impulsively choose change, then experience anxiety due to the change.

• They may regularly seek out new things, but only with familiar people and want to complete things in a particular way or following a familiar process.

• They may regularly burn out from being too busy and overwhelmed socially, but struggle to slow down to recharge.

• Their environment might become messy and chaotic easily, leading to overwhelm and difficulty functioning.

• They may be hyper-organized to compensate for their disorganized brain.

• They may feel anxious every day about running late or not being early.

• They may have an exceptional long-term memory but a poor working/short-term memory.

• Their intense/special interests may regularly change theme or topic.

Currently, those with AuDHD feel more comfortable running their own businesses or being remote workers due to the above idiosyncrasies, as opposed to engaging in face-to-face roles. As on would expect, the movement of businesses winding back remote work has sent tidal waves of shock and concern across some of the neurodiverse community. 

Bringing remote work, neurodiversity, and femaleness into play, women may very well have gaps on their resume because of caring for neurodiverse kids, or they may need short breaks to recalibrate from their own conditions. Even changing careers or mixing it up can be a way to utilize neurodiversity at a given time. 

This is why the flexible, hybrid, or remote workplaces are so important, so neurodiverse workers can juggle everything at once, in their own way. Being responsible is also a translatable work skill, where these sorts of employees possess empathy and team spirit. At the very least they are trying to manage themselves. 

However, women, or any parent for that matter, are missing out on career advancement and opportunities from perceived laziness or excuses, which is the total opposite of what they invariably are.

This complication is apparent even when women know that they, or their children, are neurodiverse. It’s even harder when women don’t know or aren’t aware of any behavioural conditions they may be experiencing. While mamy women are being diagnosed with a range of neurodiverse conditions, surprisingly, women are still struggling to get accurate diagnoses. This is something I’ve experienced first hand. 

Diagnosed with ADHD in 2000, I decided to get an update on my condition, considering the many changes in neurodiverse diagnostics since that time. After spending $AUD1000, then grappling with detailed administration, and some procedural inefficacies, the treating psychologist swiftly rushed through an ADHD questionnaire, only to tell me I most likely had psychosis. I’m not sure I even answered the questions properly.

I’ve since given up due to the expense and wait times, and have begun to move towards a loose self diagnosis. I work in community services and as a freelance writer, and these roles are the most convenient style of work for me.

As for a fully fledged career? I’ve had to let that go. But on a positive note, I love what I do. I might have just found my niche as an outsider, utilizing exactly what I’m left with and who I am.