It has just recently come to my attention that I've been diagnosed with ADHD for quite a long time now, and it all makes sense now.
I really struggled to keep track of assignments: at the end of preeschool, I had accumulated all of the assignments, since I didn't even finish a single one.
Ever since I started elementary school, some of the teachers kind of noticed that something was off: I refused to do the easy homework that the other students did, but I would easily breeze over the harder math problems that were assigned only to me.
In elementary school it was not uncommon to see me in the corner of the room, away from everybody else and potential distractions.
Later on the teacher changed, and that's when everything started to go downhill. I struggled to keep track of homework assignments, that at the time weren't many, and I had a psycho teacher: I was (am) a very messy person and so was my work environment. My teacher didn't like the fact that I was unorganized and would throw the pile of paper I had in my desk on the floor while she would continue to explain the class. This continued even while I underwent ergotherapy. Honestly I do not know how she got a teaching license since I find this behavior very unacceptable, especially towards 7-8y/o children
For around 3 years of middle school, I had a desk mat that reminded me to do my assignments, or otherwise I'd had to do them at home. It read "REMEMBER TO DO YOUR ASSIGNMENTS (OTHERWISE YOU'LL DO THEM AT HOME!)
Towards the end of elementary school, I got called in by a psychologist to take a series of tests, I do not remember the contents of these tests, and the only thing I remembered is me bringing my collection of Rubik's cubes to the office, and the psychologist giving my a fidget cube at the end of these tests. Turns out I got diagnosed with ADHD that day, but the insurance company decided that I wasn't such a bad case and stopped paying for my therapy, telling me and my family that my ADHD would get better over time.
My cousin has had diagnosed ADHD (for more than I have) and my aunt put him in a gluten-free diet, since it's said to help with it. When I heard his parents talking about his symptoms (especially about hyperactivity) I related a lot to what they said, and I kept trying to eat gluten-free to help with my similar symptoms, my parents basically told me to stop acting silly and that I didn't have anything.
The first years of middle school were pretty uneventful for me: homework was manageable enough and the exams pretty easy
But on the third year, I don't know what happened to me, but for the last months of school I suddently became the most disciplined that I've ever been: inspired by James Scholz I would wake up at 4-5AM and study for a couple of hours before school. And looking back, I still find that pretty impressive.
During middle schools, I think most of the professors there cought on to the fact that I was not neurotypical since they would tell me that if I needed to wind down a bit I could go on a walk in the hallway. I never took advantage of that opportunity since I found it a bit ashaming
High school has a more fast-paced rythm, but I managed to pull through, the professors didn't seem to care about me sometimes not seeming to pay attention, except for my physics professor, who would call me out nearly every lecture for not paying attention, even though I was listening. Matter of fact, I was among the best physics students in that year.
I've always suspected I had some kind of neurodivergency, especially looking back at those tests conducted by the psychologist, but I didn't know what I had, so when I asked my parents about the test, they told me that I've been actually diagnosed with ADHD for all this time, yet I didn't know. And when I asked them why they didn't ever teel me, they said it's because they got told It would get better.