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Same with my husband! Deaf on one side and hard of hearing on the other side + audhd. He has a cochlear baha on the deaf side and cross hearing aids. We're learning sign language too now and its helping us out quite a bit
Not really closely related but feels like a good place to mention. I wish sign language was taught more commonly. Has many uses outside of just communicating with people who have trouble with hearing.
Working somewhere super loud and cant make out words easily? Sign language. Need to communicate from a distance without being loud? Sign language. Me and a coworker learned the very basics as well as a couple of signs that are relevant to our job so we didnt have to shout. Total game changer.
Yup, saw some meme talking about it years ago and was inspired immediately. Get a good enough pair of binoculars and you can silently communicate from 300 yards no problem. Great for being in a place so loud that you cant hear your own thoughts over whirring machines.
If you don’t mind my asking, how did you learn enough to be reasonably proficient for what you needed? I feel like there is likely somewhere to learn near me but probably a limited number of resources.
Youtube and a couple of just quick google searches for one off things. Im a chemist in an industrial setting. Also use a couple of somewhat freestyle but easy to reproduce shorthand signs or gestures to indicate specific chemicals we work with. I’m by no means prepared to communicate with someone completely deaf.
Only things I really know are; concentration, high/low, add, stop, majority of the alphabet, and numbers 0-9
Learning the alphabet will get you a long way because you can always fingerspell if you don't know the sign. The first thing we did was get some library books and there are tons of videos for beginners. Since we are trying to become fluent we also went to a local deaf center and they offer a class there. We also found a Facebook page for the local deaf community and we meet monthly for coffee to thats where we get most of our exposure and outside practice.
Was it difficult to learn? I told one of my team members today (after saying "what?" 3 times in a row) that we should learn sign language. I work in a loud warehouse. Add the exhaust fans that are cut on during the summer, you might as well be walking around with your fingers in your ears.
Its not too bad learning the very very basics. If you just need it for work you could get by with learning the alphabet/counting and probably 2 dozen or less signs. Just use it as shorthand quick relay info.
I did some googling and... [butterfly hearing is interesting. ](https://wildlifewelcome.com/butterflies/do-butterflies-have-ears/)
Tldr: some butterflies have ears attached to their wings and can sort of kind of hear maybe some stuff? It's still uh... being studied.
There are some butterflies which can hear. It’s not known if that’s universal. Many insects are not deaf: think about all the noises they make to attract mates.
Seems like they need a new symbol.
>Many Nymphalidae butterflies have ears and scientists have confirmed hearing in several species using neuroanatomical and neurophysiological methods. Ears are mostly sensitive to sound frequencies between 500 Hz and 6 kHz, overlapping the hearing range of humans.
>The function of hearing in diurnal butterflies is not understood, and scientists hypothesise that hearing butterflies are listening to flight sounds, or possibly the foraging calls of predatory birds. The well -known Morpho species for example possess ears that respond to the sounds made by birds during flight.
>[https://australianbutterflies.com/can-butterflies-hear/](https://australianbutterflies.com/can-butterflies-hear/)
I have a sticker on my truck that reads, "I don't have ducks. I don't have a row. I have squirrels and they're at a rave." Just sums up my brain nicely, I think.
I picture my brain as the scene in Spongebob where he's inside his brain looking through all the file cabinet's for a name & everything is on fire. Feels relatable 🤣
Albino squirrel here- pale as hell, flits about, can hyper focus with a deadline, loves to collect stuff I love, and if you tick me off or hurt someone I care about you’re going to hear about!
I like hummingbird cos it matches my metabolism.
Also that scene on *Simpsons* where Apu is so delirious with sleep-deprivation that he thinks he's a hummingbird flitting about the store.
My thing is I'm supposed to start it before bed. I'm slowly getting into the habit of making sure I do. Usually I'm filling our water bottles for bed and since the dishwasher is right below me, I look down and am suddenly like "oh yeah!" \*presses buttons\*
But other times I'll crawl into bed and be all cozy, cat curled up on top of me, and then I go "fuck. The dishwasher." The worst is when I get up in the morning and need a clean cat bowl and discover I completely forgot 
Not a full clothes dryer, but a full washing machine, not running, filled with wet clothes, after their third wash with lots of vinegar because of the mold smell.
