#neurodiverse character
Things I Enjoy About Having ADHD
Yay! More ADHD inspiration for your characters!
- Having lots of energy!
- (Sometimes) The feeling of hyper-focus
- Being creatively impulsive
- Noticing things others overlook
- Having big bursts of motivation to do the things I love
- Having a wild imagination
- The speed of my brain on a good day
- Falling down research rabbit holes
- And watching YouTube videos about them on double speed (learning twice as much in the same amount of time!)
- And finally hoarding this vast collection of random information for use in my book or a pub quiz.
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[Disclaimer: Everyone’s ADHD is different, this is not a blanket list of things that everyone with ADHD will experience. Also experiencing these things does not mean you have ADHD, please consult a professional before self-diagnosing.]
Quirks To Show Your Character’s ADHD
From a certified ADHD adult(ish) human.
- Not being able to shrug a niggling feeling or through until it’s dealt with.
- Saying ‘one more minute’ when hyper-focused, then looking up to find two hours have passed.
- F i d d l i n g
- (With literally anything available)
- Sometimes having trouble falling or staying asleep because their damn brain won’t shut up.
- Yet still being a semi-coherent person the next day, despite only being out for four hours.
- Because e n e r g y
- Eventually learning ways to get to sleep, but getting annoyed when they fail.
- Struggling to wait their turn when speaking or in games.
- Losing track of their point mid-speech.
- Inability to control thoughts as they overlap and run away faster than they can be caught.
- Having too many hobbies.
- Being more creative under stress.
- Speaking really really fast when excited or after caffeine.
- Struggling to remember instructions.
- Struggling to listen to instructions.
- Spotting patterns and details others often miss.
- Forgetting brilliant ideas just as quickly as they were thought up.
- And thus being really impulsive when we get ideas.
- Desperate attempts at organisation (giving everything a place).
- And yet still not remembering where they’ve put anything.
- I m p a t i e n c e
Disclaimer: Not everyone with ADHD will experience all of these things, and there are many more things that people with ADHD experience. If you experience these things, it doesn’t necessarily mean your ADHD, but these things are widely present in those who have it. If you want to write a character with ADHD please do your research and only take this as a starting point.
[If reposting to instagram please credit @isabellestonebooks]
words: 611
genre: cute and fluffy, queerplatonic
ND Love Language: Please Crush My Soul Back Into My Body
~
“You cold, love?”
Glen scowled, but did not let go of Eddie, huddled to his chest and legs tangled. “No,” he grunted.
Eddie laughed softly, and petted his hair so gently it was hypnotic. “Then why are you shivering?” the bigger man teased, before pressing a kiss to Glen’s forehead. “You don’t have to be uncomfortable here, sweet.”
Glen huffed, cheeks warming a little at the petname. Eddie was always calling him things like “sweet” and “love” and “lambkins”. It was nice. More than nice–it was comforting.
“I’m not cold,” Glen grumbled. He hesitated, then let out a sharp, short breath and added, “Bad dream.”
“Oh.”
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Eddie rolled on top of Glen, making him squawk angrily, and bracketed him with his forearms and legs. A kiss so sweet it felt like a dream calmed Glen immediately, making him melt underneath his friend. It wasn’t just the closeness, the affection, and Eddie’s scent: it was also the sensation of having his soul, his being, crushed back into his body by a weight that he knew and trusted.
The fuzzy numbness in his hands faded away. The chill in his skin dissipated. Glen closed his eyes and hummed happily as Eddie kissed his cheeks, his nose, his lips, and the spot between his eyebrows. He couldn’t remember a single detail of the dream anymore.
“Thank you for being my friend,” he whispered, opening his eyes and smiling up at Eddie.
“Thank you for being mine,” Eddie replied with an affectionate chuckle. “I don’t know anyone as fun and protective and loving as you.”
Glen snorted a laugh of his own, then sighed contentedly and told Eddie, “I really don’t want to go back to the dorms. I like living with you. Who else is heavy enough to make me stay real?”
“We could get a roommate?” Eddie offered. “My twin, Louis, keeps to himself most of the time. He won’t bother you. He’s autistic too, so we can still have quiet time. If you want.”
“Doesn’t he have a partner? That loud History major?”
“Yeah. Juli knows when to leave, though.” Eddie leaned his forehead on Glen’s, and they twisted their heads in opposite directions a few times, giggling together as their faces looked strange. “If you don’t want roommates or a dorm, we can… figure something else out? Spend weekends together?”
A bare moment of thought, and Glen crossed eyes and rubbed his nose against Eddie’s. “I’ll take roommates over moving out,” he said. “They know, right? That we’re cuddle-buddies?”
“Louis knows. He told me he doesn’t understand, but he doesn’t press about it.” Eddie dropped a soft kiss on Glen’s lips. “Juli might need to be reminded a few times, though.”
“Mm. Fine.” Glen ran his fingers through Eddie’s hair and grinned as the bigger man turned into purring jello. He really didn’t want to explain the situation. They were friends, and since they knew and trusted each other so well, it had been easy to start sleeping in the same bed when they couldn’t afford another mattress. Figuring out boundaries had taken a while; but now they were both totally comfortable with all forms of non-sexual and non-romantic intimacy, such as kissing and dating.
Too bad everyone else saw them being comfortable and thought that meant they were a couple.
Ah, well. Glen was feeling well and truly squashed, and who could squash him with such precision but Eddie? So he murmured, “Nothing is gonna change except them living here too, right?”
“Absolutely. This is a good thing we have. Why change it?”
Glen hummed, and drifted back into sleep. Why change this, indeed.
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