ADHD, hunter-gatherers, and education: why the system isn’t built for our brains

There’s been a popular photo being shared on Facebook about how ADHD isn’t really a disorder - it’s a different kind of wiring. A set of traits that once helped humans survive, especially in fast-paced, unpredictable environments. And for many home-educating families like ours, this idea makes a lot of sense.

It’s backed by research too. A study in Nature Genetics found that ADHD traits are more common in nomadic populations than in settled ones. In other words, our hunter-gatherer ancestors likely passed these traits down for a reason: they were useful. Imagine what it took to survive in the wild. You’d need to be alert to the tiniest movements or sounds. Quick to act. Always scanning your surroundings. Drawn to novelty and driven to explore. Sound familiar? These are the very traits modern psychiatry often labels as symptoms of a disorder. But in a natural environment, those same traits would have been superpowers.

The problem? Today’s world is anything but natural. Instead of open landscapes and roaming tribes, we have classrooms with fluorescent lights and 30 children squeezed into four walls. Instead of movement, novelty and connection, we expect hours of stillness, compliance and repetition. ADHD becomes a “problem” because the environment no longer fits the brain. That doesn’t mean ADHD is all strengths. Living in a world that isn’t designed for your brain can be incredibly hard, for both children and their parents. There are struggles with regulation, time blindness, executive functioning, and often big emotions. It can feel like you’re always behind, always missing something, always trying to catch up.

But here’s the shift: what if the traits aren’t the problem, what if the setting is? That’s what home ed gives us: the chance to build an environment around our children, rather than trying to force them to fit into one that doesn't make sense. We can adapt to the pace. Create a structure that works for them. Focus on strengths. Allow movement, choice, and freedom. We can ditch the classwork and let their curiosity lead the way. When you take away the artificial pressure and allow a child to be who they truly are, something remarkable happens: they learn. Not because they’ve finally conformed, but because they’re finally seen.

It took helping my son to finally see myself clearly. When I was growing up, ADHD wasn’t even on the radar. But as I supported him, I began to recognise the same patterns in me. The missed signs, the constant overwhelm, the deep sensitivity under the surface. It wasn’t laziness or lack of effort - it was an invisible difference I’d been masking for years. I’ve had to unlearn the idea that my brain is wrong. It’s not broken, just different. And in choosing to home educate, I’m finally creating a life that honours that difference, instead of fighting it.

Maybe ADHD isn’t a disorder. Maybe it’s an echo - a survival brain in a system that forgot what it really means to thrive.