Is academic underachieving always obvious in ADD/ADHD students?

Is academic underachieving always obvious and severe in ADD/ADHD students?

Clearly no. Some ADD/ADHD students can flunk everyday examinations yet for some reason be motivated to cram for State-wide examinations and be high achievers. But, many find academic activities so boring and painful that they simply refuse even to do homework or take in-class tests. The poor achievers are, of course, easy to identify.

While the school performance of some ADD/ADHD students may drop from A's to F's, other may fall, for example, only modestly from A's to the B to B+ range. Individuals with only a modest fall in achievement level often are not be recognized by parents, teachers and other adults as suffering from inattention due to ADD/ADHD brain chemistry.

In some instances, ADD/ADHD students with good grades may be recognized only if someone notices that they are spending inordinate amounts of time on homework in their struggle to achieve.