People with our disorder have commonly acknowledged and well-researched positive qualities seen often enough that it's fair to stake a claim on them. First, some famous people you might be surprised to learn had/have AD/HD or its traits.
Look at this list of creative, talented people of our time who were labeled with Attention Deficit Disorder. These individuals are a further testament that ADD is not the end of human potential. It is an inspirational and motivational tool you can use.
This is a comprehensive list. Most of these people have been officially diagnosed with
ADD while others prior to the early 1900′s are suspected to have had ADD based on evidence of apparent traits.
Architect
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
Artists
August Rodin (1840-1917)
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
Pablo Picasso (1882-1973)
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
Athletes
Terry Bradshaw (1948-Present) Quarterback
Babe Ruth (1895-1948) Baseball
Bruce Jenner (1949-Present) Track and Field
Carl Lewis (1961-Present) Olympic Gold Medalist in Track and Field
Greg Louganis (1960-Present) Olympic Gold Medal Diver
Magic Johnson (1959-Present) Basketball
Michael Jordan (1963-Present) Basketball
Nolan Ryan (1947-Present) Baseball
Jason Kidd (1973-Present) Basketball
Michael Phelps Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer
Pete Rose (1941-Present) Baseball
Alberto Tomba (1966-Present) Alpine Skier
Authors/Writers
Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
Charlotte and Emily Bronte
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875)
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Jules Verne (1828-1905)
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
Samuel Clemens
Emily Dickenson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Virginia Woolf
William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
Composers
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Beethoven (1770-1827)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)
Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) Publisher
Henry Ford (1863-1947) Automobile Manufacturer
John D. Rockefeller (1839-1037)
F.W. Woolworth (1852-1919) Department Store Owner
Milton Hershey (1857-1945) Chocolate Entrepreneur
William Randolf Hearst (1863-1951) Newspaper Magnate
William Wrigley, Jr. (1933-1999) Chewing Gum
Explorers
Christopher Columbus
Lewis and Clark
Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890)
Entertainers
Ann Bancroft (1931-Present) Actress
Cher (1946-Present) Actress, Singer
Danny Glover (1947-Present) Actor
Dustin Hoffman (1937-Present) Actor
Jim Carrey (1962-Present) Actor, Comedian
Steve McQueen (1920-1980) Actor
Suzanne Somers (1946-Present) Actress
Stevie Wonder (1950-Present) Singer, Musician
Tom Smothers (1937-Present) Actor, Singer
Tracy Gold (1969-Present) Actress
John Denver (1043-1997) Singer, Musician
Bill Cosby (1937-Present) Actor
George Burns (1896-1996) Actor
George C. Scott (1927-Present) Actor
Harry Belafonte (1927-Present) Actor, Singer
Henry Winkler (1945-Present) Actor, Producer
John Lennon (1940-1980) Singer, Musician
Kirk Douglas (1916-Present) Actor
Lindsay Wagoner (1949-Present) Actress
Mariel Hemingway (1961-Present) Actress
Ozzy Osbourne (1948-Present) Singer
Sylvester Stallone (1946-Present) Actor
Walt Disney (1901-1971) Producer, Screenwriter, Director, Animator
Whoopi Goldberg (1955-Present) Actress, Comedienne
Will Smith (1968-Present) Actor, Rapper
Jack Nicholson
Ty Pennington
Elvis Presley
Evil and Robbie Knievel
Justin Timberlake
Robin Williams (1952-Present) Actor, Comedian
Inventors
Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)
Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Politican and Elder Statesman
Photographer
Ansel Adams (1902-1984)
Physicist
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Political Figures
James Carville
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) U.S. President
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) U.S. President, General
Eleanor Roosevelt (1844-1962) First Lady
Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat (1918-1981) Egyptian President
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1873) Emperor
Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979) U.S. Vice President
Prince Charles (1948-Present) Prince of Wales
Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) U.S. Attorney General
Winston Churchill (1874-1065) British Prime Minister
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) U.S. President
Science
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Galileo (1564-1642) Astronomer, Mathematician
Harvey Cushing M.D. (1869-1939) Neurosurgeon
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Nostradamus (1503-1566) Physician
Werner von Braun (1912-1977) Rocket Scientist
Military Figures
Gen. William C. Westmoreland (1914-Present) Vietnam era General
General George Patton (1885-1945) World War II General
Eddie Rickenbacker (1890-1973) World War I Ace
Positive Traits of People with ADD/AD/HD
There are a lot of positive traits that people with ADD AD/HD have. For example, the top 10 characteristics of people with the disorder according to one psychiatric website are: creative, artistic, intuitive, empathetic, visionary, inventive, sensitive, original, loving, exuberant.
There's an excellent list in The Twelve Steps: A Guide for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder, by Friends in Recovery. Here are some of the highlights of this list:
*Intelligent.
*Creative.
*High energy.
*Meet challenges with enthusiasm.
*Intuitive. Easily sense the needs and feelings of others.
*We are humorous and have the ability to make others laugh.
*Hardworking.
*Persevering.
*See risk-taking as a form of excitement, but it can be a strength when used for growth.
*Loyal, honest and trustworthy.
*Flexible and adapt--ready to change.
*Productive and effective if we like what we're doing.
*Very forgiving and rarely hold grudges.
Make a list for yourself of the positive ADD AD/HD traits you feel you share. Then brainstorm the positive characteristics you know you have either because you've been told about them a lot by others, or had some success based on them or just honestly know it.
Now for the true test of what's good about you. This is easy as long as humility isn't your primary characteristic. Go to Hub Pages and look at this list:
Surely you can come up with at least 25-40? 40-60? 60-80? 80-120? Go for broke: All 180 of them, as though you are a happy, healthy child who loves themself.
Nobody is looking. Be as open and honest as you want to be. Aren't you tired of your inner critic's put-downs? Show that critic where she or he hasn't got to you and won't.
We welcome you. Come on in and care and share your way to wholeness by attending our group meetings and working the 12 Steps of ADD. Please join us in seeking personal growth and recovery from Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. We are on a journey to living at our full potential and nothing can get in our way unless we let it. Higher Power or Universe or Cosmos willing, that is.