Not to discount your experiences, but that's not at all how I've felt as a sufferer of ADHD (nor my parents or my son). I would describe the feeling of ADHD not as lack of motivation but severe, almost physical, discomfort at attempts to concentrate. If you've ever suffered from nerve pain, you may know what I'm talking about. It's not quite analogous, since the ADHD discomfort is more of a strong, distracting 'itch', but it's similar in its phantom nature.

If one lives with that feeling since birth, it is really hard to understand that others just don't feel that way. We may try to push ourselves forward, through constant force of will, or because others tell us to 'tough-it-out', but it's exhausting. Whereas we see others reading a book a week or month even, we struggle to even read a paragraph - constantly starting over, re-reading, so distracted that we can barely even take in the information.

It's not until we gets treatment that we suddenly and clearly feel the difference, and then we understand the suffering that we've been going through all that time. Feeling 'normal' is amazing! It's like being able to read several pages at a time or sit through an entire lecture without feeling like you're constantly wiping away some sticky, opaque film between you and the information.