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110 Comments
- zediker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yes, i can believe this. I have ADD (no hyperactivity), and my mind races most of the time if i dont subdue it with work or an activity of some sort. Because of this i tend to work really fast at whatever im doing, sometimes to the displeasure of fellow students or co-workers who tell me to slow down. But the problem is the period can be minutes to hours, especially if i get distracted...
- zediker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6my biggest bane is reading tho... If I am not absolutly interested in what I am reading, I wont be able to finish a page of text before my mind wanders... reading novels in highschool and textbooks in college was a pain for me unlike no other, i just couldnt keep focused on the material at hand.
- A-Dubb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4When I was in high school they thought I was partially retarded do to my behavior. They gave me an IQ test to which I scored 196 so they decided to recommend me to a shrink who then concluded I had ADHD. He then prescribed me with Adderal, which almost killed me and made less able to problem solve or do anything with my brain as far as thinking. I got off of it and now, at the ripe age of 21, I work for one of the top software companies in the world as a software engineering consultant... With ADHD.
It really is a gift. - Exi7wound, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This is absolutely right. My son has sever ADHD, OCD, and childhood-onset schizophrenia. He is the most imaginative, caring, insightful kid I've ever known.
BUT... If not for a stimulant, he would not be able to control his impulses, nor would he be able to maintain the attention required to make use of his gifts. Without a stimulant, my child would be a danger to himself and others. Telling people to "get off the Ritalin" is dangerous, irresponsible and ignorant. - dickmnixon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+395% of the world is asleep, the rest of us live in a state of constant, total amazement.
- Numbski, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Guys, the ones of you who say that Inderall and Ritalin are evil...
I was on the stuff as a kid. I swear, until I went on the stuff I couldn't stop long enough to focus on any one thing. It was insane. They would test me, I would score insanely high, but my grades were constantly low because homework bored me, and even if I sat down to do it, it took too long, so I just stopped doing it. Got great test grades, always had bad grades overall.
The meds come in, I start doing much better. So the value of at least Inderall is not totally worthless. I have another friend that was on Ritalin, and the difference was night and day in his ability to focus. He is now on something new that doesn't have some of the unpleasantries, and he would have it any other way.
So claiming this as an excuse to "dope up your kids" is stupid. When your child is so unable to focus that they cannot function correctly, it is more appropriate to, as you say "dope them up" than to sit back and do nothing.
My nephew too has ADHD. Before he went on his meds, I could actually place both hands on his head, hold his head there, and attempt to make I contact, I'd ask him to look at me and then I'd tell him something, but by the time I'd reach the end of my sentence, his focus was already someplace else. I don't care what you guys think, THAT IS NOT NORMAL.
He's on medication now, and like when I was younger, he can now focus, and he is doing far better at school, and can actually communicate his thoughts far better than before.
IMHO, you can all go stick it someplace. Without first-hand experience, don't go taking jabs at people. I don't like taking pills and being stuck on meds long term any more than the rest of you, but as many parents as there are out there who want an easy fix and don't want the responsibility of actually raising kids, there are more that care for and love their children. Think on that. - tryferos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have ADHD and my mom was encouraged to give my Ritalin back in the 70's. She did research and realized the dangers even then. That being said, I am sure some children need some sort of medication to help them, but I agree that its probably over prescribed.
As for my life, I dropped out of high school because I was not stimulated enough. Even now I get bored easily, but I love my hyperactivity (especially when I boost it with Starbucks).
I would say 100% that this is an awesome gift that makes me a hard worker and my IT Network Admin job is perfect for me. I have tons of projects and things constantly happening that keep my easily bored mind going. - gfpaperboy22, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"It's ignorant and disgusting that you are doping up your kids. You do know these drugs are amphetamines, right? You do know the long term effects? Probably not. Well I took it for a long time and I'm telling you now GET HIM OFF OF IT."
What you do not seem to understand is that if you really have ADD or ADHD, these stimulates will work. If you do not have ADHD or ADD, then yes, its like giving a kid speed. I'm thankful that I had Adderall. Without that, I would be completely off the hook: pissing people off, annoying the hell outta everyone, and alienating myself to a degree that still makes me shudder.
However, I will agree that Ritalin is crap. The effect isn't nearly as long and it has bad effects on the body. Adderall lasted the entire day and acted as an appetite supresent, helping me to lose weight. Before you start to rant like a loony, try to understand that a child with ADHD does not realize how embaressing they can be until after the fact. There is no thinking before you speak, you simply end up spitting out whatever you're thinking. - katakoon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"It's ignorant and disgusting that you are doping up your kids. You do know these drugs are amphetamines, right? You do know the long term effects? Probably not. Well I took it for a long time and I'm telling you now GET HIM OFF OF IT."