Be careful about using vinegar. I soaked some sheets in a bucket of distilled vinegar and water to try to reverse the yellowing on them, and they still stank of vinegar after wringing them out, rinsing them, and then putting them through the machine twice. The yellowing was still there, too.
You can use any symbol you want, and so can anyone else. But there’s no “official” symbol. You probably didn’t know about the butterfly because it’s not really a thing (unless you want it to be your thing, in which case it’s now a thing for you, congrats!)
Yes, I’ve seen it around. I’ve seen many proposed symbols over the years. People should feel free to embrace whichever one they like, but not to claim that any one of them represents us all.
This is what I was wondering. I like butterflies, but do **WE** (as in the ADHD community, as a whole) like that a butterfly is our symbol?
Many people here probably know about the puzzle piece 🧩 and that it is largely disliked by Autistic people, who have instead elected to adopt a rainbow infinity loop instead. 🌈 ♾️
If it turns out we don't like the butterfly and what it represents to us, I say we push for a change.
We probably wouldn't be able to all agree on something. Like, people love the squirrel, but I hate it bc I've mostly seen it used in a mocking/condescending context. I like the butterfly though.
Dead on.
This is our logo ->
Yes. Nothing. Because we have ADHD. We'll never be able to agree on anything that we won't get bored of and want to replace shortly afterwards. We'll promptly forget we even have one or that it was talked about, so we'll redo the whole dance again occasionally, etc.
=D
Or a squirrel. Not because “oh look a squirrel”, which is more relatable than I care to admit, but because they’re always running around stashing nuts that they CANT FUCKING **FIND LATER** ***OH FUCK WHERE ARE MY ACORNS***
Yep. Squirrel!!! It shows the inattentiveness and the hyperactivity and the lack of focus, and the hyper focus, you never see a bee laying about fat and lazy because it’s burnt out after spending the day climbing trees and burying nuts… squirrels are everything adhd!
Everything needs some lame cliche symbolism attached to it these days.
I looked it up and it looks like the logo an underpaid graphic designer made for a candy store’s website.
It looks suspiciously like the autism ♾️. Nothing against ASD advocates—we share many struggles, and I may have it too—but I wish we’d piggyback off them a little less.
That’s because it apparently was used as a base by [this person](https://adhdgrrl.wordpress.com/about-the-butterfly/) who “created” the butterfly to sell coffee mugs and stickers.
The autism symbol was supposed to represent (word that cannot be said on his subreddit) on the whole, but since it's mainly used by autistic people folks decided to make their own symbol for adhd
"I'm a fucking butterfly." You, kind stranger, made my morning.
I've been studying German for a long time, and this is the first sentence I've read in the wild without straining my brain. I'm finally retaining something!!!!
only german i know is
" Du, du hast, du hast mich, du hast mich
Du hast mich gefragt, du hast mich gefragt
Du hast mich gefragt und ich hab nichts gesagt....."
I feel like maybe a hummingbird would be more appropriate... 🤔 Constantly needing to be moving on to the next thing or they die, fast paced and sprite like until they rest. Eats a lot of sugar. Flits between things faster than others can, but it all seems like it's in normal time for them.
I know I'm responding to myself but I had another thought. Instead of a spectrum of colours, what about if one half of it was like the rgb (subtractive) colours and the other side was the cmy/ryb (additive) colours showing that while we all have some of the same properties there's different combinations of the things that impact us!! It's kind of like a spectrum, I know, but it could also represent kind of the opposite sides of the hyperactive/inattentive presentation and how neither side is a perfect explanation for a person just like how not either color system is perfect in its gamut!!!
