When 47-year-old Jannine Harris looks back at her life, she can’t help but wonder how it could have panned out differently. If she had known she had ADHD when she was younger, could she have avoided some of the devastating events that shaped her earlier years?
She wasn’t diagnosed until she was 41. Finding out felt like “grief for the life I cudda, wudda, shudda had [sic]”, she tells i.
“I was stuck in the care system as a teenager, really because nobody knew what the hell was going on with me. My parents didn’t feel like they could keep me safe. I was somewhat wayward. I’ve had conversations with my mum since – if we had known, we could have done something about it. Because nobody knew, everyone was lost.”
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Since she was diagnosed with ADHD combined type with autistic traits, Jannine has questioned major moments in her life. “A period of homelessness, getting married really young, having a baby really young… all the job-hopping. Would all those things have happened if I’d known sooner, if my…
