Adult ADHD support: Manage your late-diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects individuals across all ages, yet women are more likely to be under or misdiagnosed until adulthood. For every three men diagnosed in childhood, only one woman is, while the adult diagnosis rate is 1:11. This difference happens partly because symptoms show up in different ways: men often demonstrate hyperactive and impulsive symptoms, which are more likely to draw attention, while women frequently show inattentive symptoms such as forgetfulness and difficulty with organization. Women can also display symptoms of anxiety for which they may be treated instead.
ADHD has a strong genetic component to it. When your child receives an ADHD diagnosis, this can often be an “aha” moment for you as the parent, recognizing the parallels between your child’s diagnosis and your own lived experience.
While receiving a diagnosis later in life can feel overwhelming, it can also come with a sense of relief, recognizing that many traits that were previously internalized and perhaps attributed to laziness or poor self-control are actually a result of ADHD and its impact on executive functioning, thinking skills that help us plan, focus, and make decisions.
How ADHD impacts daily life
Impaired executive functioning, a hallmark of ADHD, affects planning, organization, time management, and impulse control, leading to challenges in everyday life.
At home, you may have difficulty:
Paying bills on time or managing finances
Keeping track of household chores and maintaining an organized living space
Preparing meals, especially if they involve planning or multitasking
Grocery shopping
Managing a family schedule (e.g., school, activities, appointments)
Staying focused during conversations with loved ones
Avoiding impulsive statements in conversations or impulse purchases
Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule
Keeping up with exercise routines
Remembering to take prescribed medications
At work, you might have difficulty:
Meeting deadlines
Maintaining focus during long meetings
Managing complex or multi-step projects
Prioritizing tasks effectively
Keeping workspaces organized and free of clutter
Remembering appointments, meetings, or deadlines
Writing detailed reports or lengthy documents
Following through on tasks after starting them
Receiving feedback from supervisors or colleagues
Experiencing sensory overwhelm, especially in shared work spaces
Occupational therapy supports adults with ADHD
Occupational therapists (OTs) help you manage ADHD-related challenges by tailoring strategies to improve your daily functioning across several key areas.
Develop time management skills
Time management can be a significant struggle for adults with ADHD. Your OT assists you by:
Building routines: Your OT helps you build your awareness of time and establish realistic daily schedules.
Utilizing tools: Teaching effective use of planners, calendars, and productivity apps.
Prioritizing tasks: Breaking down tasks into smaller, manageable steps and learning how to rank them by importance.
Enhance your focus and attention
Distractions and hyperfocus on less important tasks can derail productivity. Your OT addresses this by:
Task chunking: Encouraging focused work intervals and using visual planners to allocate time for tasks.
Understanding motivation: Helping you identify values and intrinsic motivators to combat procrastination.
Environment modification: Organizing workspaces and reducing external distractions to create a sensory-friendly setting.
Address emotional regulation
Adults with ADHD often experience heightened emotions like frustration or anxiety, which can affect relationships and self-esteem. Your OT helps you by:
Promoting self-care: Supporting regular exercise, sleep, and nutrition to improve emotional health.
Identifying contributors to overwhelm: Helping you understand how sensory input and your mental load affect emotional responses.
Teaching coping strategies: Using mindfulness, journaling, breathing exercises, and other techniques to improve emotional regulation.
Strengthen executive functioning skills
Executive dysfunction in adults with ADHD often hinders planning, problem-solving, and task completion. Your OT works to strengthen these skills by:
Teaching planning frameworks: Helping you map out goal-oriented steps and anticipate obstacles.
Improving decision-making: Developing strategies for weighing options and making informed choices.
Breaking down tasks: Increasing awareness of task components and creating schedules to accommodate each step.
Facilitate workplace success
ADHD symptoms can make professional life challenging, but your OT helps you tailor solutions for success by:
Customizing work environments: Creating distraction-free, organized workspaces.
Recommending assistive technology: Introducing tools like reminder apps or noise-canceling headphones.
Building communication skills: Teaching boundary-setting, assertive communication and role-playing difficult conversations to improve relationship dynamics.
Strengthen executive functioning skills
Self-acceptance is essential for managing ADHD effectively. Your OT fosters this by:
Highlighting strengths: Helping you recognize ADHD-related advantages like creativity, passion-driven focus, and out-of-the-box thinking.
Challenging negative beliefs: Exploring self-critical thoughts and beliefs and exploring alternative beliefs
Teaching self-advocacy: Empowering you to articulate your needs confidently in personal and professional settings
Connect with an OT for ADHD support
While a late ADHD diagnosis can feel overwhelming, it also provides an opportunity for growth and self-compassion. Occupational therapy plays a pivotal role in helping adults with ADHD navigate their challenges, build functional skills, and develop strategies to thrive in their personal and professional lives. By focusing on time management, emotional regulation, executive functioning, and self-acceptance, your OT empowers you to embrace your unique strengths and lead a fulfilling, balanced life.
The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) provides a searchable national directory of occupational therapists for all Canadians to find the occupational therapy services they need. You can search for an OT to support your late-diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Find an OT in your area now for further assistance.
Author Bio
Lauren McDonald is an occupational therapist and the owner of OT2U Ltd., a mobile occupational therapy company based in Calgary, AB, that delivers OT services online and in the community. OT2U Ltd. aims to make occupational therapy easily accessible to others and to deepen individuals understanding of the scope of OT practice. Lauren is especially passionate about working with clients with ADHD, supporting older adults with aging-in-place and helping those with PTSD re-engage in their communities through the use of exposure therapy.
Reference
Da Silva A. G., Malloy-Diniz L. F., Garcia M. S., Rocha R. (2020). Attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder and women. In Renno J., Jr., Valadres G., Cantilino A., Mendes-Ribeiro J., Rocha R., da Silva A. G. (Eds.), Women’s mental health (pp. 215–219). Springer Nature Switzerland. 10.1007/978-3-030-29081-8