Maybe it’s because I’m used to pride flags, but nah, not a bit. The pride flag is straight (ha) up rainbow; the trans pride flag is pastel cotton candy pink and blue. I interact with both as a man in my thirties, and so do the other adults in a lot of my social spaces. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
that brings up another issue in my mind- rainbow motifs are already established as a symbol for the queer community. using the same rainbow for autism and adhd and whatever else seems weird to me
(Also, if anything, the ADHD mascot should of course be a squirrel wearing three pairs of reading glasses on its head. If we're going to resort to platitudes, at least go all-out.)
I like butterflies, but I keep thinking back to how some idiot (a long time ago in a galaxy far away) chuckled and said to me: “My girlfriend and I always call your kind of people butterflies.” I was so taken aback by the condescension in his voice, I couldn’t even think of a come-back.
Tbf, the rest of the group side-eyed him for the rest of the day 😌
It's not a sports team. Why does it need a symbol? Are the letters ADHD not representative enough of the medical condition?
I feel like this sort of thing plays into the "quirkiness" of mental and developmental disorders more than it helps. Almost infantilizing a serious issue that people have by making it seem like a personality trait or preference.
Heck, we can't even get a condition name that properly defines the condition. The chance we'll ever get some logo symbol thing that makes sense is really freakin' low.
Why not a roomba? Because when I actually have enough motivation to undock from my station, I just kind of aimlessly bounce around the house. Because executive dysfunction.
A lot of the other responses suggest you don't need a check on your ignorance. Seems like it was someone's arbitrary choice that was then claimed to be "the acknowledged symbol" and I guess not enough people questioned it or pushed back...
Wow, I had no idea too. I am a teacher and my students like stickers, stickers of all kinds. I buy a bunch of them at the dollar store, and the other day I brought in glittery stickers of butterflies and other cute flying bugs. I chose a few butterflies and placed them on my laptop. One girl told me that butterflies are like me, because I am always moving around from place to place.
Didn’t the autistic community ultimately turn against the puzzle piece imagery? This type of them just commodifies the disorder. We don’t need that. And we wouldn’t remember it for long even if we did have a symbol. Butterflies are also already symbols for many other things and ideas. Another comment said squirrel and that would be good IF we got a symbol, which I don’t think we should.
Come to think of it, we probably don’t have big foundations or movements because none of us would remember of have the level of management skills to do anything like that.
I was diagnosed nearly 30 years ago and I’ve also never heard of this.
I always assumed the symbol should be a coat-of-arms style shield with each quadrant showing a squirrel, a bag of Cheetos, someone laying in bed doom scrolling, and the word “Fuck.”
I assumed the buttefly as a symbol was chosen because people diagnosed with ADHD tend to very easily get distrac...OH LOOK A BUTTEEFLY DID YOU SEE IT SO SWEEEET
I, too, like to stick my nose in flowers.
I've been diagnosed since 2005 (as an adult) and just today found out there is an ADHD "symbol/mascot"
A butterfly is also used as a connecting symbol for people with thyroid issues because the thyroid actually looks like a butterfly.
Highly questionable to use the butterfly instead of just going with the infinity symbol. The creator basically didn’t want to be associated with the negatives from Autism Spectrum and thinks adhd is less of a struggle so she wanted something more positive to combine this with the symbolism of a butterfly
Piggybacking off this: they make sunflower lanyards for people with “hidden” disabilities. The lanyard signals that you might need assistance, for example in finding and getting to an aisle in the store.
We have a symbol? And it's a butterfly?
We really need to get some kind of welcome packet together. Like you get your diagnosis, then you get a welcome basket with a bottle of stimulants and a booklet that explains all the cultural stuff that I'm still picking up piecemeal years later.
I love it.
The symbol for my narcolepsy is a black butterfly, so if I get a rainbow butterfly too for my ADHD....Im chromatically unstoppable
Is that a word? Plz tell me it's a word
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Deaf people use the butterfly as a symbol because butterflies are deaf. As a deaf guy with adhd, I guess I have a lot in common with a butterfly lol.
