I really enjoyed your piece, and it resonated with me in several ways. I was born and raised in Italy where conditions such as ADHD are chalked up to kids being lazy/stupid/mischievous. I was diagnosed in the US when I turned 30 and even though all of the signs were there I was never aware I had it, and so my school years, while moderately successful as far as academic results, were always a struggle and I had to put in twice as much the effort as my peers to achieve what they did. Despite ADHD though, I taught myself to program, first with PHP and then several other languages over the years. You are right, conventional education some times just doesn't work for some people. My way of learning, as I imagine yours too, is different than others. I can't sit for hours reading on a book, I need to do what I'm learning. That's why I think programming works so well for creative people, people that need to solve problems, be engaged into something challenging while not discouraging. That is also why tech companies aren't much interested in formal education anymore. Until something changes in the way such disciplines are taught, many brilliant people who would otherwise achieve great success, will fall through the gaps of an inadequate system.
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I really enjoyed your piece, and it resonated with me in several ways. I was born and raised in Italy where conditions such as ADHD are chalked up to kids being lazy/stupid/mischievous. I was diagnosed in the US when I turned 30 and even though all of the signs were there I was never aware I had it, and so my school years, while moderately successful as far as academic results, were always a struggle and I had to put in twice as much the effort as my peers to achieve what they did. Despite ADHD though, I taught myself to program, first with PHP and then several other languages over the years. You are right, conventional education some times just doesn't work for some people. My way of learning, as I imagine yours too, is different than others. I can't sit for hours reading on a book, I need to do what I'm learning. That's why I think programming works so well for creative people, people that need to solve problems, be engaged into something challenging while not discouraging. That is also why tech companies aren't much interested in formal education anymore. Until something changes in the way such disciplines are taught, many brilliant people who would otherwise achieve great success, will fall through the gaps of an inadequate system.