So, taking it for a long time makes you an idiot...? - 662662, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I built a site not too long ago that confirms the 'gift of dyslexia'; for anyone interested here it is http://dyslexia-mastery.com
- rockersDC, on 09/03/2008, -0/+1The dumbass here...and only person who needs to be smacked...is you.
- irie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@madmax22e--you IDIOT!
'Ritalin and adderol are abused too much. These drugs are insanely strong. Any parent who gives their kid this should be locked up"
Well lock me up then, my daughter has had tremendous results from Ritalin for her ADHD.
I would love to kick the crap outta you AND Tom Cruiser, you loser! - oculus1857, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have ADHD. It hasn't been easy for me either when it comes to reading those great long novels. It's not that we can't read or comprehend, it's like someone changing the channel in your mind. However, I'm glad there is someone who can reasonably explain the good things about being ADHD.
One thing this article doesn't mention is that people who are ADHD are superior in all arts. These arts also include martial arts. Martial Arts are great for anyone at any age, but most especially for people and kids with ADHD because of the structured environment. I could go on, but I will not bore you with my life story.
I will have to check out the book that spirion suggested. I'm great reading online journals and magazines, but it's been hard conquering books. That is my $0.02 in on this topic, later. - A-Dubb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1To me, Adderal is crap. It calmed me down alright, but when I wasn't working, I stared at the wall and drooled, I'm completely serious. I also didn't eat for a week at a time. If I ate I got sick and threw it up almost right away because I wasn't hungry in the first place. I binged on the weekends because I wasn't taking the stuff. When Monday came I was sitting there drooling. I lost my friends because I was no fun to be around so they went off and did their own thing. Everyday was the same. I got up, went to school, took the pill, drooled the rest of the day, came home and layed in my bed until I fell asleep. I did NOTHING else. I was hospitalized because I was so malnourished. I though they were going to take me off the stuff, instead, they upped the dosage. Once I got off of it my life much better.
Adderal is nothing but trouble in my opinion. - zediker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The thing is, our brain chemistry is different than normal people, thats why we have ADD/ADHD. Here is the best explination of why people with ADHD need amphetimines/stimulants to calm them down. With a normal brain, your brain is at a satiated excitement level, anything more, and you get excited, any less, and you feel lathargic. A brain that sufferes from ADHD/ADD has an abnormaly low level of excitement, and so the brain uncounsciously makes up for this by creating a hyperactive state to overcome this limitation. By giving a brain with ADD/ADHD a stimulant, you set the brain's excitement level back to a normal level.
At least that is how it was explained to me. - themulf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I know i have it, and i procastinate. But its like your thinking about a zillion things at once, never at rest. It helps your imagination, but tend not to finish projects, or lose train of thought in mid.... umm sentance.
- SilverSands, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So many children are put on drugs in order to conform to the education system... yet so many people agree that the education system is woefully out of date. The "regurgitation methods" may have worked in the past, but it is increasingly obvious that our children are outpacing these methods by leaps and bounds.
Unfortunately, the focus is all on profits, and drugs and drug research are the big profit makers, even though the fact that teaching our children how to think, learn and create instead of simply memorize is what would allow the human race to progress many times faster than we do currently.
Regrettably, most aspects of society today require a form-fitting outlook in order to be "successful" (i.e. rich, famous, etc...).
May I live to see the day when humans mature enough to give up our infantile squabbling, and work together for the advancement of us all as a species. Perhaps then we can finally venture out of our cradle Earth, and begin to experience the wonderous universe that is out there waiting. - meyersjd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This article confuses two very different traits with each other, ADHD and giftedness. Giftedness kicks in on average around 130 on the major IQ tests, which translates to two standard deviations of intelligence above the mean. I am a teacher specifically certified in gifted education and I, or any other gifted teacher with their nose in the latest gifted research journals, can tell you that the issue of giftedness being misdiagnosed as ADHD is one of the biggest hot button issue among gifted researchers and educators right now. I love teaching middle school gifted children, but they are quite a handful if not properly stimulated intellectually. They are often called "hyper" by other teachers and parents. Frankly, anyone would have trouble concentrating if they were bumped over 2 grade levels down in their classes. An average 4th grader wouldn't be able to pay attention day after day to instruction in a 1st or 2nd grade classroom. He might get very antsy after just a little bit of sitting in a desk staring at the unbelievably boring math problems on the board. Unfortunately, this child has been in that situation for his entire schooling experience so far and only faces the prospect of it continuing for much longer. Drugs might be recommended to help him adjust...
