Yes. BIG YES.
You can have ADHD and still get good grades. You can get good grades and still have ADHD.
ADHD can affect our ability to learn. We have difficulty paying attention to our work and study. We can have difficulty storing the information and more importantly, recalling it during tests.
As such, struggling academically is often used as a preliminary indicator of ADHD. But that doesn’t mean ADHDers have to get bad grades.
All ADHDers have a unique combination of ADHD symptoms and how they manifest. My issues, its severity and how it affects me can be completely different from someone else’s.
Also, while we ADHDers might struggle with topics we aren’t interested in, we can thrive in the topics we enjoy. So, if you’re studying something you love, you might not be struggling at all.
Finally, ‘gifted’ individuals might be able to push through their symptoms relying on their intelligence. Though, even then, it’s just they can cope with their symptoms better for the time being.
Unfortunately, ADHD will catch up to them. Pre-diagnosis coping strategies are but a house of cards. ADHDers who manage to avoid crashing in high school tend to crash in university (as there is less external structure). Or immediately after graduating and their coping mechanisms for academics no longer work for the working environment.
I have experienced all of this first-hand. I used to get As and Bs in high school. Then I got into university for my Undergrad, and the lack of external structure meant I started falling apart. Then a close friend of mine passed away, and I crashed HARD. Years of failing EVERYTHING.
However, thanks to my diagnosis, meds and healthier coping strategies, I was able to get back to my As and Bs in my Masters, and earning a Distinction.
ADHD is a big looming wave in the distance, and it will catch up at some point in an ADHDers lives… most likely when we are under a lot of stress and pressure. It’s why diagnosis and subsequent treatment is vital.
Not to mention, ADHD also brings about a whole slew of emotional/ interpersonal problems and makes us more vulnerable to co-morbid conditions. Even if it doesn’t affect you academically, it could affect you in other ways too.
If you think you have ADHD but get good grades, you shouldn’t let that put you off seeing a professional.