Famous ADHD Scientists & Inventors

Comments

This is a great tip. I am from India. In my country it is difficult to find such motivated parents who try to encourage the strengths in their child and do not keep nagging about their weaknesses. It is really great to know that a mother is so motivated and spirited about her child. I think every mother should be so.

I wish you would stop giving people false hope with statements like this. There is no evidence that any of these people actually had ADHD. You are merely making an assumption that is totally baseless. Where did you get this information, from Wikipedia? The suggestion that Albert Einstein may have had ADHD is just ridiculous. If Einstein had ADHD, we would never have heard of him and there would be no Theory of Relativity. The fact that Einstein excelled in Mathematics from an early age and had superior powers of concentration proves your statement false. ADHD sufferers (like myself) do not excel in mathematics. Furthermore they are disorganized, forgetful, and prone to procrastination and tardiness. They are best suited to the arts and writing. If I didn't have ADHD, I would probably be a University professor with a PhD in Biology right now instead of struggling to find work as a secondary science teacher with just a BA in Anthropology. ADHD destroyed my most cherished dreams in life and I wasn't even diagnosed until my thirties. I wish you would stop giving people false hope with statements like this. ADHD is a serious disability which cannot be cured and can only be treated with medication. By suggesting that ADHD is somehow beneficial, you may be doing as much harm as those people who claim that there is no such thing as ADHD or that it is behavioral and not biological. Shame on you.

How did he utilize his creativity

While it is indeed speculation that these famous scientists had ADHD, it is not out of real of possibility. I am a scientists with ADHD, and I agree with Sciencedaydreamer that ADHD has made my life very difficult and caused me to re-think my dreams. However, I think Sciencedaydreamer is wrong in his analysis of Einstein. Many ADHD suffers excel at mathematics, so that does not disqualify Einstein from having the condition. Furthermore, Einstein was notorious for being "disorganized, forgetful, and prone to procrastination and tardiness," as were many of the other scientists mentioned in this post. I sympathize and relate to Sciencedaydreamer's frustrations with life, but I disagree that ADHD has to categorically be a hindrance to success. It can be a powerful tool to achieve great things if harnessed properly since we can an uncanny ability to hyperfocus. The challenge is making your brain focus on the right thing when you want it to!

I would say that Sciencedaydreamer must first tackle their negativity. Only you, Sciencedaydreamer can free yourself. You have a long journey ahead of you, but you can release your self-limiting thinking, but at some point, perhaps in another lifetime, you will see the wisdom in living from a positive perspective. You can lay your fear down... it will be O.K. (sobbing heard in background) Next....

As a response to Sciencedaydreamer's previous statement, you are false in your assumptions as well, I to have ADHD and im 15 years old, I am pretty well with math and can concentate when I need to, Just because you suffer doesnt mean you are able to justify how the rest of us view and interact with life, you just said we are mentally ill people if we have ADHD and I stongly disagree. We have hope of being brilliant individuals just like everybody else, but just like everybody else, it all depends on our mind sets. Please dont act like you know how all ADHD people react to life, and finally, what evidence do you have to back up the idea that Thomas Edison, Albert Einstien, Alexander Graham Bell and Benjamin Franklin "DIDNT" have our condition? Just think about it before you decide to put us in the idiotic category of the world, we can be smart to.

As a response to Sciencedaydreamer's previous statement, you are false in your assumptions as well, I to have ADHD and im 15 years old, I am pretty well with math and can concentate when I need to, Just because you suffer doesnt mean you are able to justify how the rest of us view and interact with life, you just said we are mentally ill people if we have ADHD and I stongly disagree. We have hope of being brilliant individuals just like everybody else, but just like everybody else, it all depends on our mind sets. Please dont act like you know how all ADHD people react to life, and finally, what evidence do you have to back up the idea that Thomas Edison, Albert Einstien, Alexander Graham Bell and Benjamin Franklin "DIDNT" have our condition? Just think about it before you decide to put us in the idiotic category of the world, we can be smart to.

I disagree with you. I have ADHD-i and was very good at Maths. People called me AryaBhatta in school. In 5th class I started doing Maths of 12th class, and I got a top 100 rank in IIT-JEE

Shame on Sciencedaydreamer. I have ADHD and I became my most cherished dream in life: I'm an attorney.

