Teachers with ADHD: The Hidden Struggles and Strengths that You’re Not Alone In

If you’re a teacher with ADHD, or wondering if you might be, you may have found yourself thinking, “Every year I think it’ll get easier but it’s not! Why do some things seem so difficult?!

Make no mistake, you love what you do. You care deeply, you show up with energy and ideas, and you pour yourself into your students, but behind the scenes? There’s the overwhelm that creeps in. The pressure. The emotional spirals. The endless planning that never quite feels like enough.

One thing I’ve noticed, as a teacher trainer and neurodiversity (ND) coach with lived ADHD experience, is that teachers with ADHD start by saying they’re struggling with time pressure/ structure, but what they discover is something much deeper. There’s a whole hidden layer of emotional, cognitive and practical challenges that can make teaching harder, but when those challenges are understood and worked with, not against, they can actually become some of a teacher’s greatest strengths.

Many of the teachers I work with are exceptionally creative, deeply empathetic, quick to adapt in the moment and bring a level of passion and presence that can’t be taught in training. ADHD doesn't cancel those things out, but (and I know this from personal experience), it can make it harder for teachers to see those strengths in themselves, especially when they’re caught in cycles of stress or self-doubt. In this blog, I’m sharing what I’ve learned from working with ADHD and AuDHD educators, including the things that often go unspoken. My hope is that it helps you feel more understood, and maybe even helps you feel a little more in control at work and beyond (please note that not all ADHDers have RSD or imposter syndrome; each person has their own individual experience).

1.   The September Transition Anxiety

September can bring a fresh start, but for many teachers with ADHD, it feels like being thrown into the unknown. Even though you might thrive on novelty and love the buzz of new beginnings, that doesn’t always mean you’re comfortable with unpredictability. If you crave familiarity or struggle with change, that first half-term can feel exhausting before it even begins. All those new faces and names to remember, new routines, and the pressure to settle in quickly can be a lot to process.

There’s also a neurological reason why transitions can feel so overwhelming. In ADHD, the brain's executive functions:  the skills that help us plan, organise, prioritise and adapt, tend to work differently. The prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for managing complex tasks and regulating emotional responses, can become easily overloaded when there are too many new variables at once. Instead of smoothly switching gears, the brain can go into a kind of cognitive bottleneck, where everything feels urgent, but nothing feels manageable. Add to this the emotional intensity that often comes with ADHD, and even exciting new starts can quickly tip into anxiety and burnout.

2.   Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) and Student Engagement

When students don’t seem fully ‘engaged’, or when a lesson doesn't land the way you hoped, it can feel personal even though logically you know it isn’t. That’s where something called Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) often comes into play. RSD is a neurological response seen in ADHD where the brain reacts to perceived rejection or criticism with an intense, overwhelming emotional hit. It can feel physically painful. The amygdala, the brain’s alarm system, kicks in hard, while the prefrontal cortex (the part that helps us think rationally) struggles to keep up. This is your nervous system flooding you with signals that you’ve failed or let people down even if that’s not what’s actually happened.

For teachers, this can mean interpreting a single blank stare from a student as proof you're a bad educator, or ruminating for hours over one throwaway comment in a staff meeting. When you’re living with that constant fear of rejection, it is no wonder that self-doubt can take root too. That’s where imposter syndrome often comes into the picture.

3. Imposter Syndrome (with an ADHD Twist)

 Imposter syndrome is common in teaching especially for novice teachers, and this could be considered quite ‘normal’, but in ADHD, it often comes with a particular flavour. It’s not simply doubting your abilities, there’s that persistent sense of “Any minute now, someone’s going to figure out I don’t belong here,” even though you’ve been teaching for years, and you absolutely do belong!

This feeling is often amplified by years of internalised messages from school, university, or early career, that framed their differences as laziness, disorganisation, or just “not trying hard enough.” Over time, that erodes self-trust .From a neuroscience perspective, this kind of chronic self-doubt is also linked to differences in dopamine regulation. Many ADHD brains are wired to constantly seek external validation (because internal motivation systems can be underactive), which can make praise hard to believe and criticism feel catastrophic. So yes…. lots of teachers feel imposter syndrome, but for those with ADHD, it can feel like a constantly humming soundtrack in the background, louder and harder to switch off.

