According to Dr. Russell Barkley and others, you must deduct 30% from an AD/HD teen’s chorological age to arrive at their maturity level in terms of self-control and emotional control. At what point do they catch up?
Re: Chronological Age vs Functional Age
So true … so much depends on whether at some point there was enough consistent reinforcement of with good results for working hard to teach that maturity. Consistency, consistency, consistency is crucial (and depending on the neurology, might still not be enough).
Some? never. (Prison is full of men with ADHD who for various reasons did not mature to the point they could assimilate into polite, lawful society).
Others? immature in some regards and mature in others.
Still others? when they finally do (many children with the ADHD label exhibit strong symptoms when required to do tasks they cannot, but are very typical kids when they are allowed to do other tasks which do not push their stressor buttons).
Like all aspects of the human condition, there are no simple, pat answers. Nature, nurture and environmental pressures vary widely for each of us, and how we respond varies accordingly.