In his book, Taking Charge of Adult ADHD, Dr. Russell Barkley (2022) cited research that found only 9% of individuals who were diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as children and 30% of individuals who were diagnosed as adults will graduate from college with a 4-year degree. This is compared to about 40% of the general population according to the United States Census Bureau.

While laws such as The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have ensured that colleges are required to give reasonable accommodations, low graduation rates in the ADHD population reflect that the accommodations are insufficient. In my observations, both as a professional who specializes in supporting individuals with ADHD and as a family member of many ADHD-ers, I believe that this lack of success in higher education stems from a few main issues:

In order to support further discussion, a review of ADHD as a diagnosis and how this impacts school functioning, is important. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disability which affects a number of regions in the brain that are directly related to the traits seen in the individual. Research on ADHD has shown differences and delays in key brain structures and functions that directly affect executive function. Research has also shown that individuals with ADHD have lower than average rates of dopamine and norepinephrine, both of which also affect executive functioning. This is why things like organization, task initiation and completion, time awareness, paying attention, and emotional regulation are so difficult for this population.

So how does this impact success in higher education? For........

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