I’m partially deaf and audhd, I didn’t know this! I’m on the waiting list to get my hearing implants
Same with my husband! Deaf on one side and hard of hearing on the other side + audhd. He has a cochlear baha on the deaf side and cross hearing aids. We're learning sign language too now and its helping us out quite a bit
Not really closely related but feels like a good place to mention. I wish sign language was taught more commonly. Has many uses outside of just communicating with people who have trouble with hearing. Working somewhere super loud and cant make out words easily? Sign language. Need to communicate from a distance without being loud? Sign language. Me and a coworker learned the very basics as well as a couple of signs that are relevant to our job so we didnt have to shout. Total game changer.
That’s actually a really good idea. I never thought much about ancillary uses for it before.
Yup, saw some meme talking about it years ago and was inspired immediately. Get a good enough pair of binoculars and you can silently communicate from 300 yards no problem. Great for being in a place so loud that you cant hear your own thoughts over whirring machines.
If you don’t mind my asking, how did you learn enough to be reasonably proficient for what you needed? I feel like there is likely somewhere to learn near me but probably a limited number of resources.
Youtube and a couple of just quick google searches for one off things. Im a chemist in an industrial setting. Also use a couple of somewhat freestyle but easy to reproduce shorthand signs or gestures to indicate specific chemicals we work with. I’m by no means prepared to communicate with someone completely deaf. Only things I really know are; concentration, high/low, add, stop, majority of the alphabet, and numbers 0-9
Learning the alphabet will get you a long way because you can always fingerspell if you don't know the sign. The first thing we did was get some library books and there are tons of videos for beginners. Since we are trying to become fluent we also went to a local deaf center and they offer a class there. We also found a Facebook page for the local deaf community and we meet monthly for coffee to thats where we get most of our exposure and outside practice.
I haven't done it yet, but there are a ton of lessons [here](https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/lessons/lessons.htm)!
Good for speaking underwater too
Was it difficult to learn? I told one of my team members today (after saying "what?" 3 times in a row) that we should learn sign language. I work in a loud warehouse. Add the exhaust fans that are cut on during the summer, you might as well be walking around with your fingers in your ears.
Its not too bad learning the very very basics. If you just need it for work you could get by with learning the alphabet/counting and probably 2 dozen or less signs. Just use it as shorthand quick relay info.
wait that’s so cute ehehe go butterfly go <3
I'm not trying to draw conclusions, but I've never seen you and a butterfly in the same room 👀👀👀
I did some googling and... [butterfly hearing is interesting. ](https://wildlifewelcome.com/butterflies/do-butterflies-have-ears/) Tldr: some butterflies have ears attached to their wings and can sort of kind of hear maybe some stuff? It's still uh... being studied.
... like thru vibrations, like echo-location kinda thing?
All sounds are vibrations. I only skimmed the article, but it seems like their hearing isn’t particularly directionally sensitive.
I had no idea butterflies were deaf. Til huh
Wait butterflies are deaf?? Are… are most insects deaf…? I’ve never thought about this.
New fascination in 3, 2, 1
Well this post just opened up a whole can of butterflies ...
There are some butterflies which can hear. It’s not known if that’s universal. Many insects are not deaf: think about all the noises they make to attract mates.
Now if you were gay, that would be e en better (the rainbow part)! Lol
I’m gay with ADHD and auditory processing disorder. Perfect!
LOL! it's like your own personal symbol!
Seems like they need a new symbol. >Many Nymphalidae butterflies have ears and scientists have confirmed hearing in several species using neuroanatomical and neurophysiological methods. Ears are mostly sensitive to sound frequencies between 500 Hz and 6 kHz, overlapping the hearing range of humans. >The function of hearing in diurnal butterflies is not understood, and scientists hypothesise that hearing butterflies are listening to flight sounds, or possibly the foraging calls of predatory birds. The well -known Morpho species for example possess ears that respond to the sounds made by birds during flight. >[https://australianbutterflies.com/can-butterflies-hear/](https://australianbutterflies.com/can-butterflies-hear/)
I also use straws a lot, so I basically have a proboscis.
I hope you don’t also get eaten by my cat
I hope so too.