By the way, the whole Ritalin "is speed and works only on ADHD kids" is a complete wives' tale propagated by uninformed people with no medical or psychological training. It decreases reaction time and motor activity in almost all children and even manages to increase performance on cognitive tests across the board for them. These medical facts have been known by the medical community since its first use, but that doesn't stop the drugaphobes out there from clinging to these myths they know they heard from "somewhere reputable, but they just can't remember exactly where..." Don't ask them to point to an actual scientific published and peer reviewed study to back it up. They can't do it. I could easily quote the 1978 study by Rapoport, Buchsbaum, Zahn, Weingartner, Ludlow, and Mikkelsen published in 1978 in the professional journal "Science" as one of the earlier studies done in this area which has been born out over and over since then.
The issue is not that there are not people with true ADHD, but that ADHD is totally separate from giftedness and strikes across a wide range of intelligences from giftedness on down. The problem is that the outward symptoms of giftedness and ADHD match almost identically with each other and can sound exactly like each other. There are no blood tests for ADHD or other actual true medical test, so the doctors diagnose based solely on observations (sometimes not even first hand observations but stories told by parents or teachers) which are of course subjective by their very nature.
There are plenty of articles and research papers published out there and it's spoken about at loads of gifted educator conventions and functions. A book has recently come out about the issue as well. The book deals with other misdiagnoses as well that are often applied to gifted people. ADHD just happen to be the most common one. Here's a simple article that summarizes some of the points: http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/adhd_and_gifted.html.
Here's a link to the new book Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0910707677/qid=1129250058/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-3953118-0666254?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
I get very uncomfortable every time I walk into a new gifted staffing meeting to find a child who qualified for the gifted program currently drugged nearly out of his or her giftedness with meds because his parents were so sure he was ADHD... The parents are usually so shocked their child is gifted in those situations. Frankly, it's just sad.
So get informed people, and stop blathering gossip you heard here or there or churning out anecdotal sob or triumph stories of your personal subjective observations which have no scientifically tested worth. - ninajean, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have ADHD. I am an avid reader as long as it's interesting to me. Otherwise it's so boring I'm almost in tears. Which brings me to a question. I love PCs, working on them, learning about them (guts and all), programming, and games. My question: How to get thru the boring parts of learning to program? I'm not on meds of any kind. Except over the counter stuff for migraines. Any suggestions?
Ninajean - taebird1970, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Ninajean,
Hello I have a question for you. I have an 11 year old son who may have ADHD and my question is how do I tell him? He has been to a concilor a few times for other problems and did not do well, in fact he was very upset because I made him go, so I do not think he will do well with this. I need someone elses opinion who has been there.
As for your problem read it and make cue cards to review before the test. It keeps you busy and it will make things easier when you have to take a test or need to remember what you have read. It helped me get through the boring stuff in college. - CivilE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I had ADHD, but I quickly became board with it and moved on to something else
:cheers:
CivilE
-- I still have it. And I too should be studying for an exam tomorrow -sigh- - jimmyM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0that guy above who has an iq of 196 is awesome. that means he is smarter than 99.99999990% of the population. so literally one in a billion. probably the smartest person in america and certainly one of the smartest people on earth. impressive.
- jolly1198, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Dude...where's the article...http 404, did you misplace it?
- eljinn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Brain Blood Perfusion may be the key. I saw a new Dr recently when I could no longer cope with ADD (I kept being distracted at my programming job), and he suggested Clonidine. The brains of ADD kids are hyperactive in some parts, but other parts are depressed. He suggested that perhaps there was not enough blood and the necessary resources (oxygen, neurotransmitters, nutrients etc) were not getting to the other parts of the brain. Clonidine is an antihypertensive. Taking it allows constricted blood vessels to relax, leading to increased blood perfusion to the brain.
Sure enough it worked. The next day, I could notice more things, I was able to get to work on time, and importantly I was able to finish my tasks.
My Dr mentioned that in the tests that NASA have done on astronauts, they were not able to finish their tasks when there was lower levels of oxygen, and they behaved very similarly to ADD people.
I have been taking it for the last week (100 micrograms at night). The effect is not as pronounced as when I first took it. But I am able to sleep better at night (and I don't wake up early), I can finish my tasks, and I able to see the overall picture better. My unpredictable dyslexia has improved. My reaction time is faster, and I remember things sooner.
