I am in grade 12, and i'm a 17 year old girl. I've struggled with ADHD all of my life but never put a name to it until a year ago. I googled "why do I daydream so much" and a bunch of websites came up about ADHD. From there I began my journey of educating myself and finding the balls to tell my mom I wanted help. It took me over a year to finally tell someone about it.

At the beginning of this school year (september) I was put on a waiting list to see a specialist to diagnose me and manage treatment and such for ADHD. My family doctor basically told me I had it but in order to be officially diagnosed I had to see a paediatrician. I was set to see this specialist by the end of september but then I got sick and I was in the hospital. Not only did this mean that I was going to have a ****** 2 weeks after being discharged with my recovery... It meant I couldn't get another appointment until november. Instead of spending October finally diagnosed, on a treatment plan (in my case medication). I spent my october being told by my family that ADHD wasn't real, that I needed to try harder, and I was accused of being "drug seeking". So take someone who has trouble focusing and give them this family rejection on top of it and obviously my grades are going to suffer. I live in Canada and my school is semestered. Midterm report cards are given out in november. By the time I saw the specialist, got a diagnoses, and was put on medication it was too late to "bring up my grades" if you will.

So now i'm on medication, and life has gotten so much better in these first two weeks of being on Vyvanse. I have so much focus, I can listen in class, I can do work in class, I can do homework at home. Learning is so much easier, and I have so much more confidence. I know my grades are going to go up, they already are! But i'm just feeling so sad still. My midterm report card is not a reflection of my intelligence. To those who don't know I have ADD (I have the predominantly inattentive type) they look at my grades and probably see someone who doesn't care, or doesn't try hard enough. But i know that these grades are a reflection of waiting too see someone for treatment for a month longer then I expected while dealing with family rejection and frustration from not being able to focus. I had a ****** start to the school year.

I know my grades are going to improve, but because I had such a hard time focusing the first half of this semester... My foundation of knowledge is kind of weak. I just don't know what to do. The only people who know I have ADHD is my mom, dad, sister, and doctor. THATS IT. I haven't told my friends and tbh i'm not going to. I kind of want to talk to my guidance counsellor. She hasn't been the greatest counsellor in the past but as of recently she has been really helpful and supportive for other things. I kind of need to vent to someone and I was going to talk to her about what I should do about this.

This semester I have Chemistry, Adv Functions (math), and Dance. My chemistry teacher knows i've been struggling because I made him fill out the teacher rating scale thing. But he only filled out half because he hasn't known me for that long. My math teacher knows i've been struggling because I got my math teacher i've had for grade 10 and 11 to fill out the rating scale, and my grade 12 math teacher I have now actually gave me back that rating scale because my old math teacher asked him to. So I think my teachers know, but they don't really know. I was hoping maybe I could talk to them and ask them how to develop a better work ethic now that i'm on medication and out of that dark place I was in before. I just want to succeed and get my grades up because i would've been diagnosed earlier if i didn't get sick and admitted to a hospital for 4 days, and have to wait for another appointment a month later.

This school year has just been so frustrating, and i didn't expect to face my ADHD, or get sick, or feel this rejection from my family. I'm too scared to go to guidance right now, and I feel like if I go she might want to call my parents or something. UGHHH i just need to figure out how to get my life back on track. So I guess what i'm asking is should I speak to my guidance counsellor about this? And should i ask about talking to my teachers?? I'm just frustrated and I never want my friends to find out, but I feel like having a serious conversation with my teachers would benefit me. What do I do ???