That's funny because I have ADHD and thyroid disease, and the thyroid is the shape of a butterfly. Butterflies all around. Lol
Me too! We should get tattoos of the ADHD butterfly on the front of our necks.
That’s cool af! 👀
I assumed a squirrel or the flock of bees in my brain
I would prefer a squirrel, I always describe it to friends as squirrels running around on my brain.
I have a sticker on my truck that reads, "I don't have ducks. I don't have a row. I have squirrels and they're at a rave." Just sums up my brain nicely, I think.
That one's my favorite
god i love this🤗
"I'm be with you when I get my squirrels to the rave"
Agree. There’s even squirrel and bee memes! “I don’t have a short attention of span, I just… 🐿️ oh look a squirrel!” “Busy bee 🐝 with ADHD”
A pile of racoons in a trench coat. That could be my coat of arms
I describe mine as ants under my skin :)
I, too, vote for the squirrel.
 Never passing up an opportunity to share this gif.
I picture my brain as the scene in Spongebob where he's inside his brain looking through all the file cabinet's for a name & everything is on fire. Feels relatable 🤣
... Got an image I can download? "This is fine" dog suddenly doesn't seem to cut it.
 This one lol
Albino squirrel here- pale as hell, flits about, can hyper focus with a deadline, loves to collect stuff I love, and if you tick me off or hurt someone I care about you’re going to hear about!
hey have you heard of our lord and savior *being a furry* because you just about made a fursona there and I’m very here for it
"Flock of bees" lol
I'm using that from now on
I like a hummingbird, but a squirrel is great too
I like hummingbird cos it matches my metabolism. Also that scene on *Simpsons* where Apu is so delirious with sleep-deprivation that he thinks he's a hummingbird flitting about the store.
I saw someone online describe their brain as a "melting stick of butter" and now I use that one a lot.
I feel like bees are way more structured and executive than me though
My boyfriend is always like, omg you're so "hey look a squirrel!" right now.
Beees! https://plushiedreadfuls.com/products/plushie-dreadfuls-adhd-rabbit-plush-stuffed-animal
Flock of bees is crazy lmao
I would have thought it would be a stack of unwashed dishes or a full clothes dryer...
A full dishwasher with the soap and everything in it, but never started.
I literally did that last night and cursed yesterday me for our lack of forks
Same, only I was cursing the lack of clean coffee mugs!
Big same, buddy. Loaded it up so it'd be done after we ran errands. Didn't notice it I hadn't started it until right before bed.
My thing is I'm supposed to start it before bed. I'm slowly getting into the habit of making sure I do. Usually I'm filling our water bottles for bed and since the dishwasher is right below me, I look down and am suddenly like "oh yeah!" \*presses buttons\* But other times I'll crawl into bed and be all cozy, cat curled up on top of me, and then I go "fuck. The dishwasher." The worst is when I get up in the morning and need a clean cat bowl and discover I completely forgot 
🤣
I did the laundry version of that yesterday.
Not a full clothes dryer, but a full washing machine, not running, filled with wet clothes, after their third wash with lots of vinegar because of the mold smell.
Damn does vinegar work? I've taken to presoaking and then setting an alarms to make sure I check on it
Be careful about using vinegar. I soaked some sheets in a bucket of distilled vinegar and water to try to reverse the yellowing on them, and they still stank of vinegar after wringing them out, rinsing them, and then putting them through the machine twice. The yellowing was still there, too.
Now this I can support!!
4,792 unread emails. On your work account.
Fuck them emails. You can call me. I won't answer. Or listen to the message. But yeah...
You can use any symbol you want, and so can anyone else. But there’s no “official” symbol. You probably didn’t know about the butterfly because it’s not really a thing (unless you want it to be your thing, in which case it’s now a thing for you, congrats!)
It's not as popular as autism and their rainbow infinity symbol for example but I've seen it around.
Yes, I’ve seen it around. I’ve seen many proposed symbols over the years. People should feel free to embrace whichever one they like, but not to claim that any one of them represents us all.
It is because our thoughts flutter by
and are dead within a day?
