ADHD Traits:

Windsor Swan:

• "Novelty seeking (main trait)

• High curiosity (derived from novelty seeking, results in high scores on general knowledge tests)

• Risk-taking/danger-seeking/adrenaline junkie

• Morbid curiosity/fascination with death/danger (helps with risk-taking)

• Multifocus (I made up this word - it means a combination of distractable and attentive - their brains try to take everything in all at once)

• Working memory deficit (due to Multifocus)

• Eavesdropping (due to multifocus)

• Dyslexia (due to multifocus - their brain records all letters/words at once, rather than in sequential order)

• Hyperactivity (due to working memory deficit - they have extra energy to spare because they don’t need to store anything they just heard or saw)

• Boredom (due to novelty seeking)

Everyone gets bored of things eventually, variety is the spice of life. This occurs at much faster rates in people with ADHD. It occurs at much slower rates in people with Autism, who have low novelty seeking. You can get an ADHD kid to do his homework for 30 minutes, then he will get bored. With an autistic kid, if he likes it he will do it for hours and hours. But if he hates it, he just won’t do it at all.

ADHD is the “explorer” phenotype, Autism is the “hermit” phenotype. They have different skill sets and different evolutionary “designs”. Earnest Shackleton had ADHD, and probably heaps of explorers. ADHD is much more common than autism. You can get away with being easily bored and hyperactive. You can’t really get away with being unsocial. Life sucks."