The reason why I am slow with ADD , is because I have to force myself to concentrate, and I have to slow myself down to prevent mistakes. My Dr has the theory, that with the clonidine, the blood vessels in the brain are not constricted, the blood takes less time to reach the parts of my brain with the necessay information, and I can process the information properly, and I don't have to go back back and forth between different sets of information.
I think a lot of problems with ADD stem because of lack of confidence, and the stress with family and other people, sometimes because we are different, and sometimes because
we cannot concentrate, keep our rooms messy, isolate ourselves so we can do the work etc.
I realized after taking this medication, that my main problem is not ADD. Being ADD means we are smart, we are open minded, and insightful. Its wonderful. I used to always to think that is the cause of my problems, But now I realize it is who I am, and I don't want to change it (and really I can't). I am still distracted, and now I'm letting my mind race at 100 mph but I am able to finish the tasks I want to finish.
If you would like to know more, write to me at eljinn at gmail dot com , or add the address to msn - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0ADHD does not only affect those spazoid kids that need to get beat by a sober father.
I believe ADHD (at least the attention deficit part) is man made evolution in the making. - holdenmyheart, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0If corrective action can be taken without medication, then that should be the first option. For many children and adults, medication is needed to aid in their success as students, parents and employees. Many times children do not need to be medicated after a certain amount of time because they have learned to either control their behaviors or have begun to outgrow the most severe symptoms. Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta is all methylphenidate. Although they might be a derivative of amphetamines, the neuropharmacological effects of both drugs are completely different. Furthermore, some symptoms of ADHD resemble characteristics of OCD, depression and anxiety. To say that they will end up with one of those disorders is ignorant, because shy/anxious/fearful, poor relationship quality, recovery/soothability issues and fixations are possible symptoms of ADHD. ADHD symptoms vary from person to person and almost no two cases are alike.
*See my post at the end of this thread for more information about my personal situation with ADHD. - JaggedEdge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Just getting back to reading this it makes me laugh... back in my fourth grade year i moved to a new school absolutely hated the teacher, was the class clown and my grades went from A's to F's.... my mom thought i had ADD had an IQ test scored a 144 and the lady said i didn't have ADD yet after reading that article it makes me believe i have ADHD, set aside from my IQ I've always known i was a bit different from everyone else around me. anyways i think its 100% true that having ADHD is a gift, creativity definitely isn't a problem for my and when in a pinch i can think of a way to get me out of something. Problem solving feeds my hunger, that's why i enjoy reverse engineering code....and building computers/fixing them :D.
- bedouin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think I have mild ADHD. The key for me getting through early years was having a clear goal of what I wanted (various hobbies and interests) outside of the day to day garbage fed to me at school -- that and a pretty solid sense of 'identity,' even when it clashed with the majority.
If I don't see how an activity will lead to the overall competition of a major goal, or if the goal is one separate from my own -- I can't focus on it at all.
As a side note, I think RSS is heaven for a person with ADHD. A whole day's information packed into 30-45 minutes of browsing in Safari. Who could want more? - holdenmyheart, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0I am a ADHD researcher at University of California, Irvine. I teach social skill classes to 3-5 year olds and screen them for ADHD. Our goal is to teach basic social skills before they enter school, reducing their likelihood of aggressive treatment later on. In the past 6 years, we have had over 3,000 children graduate from our program and a fraction were diagnosed with ADHD.
This program is important to me because I have ADHD and was not diagnosed until 26. I feel if I was able to learn how to better stay on task as a child, it would have saved me a lot of frustration and tears as an adult. I believe I went undiagnosed for so long because I am not hyperactive. My biggest problem is inattention and impulsivity. Staying on task- on any task, has been the most difficult obstacle for me. As a child, I was a constant daydreamer, labeled "spacey" and had to be redirected/reminded constantly, by parents or teachers. High school was even worse. By this time, I had no idea of how to get where I wanted to go and almost didn't graduate.
Just last week, I somehow lost $20 walking from the bank to my car. I didn't notice that it was gone until I was at the gas station 30 min later and on an empty tank. I try to constantly keep my goals ahead of me, but continue to get preoccupied with life in general, and a year later...I haven't made any progress.
