Do you have a fear of rejection in relationships?

I'm not fearful of telling anyjone anything - if it leads to rejection, that wasn't the right person for me anyway.

I like your attitude, camerashy. Our daughter is similar to you, in that it does not bother her at all to let anyone know about her ADHD. As her parents, we have actually been more hesitant to tell others over the years because of some of the negative reactions we have received.

I believe that most people's negative reaction comes from the fact that they don't understand the words "attention deficit". They treat it like it's a communicable disease, instead of understanding that "it's not that I don't care, I'm just not listening if you spoke more than a minute".

You're right, there is often a definite lack of understanding of ADHD. As a parent, when I have told others about my daughter's ADHD, I have received the reaction several times of, "then you must be doing something wrong as a parent".

I wish you could have seen my reaction to that - "WHAAAT?" You tell them that the only thing you did wrong was have an exceptionally intelligent child! (You never see dummies with ADHD) :->

It's often not a direct statement, but more of what is implied in their reaction. I find this to be a common feeling among many of the parents I work with who have kids with ADHD. When our daughter was young, it used to frustrate and offend us. But over the years we learned that these type of reactions stem from a lack of understanding. Fortunately, organizations like CHADD have helped to dispel some of the myths of ADHD, educate and raise the level of understanding and awareness.