It IS odd that ADD/ADHD is approached this way. There's a sort of weird relativism wherein ADHD can be considered a deviated cognition and not a disorder, but it depends on the environment. Because of the ways of the world, and how modern life goes, it's considered a disorder largely because of the effect it has on integrating with that norm.

If life were different but the ADHD brain wasn't, I think there might be a world where it's not considered a disorder.

I've lived with ADHD-C all my life, and it was something that got me labelled as "lazy" and "unfocused" and even sometimes I was told that I didn't give a shit. People who saw me work 16hr days or work for weeks on end without a day off, these same people called me those things because of how I came across in social situations or in everyday life situations.

I think my tribe of ADHDers sorta see it as part of the formula in how we evaluate our own merit. I'm capable of incredible creativity and ruthless hyperfocus on task when I get spooled up the right way, and so I feel GOOD about myself because I know my true potential. I don't think of myself as some leper weirdo who can't talk right, asks too many questions, turns on a dime. Other people don't really think about that, it's not natural to take that sort of probabilistic view of people, of what they MIGHT be capable of. Stakes are high, and the cost of error correction is high enough usually to motivate a rigid adherence to cautiousness.

I'm not sure how exactly I feel about this article, but I'll say this in conclusion: I've never, ever, ever, even once wanted a different brain than the one I have.

I've wanted to be treated better, and considered more fairly.