It’s a subtype of ADD. I have it too. Sluggish cognitive tempo.
I don’t suppose you’re also a very visual person, who prefers to solve math problems geometrically rather than algebraically, etc. There may be a link between that buffering and the ability to turn abstract shapes in one’s mind.
Oh wow, you just managed to describe me completely. I'm inattentive-type ADHD (diagnosed as an adult), and all of my thought processes are super visual; constructing visual mental models in space is how I problem solve and a lifetime ago in school I was top of the math class when I could construct visual models of the problem but struggled when I couldn't.
My diagnostic ADD testing was inconclusive because I was able to excel at working memory and shape tests because I am able to hold onto a ton of information if I can write it on my mental blackboard etc.
When I'm listening to a conversation, what I'm hearing often produces a stream of involuntary visuals representing related information and subjects, like I have a mental background process showing me flash-cards of possibly useful information.
I also have the issue where someone will talk to me and there's this delay where I often appear to be non-responsive for a moment or two until my brain spools-up and then I mentally lock into the conversation.
Anyway, if you have any references or additional learnings you've found related to this topic, please share.
Intensive independent research. I learned of it around 2010 so I forget the exact trail. Eventually I hit on a medical journal that documented it, and I was like “that’s me.”
I don’t suppose you’re also a very visual person, who prefers to solve math problems geometrically rather than algebraically, etc. There may be a link between that buffering and the ability to turn abstract shapes in one’s mind.