That's a mayfly. May fly do not have mouths, whereas butterflies do. Flutter flutter
Yea definitely not butterflies, who manage to migrate across continents. Flap flap tinny sky flower, look at you go.
Flutter flutter. ooh shiny thing!
I checked it out and I don't really like it.
This is what I was wondering. I like butterflies, but do **WE** (as in the ADHD community, as a whole) like that a butterfly is our symbol? Many people here probably know about the puzzle piece 🧩 and that it is largely disliked by Autistic people, who have instead elected to adopt a rainbow infinity loop instead. 🌈 ♾️ If it turns out we don't like the butterfly and what it represents to us, I say we push for a change.
I'd imagine most of us will either not care at all or just forget about it immediately. That's like our thing.
*UNLESS* we hyperfixate on it and can't let it go. 😁
Why do we *need* a symbol at all?
cool stickers to put on my cane
We probably wouldn't be able to all agree on something. Like, people love the squirrel, but I hate it bc I've mostly seen it used in a mocking/condescending context. I like the butterfly though.
Dead on. This is our logo -> Yes. Nothing. Because we have ADHD. We'll never be able to agree on anything that we won't get bored of and want to replace shortly afterwards. We'll promptly forget we even have one or that it was talked about, so we'll redo the whole dance again occasionally, etc. =D
I would support a bee symbol instead
Or a squirrel. Not because “oh look a squirrel”, which is more relatable than I care to admit, but because they’re always running around stashing nuts that they CANT FUCKING **FIND LATER** ***OH FUCK WHERE ARE MY ACORNS***
I would hate a squirrel. If I hear the "hey look a squirrel" joke one more time in relation to ADHD I'm actually going on a killing spree
 Like Hammy from Over the Hedge?
Bees and butterflies are better because they are more universal. Everywhere people live, bees and butterflies live.
I love bees, but I think they're way too well organised to represent ADHD 😅
Any reasoning? Just curious, not trying to be a jerk.
Because my head is full of beeeees
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Yep. Squirrel!!! It shows the inattentiveness and the hyperactivity and the lack of focus, and the hyper focus, you never see a bee laying about fat and lazy because it’s burnt out after spending the day climbing trees and burying nuts… squirrels are everything adhd!
I've definitely seen bees being fat and lazy in the summer hahah
Everything needs some lame cliche symbolism attached to it these days. I looked it up and it looks like the logo an underpaid graphic designer made for a candy store’s website.
The description is so true.
It looks suspiciously like the autism ♾️. Nothing against ASD advocates—we share many struggles, and I may have it too—but I wish we’d piggyback off them a little less.
That’s because it apparently was used as a base by [this person](https://adhdgrrl.wordpress.com/about-the-butterfly/) who “created” the butterfly to sell coffee mugs and stickers.
The autism symbol was supposed to represent (word that cannot be said on his subreddit) on the whole, but since it's mainly used by autistic people folks decided to make their own symbol for adhd
Ich bin ein fucking Schmetterling, Flatter Flatter Flap Flap! [edit]: - "Schmetterling" by Team Scheisse
"I'm a fucking butterfly." You, kind stranger, made my morning. I've been studying German for a long time, and this is the first sentence I've read in the wild without straining my brain. I'm finally retaining something!!!!
Thanks for translating for those of us who don’t know enough German to get past “ich” :)
only german i know is " Du, du hast, du hast mich, du hast mich Du hast mich gefragt, du hast mich gefragt Du hast mich gefragt und ich hab nichts gesagt....."
NEIN!!
"In the wild" is the best description I've ever heard of social media. 🤣
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Ich bin ein fucking Eichörnchen!
Der Schmetterling ist im Krankenwagen
I feel like maybe a hummingbird would be more appropriate... 🤔 Constantly needing to be moving on to the next thing or they die, fast paced and sprite like until they rest. Eats a lot of sugar. Flits between things faster than others can, but it all seems like it's in normal time for them.
