The Stereotypical Undiagnosed Girl: My ADHD Journey and Embracing My Neurodivergent Self

I am the stereotypical undiagnosed girl. 👋🏽

The one who flew under the radar because I didn’t match the stereotypical “bouncing-off-the-walls” ADHD image. Instead, I was the quiet, well-behaved, high-achieving girl—the one who checked all the boxes teachers and parents wanted to see. To everyone around me, I seemed fine. I wasn’t disruptive or struggling in school.

But beneath the surface? The signs were always there, just waiting to be recognized.

✨ I was overwhelmed by perfectionism. Every task felt like it carried the weight of the world because anything less than perfect wasn’t good enough.

✨ I was constantly overpreparing to avoid mistakes, going above and beyond in ways that drained me completely.

✨ Emotional meltdowns were a regular occurrence—but only in private. I’d bottle it all up until I couldn’t hold it anymore.

✨ I hyperfixated on the things I loved, diving in so deeply that time disappeared… while procrastinating endlessly on everything else.

✨ And I was exhausted from masking every little struggle just to appear “normal” and meet the expectations others had for me.

It’s wild how often these signs get missed—especially in girls. Because we don’t fit the “classic” ADHD profile, we’re often seen as gifted, mature, or responsible. People look at the surface and assume everything is fine, not realizing the silent battle we’re fighting with the weight of expectations we don’t even realize we’re carrying.

If this sounds like you, know this: you’re not alone. So many of us are finding out later in life that we weren’t broken or failing—we were just misunderstood.

And now? Now we’re learning to thrive as our beautifully NeuroDiv selves. We’re discovering that it’s okay to let go of perfectionism, to embrace our quirks, and to celebrate the unique way our brains work.

This journey isn’t always easy, but it’s one of self-compassion, growth, and understanding.

We deserve to show up as our authentic selves without apology. So here’s to embracing our beautifully NeuroDiv brains and thriving—finally—on our own terms. 💙🩵