These are just some of the negatives of ADHD. The positives are an endless list of characteristics that contribute to the foundation of my unique personality. I'm an innovative, creative, think-outside-the-boxer with an individuality all my own. Although I would never trade my ADHD, I really wish could remember what I wanted to say 2 minutes ago because it was perfect. - holdenmyheart, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0If you only have a mild case, there would be no need for medication in the first place. You are a perfect example of correction through behavior modification. In addition, I would think you would know that "we only use ...% of our brains" is a myth. Being a Ph.D. and all.
- BAMFOreo, on 05/18/2008, -0/+0I agree with oculus1857 that people with ADHD are superior in the arts. I take karate, write excellently ( but cant sit still long enough to write a story), and paint exceptionally well. I love reading and can actuall get through a 400 page novel in about 8 hours.I'm doing good in school and I plan on exhibiting my artwork as soon as i graduate.I am 15 years old and was "diagnosed" with ADHD when i was 7.
I realized that i didn't really have ADHD but was apparently talking back too much for my dad to handle.
he put me on Adderall, then 3 years later on Ritalin. When i was 11 i was put on Concerta and im still on it now. The pills have started wear off in only 8-9 hours rather than the whole 12. I plan on going off them for the summer.
I've been on ADHD medication for 7 years and all they have accomplished is stunting my growth by 6 inches (Im 4'11, 97 lbs and should be 5'5-5'6 )and only temporarily helping me concentrate.I can barely paint when they wear off but I've gotten used to the dosage enough where i can eat normally.
Ritalin and Concerta made me very violent and hostile.
I went off Ritalin for a day when i was 9 and apparently tried to commit suicide by swallowing my leftover Adderall and Ritalin.I have anger issues and used to cut myself when i wasn't putting my fist through a wall.
There is no long-term benefits. It only helps you in the short run while you're on them. Otherwise, miss a dose and you might just go Hulk on the town. - holdenmyheart, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0I could agree with you more. I feel that people can easily be misdiagnosed or self-diagnosed. Everyone is a little inattentive or hyper at times. The difference is that ADHD will negatively interfere with education, careers and relationship goals without corrective action. These corrections could either be medication or behavior modification strategies. I was extremely inattentive in elementary school, but not hyperactive. My Mom had me tested for GATE after no explanations of why I would get so distracted/bored in class. I didn't pass the entrance test. Almost 20 years later I was diagnosed with ADHD.
- holdenmyheart, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0You were either prescribed too high a dose of Adderall or your symptoms are very mild and can be corrected through behavior modification
- autechre78, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i don't know about anyone else in here but other people with adhd kind of irritate me. i guess it's only in certain situations, but i met a singer last night who couldn't go 5 minutes without showing me his music tracks, myspace page and whatever else he could get his hands on.
i thought it was really interesting to hear my therapist and the adhd class talk about why kids with adhd were so good at video games. it's an immediate reward for their actions. pretty interesting.
meyersjd - we're very sorry that our triumphy sob stories are beneath you. not all of us area as intellimugate as you is. - rawsteak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0medication is always tricky, especially since its made based on the law of averages. adderall made me moody and restless, and strattera made me impotent; now im on concerta which i feel is a weaker than adderall, but without the side effects. i'm not too fond of medication, because as much as i dislike it, being inattentive and hyper is who i am as a person.....so if i take a medication that "helps" that, i am effectively changing who i am. my friends tend to notice i'm quieter on the the meds and not so outgoing, but in my head anyway, i feel like me.
autechre - that singer sounds self-involved and vain, but then, i dont know the full story. people also tell me im a little bit more tolerable on the meds, so having ADHD is kind of annoying, i know
teclo - yea, i do have that insatiable thirst to know about everything. I also have a penchant for opening closed doors just to see whats on the other side - thankfully, i have yet to set off any fire alarms. though i enjoy thinking about everything around me, there are times when i just need to think about one thing, and the meds help but dont work 100%. also, what's the hunter/gathering thing? - gordie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My wife and I had/have ADD they just didn't know what to call it. Probably genetic, my son has it big time. He is incredibly intelligent, artistic, talented, you name it. Guess what, he got fired from like five jobs before finding one where they would understand. Maybe someday the rest of the world will know what I know.
- dannighe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I agree, ADD is a gift and a blessing. I love the creativity, but I hate that I do so badly in school. I'm one of those that are unfortunate in that none of the drugs I've been on do anything but space me out to the extent that I should be sitting their drooling. I think my wife might prefer that to me not being able to sit still.
- savmac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0dang, that's the biggest comment section I've ever seen!
- coffeegeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Apparently Zyban (the drug for helping people to quit smoking) is making quite a positive impact on ADD patients. It has many less side effects than Adderol or Ritalin and helps promote focus in the brain and a big huge side effect that is positive, it helps ADD smokers quit smoking!
- teadye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If a bright active kid gets bored by 12 years of the educational equivalent of filling out tax forms, more power to 'em. I say if you can stick with 12+ hours of video games your attention span is not the problem... Never once did I consider drugging my son despite all of the torment his teenage years caused those around him. Even though he went from gifted to barely graduating, dropped out of college after 2 semesters it was clear to me at least that the big problem was a poor fit between him and the educational system. Nearly 30 now, he had a successful first career, went back to college (full time) using money he saved up himself, and he is graduating with top honors (straight A's) and has landed a job with at the pinnacle of his field as a quantitative engineer with a 3-figure starting salary. I wonder: if he had been drugged into mediocrity as a child if he would ever have grown into the brilliant and interesting man he is today? Personally, I find it insufficient to merely be able to assign a label to potions of the human condition without long thought and understanding. How many well-meaning parents stuff pills down their child with no more reason than a diagnosis? As My Ex the Shrink used to point out when dealing with insurance companies on behalf of his patients, you can come up with a diagnosis for *anyone*.
- Koup, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have taking meds for treatment for ADD for the past 7-10 years. I had taken Paxil, Ambien, Zoloft, and Ratalin. I currently take concerta and Zyprexa. So, I have had my share of meds. Through my experience, I believe the best shot of "dealing with or coping with ADD" is a mixture of things. Without good support from family and friends and a good doctor a person with ADD will struggle even more. Maybe taking meds for a long time isn't good, but remember this its an chemical imbalance. There isn't much a person could do to prevent that. I currently go to college and have straight A's in all my classes(14 classes so far,hasn't been easy let me tell you) in Network and Communications Management at Devry University and work Part-Time at UPS. Life has its up and downs but a person with ADD might have to put more effort into something. Just remember this could be a curable illness, it could be far worse.... I consider myself lucky.
- WiFiSPY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0for all the nay-sayers stop by http://www.addforums.com for some real info.
ADD is a damn Gift! another thing: People With ADD gravitate to each other. I can tell if someone has ADD in about 5 mins.
Im a Hunter not a Farmer! - rawsteak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0sheesh, what can i say that hasn't already been said?
I have ADHD and its a mixed blessing, if even that at all.....there are times when its a gift, and other times when its a curse, but I wouldn't call it a disease, because that implies that it can get progressively worse.
in school, im really good at figuring out the hard problems, but i always mess up the simple parts. this makes for lackluster grades and random bouts of scholastic progress. i learn best when i do things with my hands like math or programming, but memorizing stuff from a book is a guaranteed D+/C-.
does anyone know how their brain works as a result of their daily routine? sometimes, my brain and i will have conflicting interests, and then there are times where it is working against me. i've been to ADD forums and other sites before, and after a few days, i forget to return to them (big surprise, right?), but digg.com is one of the few places that I actually return to, so that's why i'm asking this here. - mousky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"One thing this article doesn't mention is that people who are ADHD are superior in all arts."
Hmmm, my kid has been diagnosed with ADHD and he can't draw or paint worth *****. Where do people come up with this type of generalizations? - saggygrandma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Studies suggest that many of the traits kids with ADHD exhibit can be expressions of deeper gifts"
yeeeeah, well my parents just thought i was a brat and feed me crystal meth... FYI ritalin is the same a crystal meth :) - zediker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well, they do say that genious borders on insanity. You can also notice alot of people with high IQ have certain problems. Some people, like bill gates, or that british kid nicknamed 'Brainman' for example, border on autism. But of course this isnt always the case.
- teclo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Rawsteak: I was like that in High school. Couldn't concentrate, forced to spend my days in a low level english class, but couldn't be touched in the sciences and computing.
All my school reports said that I was bright and very capable of everything, if only I stopped day dreaming and applied myself.
My problem was that nothing grabbed me, it felt as though I was having a million thoughts a minute, and yet could never focus on the subject at hand.
Even now, when reading about the Hunter/Gatherer aspect, I still seem to notice more things happening around me with more attention than most. Even minor details in every day things, I need to know it all.
Can you walk down the street without having to look at *everything* around you, and I mean everything?
I see "normal" people walking about and they just look at whats straight ahead of them, never noticing everything else going on around them and I wonder what sort of life that is to lead.
I sometimes think I must look like Bart Simpson when he is hepped up on super Squishie. - irie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thanks Myersjd.
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