I'm no Einstein but I'm not dumb. I agree with Brian, it is difficult to have ADHD and do sciences and math. Math is something I'm actually very good at, I just hate it because it takes me so long to do the problems (due to having trouble concentrating from boredom). Science I'm good at in theory, but have major problems in lab when I'm forgetful or don't follow the directions correctly and have to restart with no time. I have Bs in science because of that, but that's my passion so I'll keep with it.

I hope to encourage anyone that wants to go into science that it's just going to take more time. I have to write up all lab directions in my own wording and make it shorter so I can actually follow it. If you take the time to make those necessary actions that no one else has to do, you may be frustrated but you'll get it done. Follow your dreams no matter what your difficulties are.

I have ADHD and I am just finishing my Ph.D. in Biophysics and have a degree in Molecular Medicine and a Degree in Management and Civil Engineering. Science daydreamer is talking rubbish. I take 108mg of Concerta and 200 mg of Modafinil daily to manage my symptoms. Their procrastination is clearly evident in the fact that they wrote that well constructed and articulate paragraph! ADHD makes me a better scientist. I have to work very hard to understand the mathematics but it is possible. I use the jumbled thoughts (which can be a hindrance of you are too weak to control them) as a way to make unusual connections in my minds eye. I see links that normal people just cannot imagine. This takes discipline and training. This person wants to blame their own failings on their condition. Get over yourself. You have the power to change your life - no one else. You are just lazy and looking for an excuse. I didn’t find out I had ADHD until I was 25 and worked in a factory with no GCSEs or formal qualification I am now 31. Please don’t lose hope and believe this crap. Its hard enough as it is without having this in the back of your mind to distract you!

I am 39, almost 40 yr old male. Now looking back I realize that I had ADHD-PI with really crippling social awkwardness and I have been bullied or gotten into violent situations at various times throughout my life. I graduated from college and have a good paying job at this time, but holding a job has been a constant problem. I have anxiety and no confidence and this has given me premature ejaculation. NO this is not a funny story, this is my actual real life. Every female relationship I have ever had has been with an abusive dominant woman , or a more normal woman that cheated on me. My point ? If the ADHD had been diagnosed and treated, at least by high school, I think the whole course of my life could be different. I know not perfect, because I would still be a bit of a nerd, but a hell of a lot better because at least I would have a sense of self worth. I have been close to suicide in the past year. I have a child that lives with his mother and all I want is for him not to be like me. That is what happens when you don't face up to your illness and get treated.

I have ADHD and was diagnosted at aged 23. I did my High at a neighborhood school in the albany park area in the north side of Chicago. I am a first generation latino college student who started undergraduate back in September of 1995. On september 18 of this year I became a Ph.D. Candidate in Mathematical Neuroscience, have been going to school on a continuous basis for the past 14 years while keeping at least a part time job, sometimes even two.

Dont give up "Impossible isnt a fact, it is an opinion"

As far as I can see, everybody is generalizing from their experience. I am a mature student struggling through their second degree in sciences ( I already have a MSc) and I feel more near to Sciencedaydreamer than anybody else here. Concerta does not help me at all (it does not help everybody) and Atomoxetine makes my life better by allowing me to improve the control over my emotions and giving me a good sleep for the first time in decades. But that was it. There are differences among people with ADHD because it is a polygenic disorder heavily influenced by environment too and not all people are affected the same way. Not to mention about the commorbidities: some people are dyslexic, others have depression and anxiety, others OCD or personality disorders...

No sufferer is to blame because is not his fault. It is a biological condition with several degrees of severity that can be worsened by the environment. Not even high IQ can help you (see: Executive Function Impairments in High IQ Adults With ADHD
Thomas E. Brown, Philipp C. Reichel, and Donald M. Quinlan - Journal of Attention Disorders, Sep 2009; vol. 13: pp. 161 - 167).

I agree with the call to rigor of Sciencedaydreamer. There are simply no clinical evidences of the mentioned people having ADHD, and although that does not disprove anything, it does not prove anything neither. ADHD is no blessing as Russell Barkley repetedly says (Russell A. Barkley (2008) Advances in the Understanding and Management of ADHD, Lecture at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, Sacramento, CA, USA, 2007-08 Distinguished Lecturer Series February 13, 2008 [You can download two lectures of Barkley from this web:
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/events/dls_recorded_events.html ), and we do harm by saying the contrary.