4.   Time Blindness, Organisation & the ADHD Brain

Time can feel slippery with ADHD, not just in being late, but in the constant, invisible effort to stay on top of things. For many teachers, that shows up as overcompensating: always early (or trying to be), triple-checking plans, relying on colour-coded systems and backup alarms. On the outside, it might look like you’ve got it all together. Inside, it can feel like you’re holding it together with duct tape and panic.

This pressure often stems from time blindness, a common ADHD experience where it’s harder to sense the passage of time, estimate how long things take, or transition between tasks. It’s linked to how the ADHD brain processes time, especially in the prefrontal cortex, which handles planning and prioritising. That’s why standard organisation advice often doesn’t help. Sustainable systems need to match how your brain works, not how others think it should. Whether you’re constantly running late or constantly on edge trying not to be, the toll is real, and it’s rarely acknowledged.

A Real-Life Example in Action: From Self-Doubt to Self-Belief

So, above are my examples of some of the nasties, but they don't always have to get in the way of all the incredible qualities you bring as a neurodivergent teacher. To show you what this can look like in practice, here's an example of a teacher I worked with. Their story highlights the unique talents and skills they brought to the role and how recognising these was the key to unlocking their impact.

Take Emma (not her real name); she had been teaching for a over 10 years when she came to me, feeling completely burnt out. Every September, the anxiety about starting with a new class would wipe out her sleep for days. Feedback from leadership, even when it was positive, felt like an attack rather than support. Through coaching, Emma learned how to recognise when her RSD was flaring up and how to ground herself before it took over, remembering who she was and what that meant. She created strategies that eased her time anxiety and built a few small rituals for welcoming new students that made September feel more predictable.

Most importantly though, it wasn’t simply about coping and strategies. Through the process, Emma also began to recognise the unique strengths she brought (at work and in the outside world): her energy, her intuitive way of connecting with people who often felt unseen, how she lit up when she could be creative, and most of all how much the students loved her passion (and her). With that, not only did Emma stay in teaching, but she discovered a new confidence in supporting her neurodivergent students, because by understanding herself better, she could see and meet their needs too. What struck me as her coach the most was how her friends and family noticed a difference in how she perceived herself and that affected EVERYTHING in a more positive way.

If you recognise yourself in any of this, you’re definitely not alone. Being a teacher with ADHD/ AuDHD can feel exhausting, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Understanding yourself better, building systems that work for you, and treating your struggles with compassion can completely change your experience of life in all contexts.

How ADHD Coaching Helps Teachers Thrive

Coaching is about helping you understand your brain better and building systems that work with the way you naturally think and feel. Here are some of the areas I work with (and more):

- RSD Awareness: Spotting emotional triggers early so they don’t spiral into self-criticism.

- Tackling Imposter Syndrome: Challenging those automatic thoughts that tell you you’re failing, even when you’re not.

- Transition Planning: Creating structures that make change feel safer and more predictable.

- Organisation Systems: Designing flexible tools that actually fit how your brain works day-to-day.

When teachers learn how to support themselves in this way, something really important happens. The self-awareness and compassion teachers build for themselves naturally flow into the classroom and the impact of that reaches beyond school walls:  it touches their home life, their families, and their sense of confidence as a whole.

Work With Me at Shine On ADHD Coaching

I’m a qualified ADHD and AuDHD coach with a background in education (Lecturer involved in teacher training), and I specialise in working with neurodivergent teachers and students. I know how it feels to love teaching but find it overwhelming, and I also know how powerful things can become when you understand your brain and start building on areas that actually work.

Learn more about Shine On ADHD Coaching here: https://www.shineonadhdcoaching.co.uk/

Or feel free to get in touch for a free 30 minute discovery call (with no obligation):

https://calendly.com/nwalker3-uclan/30-minute-free-discovery-call

Further Reading / Bibliography

If you’d like to dig deeper into the science, lived experience and strategies behind ADHD, here are some powerful and trusted resources:

1.   Barkley, R. A. (2011). Taking Charge of Adult ADHD. The Guilford Press.

2.   Brown, T. E. (2013). A New Understanding of ADHD in Children and Adults: Executive Function Impairments. Routledge.

3.   Dodson, W. (2022). What You May Not Know About Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria ADDitude Magazine. https://www.additudemag.com/rejection-sensitive-dysphoria-adhd-emotional-dysregulation/

4.   Hallowell, E. M., & Ratey, J. J. (2021). ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction. Ballantine Books.

5.   Solden, S., & Frank, M. (2019). A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD: Embrace Neurodiversity, Live Boldly, and Break Through Barriers. New Harbinger Publications.