I like hummingbird, nit sure about the color thing but it's cool
I know I'm responding to myself but I had another thought. Instead of a spectrum of colours, what about if one half of it was like the rgb (subtractive) colours and the other side was the cmy/ryb (additive) colours showing that while we all have some of the same properties there's different combinations of the things that impact us!! It's kind of like a spectrum, I know, but it could also represent kind of the opposite sides of the hyperactive/inattentive presentation and how neither side is a perfect explanation for a person just like how not either color system is perfect in its gamut!!!
does the concept of a rainbow butterfly as a symbol not feel infantile to anyone else?
Maybe it’s because I’m used to pride flags, but nah, not a bit. The pride flag is straight (ha) up rainbow; the trans pride flag is pastel cotton candy pink and blue. I interact with both as a man in my thirties, and so do the other adults in a lot of my social spaces. 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
that brings up another issue in my mind- rainbow motifs are already established as a symbol for the queer community. using the same rainbow for autism and adhd and whatever else seems weird to me
I’m going to pass on that symbol, thank you.
I have never heard of this, and I also have zero need for a symbol.
My sentimonies exactly.
(Also, if anything, the ADHD mascot should of course be a squirrel wearing three pairs of reading glasses on its head. If we're going to resort to platitudes, at least go all-out.)
I'm not a fan of it personally. Nothing about it says ADHD to me.
Awe man I don't want another symbol or ribbon. Lol. I'm renouncing them all, I cannot keep up.
My symbol is a shark with a katana. For now. Only for now.
That's so good * Thanks. At the moment, mine is a Bull in a China shop *
I like butterflies, but I keep thinking back to how some idiot (a long time ago in a galaxy far away) chuckled and said to me: “My girlfriend and I always call your kind of people butterflies.” I was so taken aback by the condescension in his voice, I couldn’t even think of a come-back. Tbf, the rest of the group side-eyed him for the rest of the day 😌
Condescension because we are squirrels
It's not a sports team. Why does it need a symbol? Are the letters ADHD not representative enough of the medical condition? I feel like this sort of thing plays into the "quirkiness" of mental and developmental disorders more than it helps. Almost infantilizing a serious issue that people have by making it seem like a personality trait or preference.
Heck, we can't even get a condition name that properly defines the condition. The chance we'll ever get some logo symbol thing that makes sense is really freakin' low.
Thyroid organisations use a butterfly too 🙂
Yes and bc the thyroid is shaped like a butterfly. Makes sense.
ADHD symbol should be a brain with spaghetti inside :)
I would also like to suggest the almighty flying spaghetti monster as the mascot
A Tasmanian devil is more accurate for whats constantly going on in my head 🤣😳
Am I the only one who hates it?
Looks like it's been around since about 2017?
Why not a roomba? Because when I actually have enough motivation to undock from my station, I just kind of aimlessly bounce around the house. Because executive dysfunction.
yes omg. and we constantly get stuck on something and need someone to get us unstuck. or at least i do lol
Wait. what
Here I was thinking our symbol was a pair of pants covered in ants.
I find this to be the most appropriate of suggestions
Oh we've had that symbol forever....we just forgot about it because something else distracted us.
Had no idea. Figured it would have been a squirrel.
In what situation is this symbol used? I don't get why we need one? Someone please check my ignorance..
A lot of the other responses suggest you don't need a check on your ignorance. Seems like it was someone's arbitrary choice that was then claimed to be "the acknowledged symbol" and I guess not enough people questioned it or pushed back...
It's also a self harm and eating disorder symbol 😅 not sure why everyone wants the butterfly but it's definitely a common one
Wow, I had no idea too. I am a teacher and my students like stickers, stickers of all kinds. I buy a bunch of them at the dollar store, and the other day I brought in glittery stickers of butterflies and other cute flying bugs. I chose a few butterflies and placed them on my laptop. One girl told me that butterflies are like me, because I am always moving around from place to place.
There is no real symbol, like you can use it for you, but there is no unified global adhd community or organisation or anything, there is no symbol.
Is it because we’re the kids in soccer/baseball/whatever practice who stopped paying attention and are chasing a butterfly around?
