I have often wondered if I have ADHD because I get distracted so easily. Of course, there was no such thing when we were children, so doctors never evaluated us for it!
Judy, back when I was little (1960's) they only thought boys had ADHD because it was so obvious with their hyper behavior. It was many years later (like 20 yrs later!
) that they realized that girls have it too, but usually the "inattentive" type. They also thought it was just a childhood issue and kids grew out of it. They know now that isn't true but adults with it have figured out ways to try and manage it (like lists, lists, and more lists!
). Now there are a ton of adults, especially women, who are getting diagnosed with it because no one thought girls had it or the signs were missed because they are more subtle.
I was always daydreaming and looking out the window at school and had a hard time paying attention to what was going on in class. I also couldn't sit still very long. Not hyper but just restless, have a hard time paying attention, following directions, reading instructions, focusing on things for very long, following thru on tasks and projects. I am now still easily distracted, overwhelmed, lose my train of thought, can't sit still for very long, talk too much, interrupt people when they are talking, etc. It has made school and jobs hard to manage my whole life.
On the plus side, most ADHD people are above average in intelligence, very creative, think outside the box, etc. They just can't pull it all together to live up to their full potential.