It is a motor disorder, not a sensory one, as Barkley says in the mentioned lecture. it is the executive functions which fails, not will or intelligence. We always hear about how easily people with ADHD engage on computer games, but Barkley stresses that they can equally engage on reading, if only is for pleasure.

I would like to quote Barkley twice more:

"ADHD is not a disorder of knowing what to do, but of doing what one knows" (Russell A. Barkley (1997) ADHD and the nature of Self-Control, The Guilford Press, New York, page 314).

"Therefore what is known does not carry forward to influence what is done, and even the most brilliant ADHD people does stupid things in life. And we begin to understand this distinction between performance aspects of functioning and knowledge aspects. And it begins to tell us therapeutically what not to do: do not emphasize skill training, people with ADHD are not stupid, they are not ignorant, they know what other people of their age usually know; the problem is in implementing what they know. There is a critical point in the environment that we call the "point of performance", and what a theory like this tell us is something no other view of ADHD would say. The only treatment to treat a performance disorder must be at that "point of performance". Treatments done away from that point of performance would be of absolutely no value to dealing with performance disorders." (Russell Barkley in the above mentioned lecture)

Writing in a very articulate manner is not impossible at all, but writing what other people want you to write and in the time they want you to, it is a different issue.

I do not think Arron have ADHD. The use of the sentences "Get over yourself. You have the power to change your life - no one else. You are just lazy and looking for an excuse" it is very suspicious. We all have hear those very sentences far too much in our life. Also the way in which defines the symptoms does not sound like an specialist or (much less) a sufferer. "Too weak to control" "my mind's eye", etc. Also have too many degrees in just only six years without having even GCSEs. It is possible that is just ignorant and unsympathetic, but more likely to be a troll having fun on behalf of other's people suffering.

All in all, I know the feeling of what Sciencedaydreamer describes about his life and I am with him in the idea of the damage that false hopes can cause to people. We are not like Einstein. It is not that is impossible to achieve our dreams, but the fight is strenuous, not always successful and you are always behind your pairs. And when you get something done it is thanks to other traits that are independent of ADHD. ADHD is of no help for anything. That it is, simply, a myth.

I agree that as Sciencedaydreamer says: "ADHD is a serious disability which cannot be cured and can only be treated with medication"; and even that does not always work.

So let's be rigourous, sympathetic, realistic, and yet, hopeful.

scincedaydreamer: I have ADHD aswell and i excel at math without even trying. The fact that your dreams did not come true is not because of a condition that you suffered. It is because you did not give enough effort. Like you I was a disorganized person and other symptoms you have described, but even so i gave all my effort to change that. Don't blame your life on a condition. Yes, the condition can make things a little more challenging but, it cause make you change who you are for the better.

Very interesting to read all the comments; after 63 years without diagnosis to be in a place where I have medication which works extremely well I feel that I am no longer like Shrek. In fact with a combination of Strattera and Concerta I don't even feel like the princess ( ignoring gender) who descended into a nightmare when the sun went down (or the Concerta wore off). As to who had what and when it really is immaterial; life is worth it and its for enjoying and with medication it's so much easier. Bit like wearing glasses really; yes it s a bit of a pain but when you consider the alternative......

I was just looking information about ADHD and found this. I was diagnosed with it this past month am afraid of people judging me for it but I got really sad when I read sciencedaydreamer comment. Im a freshman in college studying biology and in the future I want to become a surgeon and i won't deny it I'm afraid of whats to become of my future of whats to become of me but by the simple fact that I was diagnosed with it doesn't mean that I'm gonna give up and say that I can't do stuff. I'm a perfectly healthy girl with a problem of concentrating in class or when doing homework but that doesn't mean that I'm less capable of what my other classmates can do, that doesn't mean I'm dumb, It means that I have to do whatever it takes to get better at this so I can become what I've always want it cause BELIEVE ME I WILL get there!! i wont give up just because of it cause I know I got the skills for it no matter what u or anyone else says and maybe if u had more confidence in yourself you would have had achieve it too so change your attitude cause if you dream it and want it bad enough you'll get it. Also, there nothing bad with people encouraging kids with positive comments like she did and yes maybe she doesn't have proof but neither do you to say that so maybe next time you can help kids to feel better about themselves instead of crushing their hopes. Thanks!