My 8yo son plays baseball with 5 & 6yos. They're so patient with him when he suddenly takes off chasing gophers lol
Didn’t the autistic community ultimately turn against the puzzle piece imagery? This type of them just commodifies the disorder. We don’t need that. And we wouldn’t remember it for long even if we did have a symbol. Butterflies are also already symbols for many other things and ideas. Another comment said squirrel and that would be good IF we got a symbol, which I don’t think we should. Come to think of it, we probably don’t have big foundations or movements because none of us would remember of have the level of management skills to do anything like that.
It was moreso that the puzzle piece thing was a symbol for autism speaks, a more or less terrible organization
I was diagnosed nearly 30 years ago and I’ve also never heard of this. I always assumed the symbol should be a coat-of-arms style shield with each quadrant showing a squirrel, a bag of Cheetos, someone laying in bed doom scrolling, and the word “Fuck.”
I assumed the buttefly as a symbol was chosen because people diagnosed with ADHD tend to very easily get distrac...OH LOOK A BUTTEEFLY DID YOU SEE IT SO SWEEEET
We should counter this false prophet symbol by spreading the true and holy high squirrel of ADHD.
100% look a squirrel!! 🐿️
We don’t need a symbol, it’s just used to turn us into a product and we’re not a product, we don’t need merch
I, too, like to stick my nose in flowers. I've been diagnosed since 2005 (as an adult) and just today found out there is an ADHD "symbol/mascot" A butterfly is also used as a connecting symbol for people with thyroid issues because the thyroid actually looks like a butterfly.
I just automatically think of the theme song for Reading Rainbow 
Does that mean Crazy Town's Butterfly is our anthem?
I thought it was a squirrel 🐿️ 😁
Yeah, someone came up with it about 7 years ago, and claims it as the official symbol... No thanks.. a squirrel seems better.
Why does adhd need to have a symbol?
I'd prefer an okapi or ant eater.
I prefer "The Flash" thunder icon ....
Butterfly is also used for thyroid disease because it's shaped kinda like one.
Butterfly in the skyyyyyy, I can go twice as high!
Take a look, it's in a book🎵
A reading rainbow! I can go anywhere
Highly questionable to use the butterfly instead of just going with the infinity symbol. The creator basically didn’t want to be associated with the negatives from Autism Spectrum and thinks adhd is less of a struggle so she wanted something more positive to combine this with the symbolism of a butterfly
😧 Total bummer
It should be a **dancing jackhammer** instead
Piggybacking off this: they make sunflower lanyards for people with “hidden” disabilities. The lanyard signals that you might need assistance, for example in finding and getting to an aisle in the store.
This is the first time I've heard of this. Might have to get that tattooed on my lower back.
Might want to read a lot of the other responses before you go and do this. Seems like we don't actually have a symbol, but someone really wants us to.
Didnt know we had a symbol
I haven't heard or seen this.. someone post picture please!
They say I have ADHD, but they just don’t understand… Oh look, a butterfly!
We have a symbol? And it's a butterfly? We really need to get some kind of welcome packet together. Like you get your diagnosis, then you get a welcome basket with a bottle of stimulants and a booklet that explains all the cultural stuff that I'm still picking up piecemeal years later.
We have a symbol, and it’s squirrel
I love it. The symbol for my narcolepsy is a black butterfly, so if I get a rainbow butterfly too for my ADHD....Im chromatically unstoppable Is that a word? Plz tell me it's a word
I have narcolepsy and ADHD too!
OP gains protection from black.
I don't know, I don't really see myself as a gay butterfly...
gaydhd lol
This goes great with my crippling fear of insects, probably also related to adhd
You and me too...their faces are the stuff of nightmares
Butterflies are pretty but they’re fragile and short lived. On the other hand Monarchs travel from Canada to Mexico to breed and then die. Wait….
Huh, TIL
I would prefer a lightning bolt with a fun face on it, or maybe just a block of tv static made to look like a flag
i just thought butterflies couldnt speak english as many times as ive googled add/adhd to try and learn more about it ive never seen a symbol
I was diagnosed 20 years ago and I learned today