ADHD is about having broken filters on your perception. I found this interesting definition and/or experience here: http://www.tickld.com/x/if-your-friends-ever-say-they-have-adhd-just-show-them-this
Experience:
Normal people have a sort of mental secretary that takes the 99% of irrelevant data that crosses their mind, and simply deletes it before they become consciously aware of it. As such, their mental workspace is like a huge clean blank bulletin board, ready to hold and organize useful information.
ADHD people... have no such luxury. Every single thing that comes in the front door gets written directly on the bulletin board in bold, underlined red letters. Then no matter what it is, the next thought also has to be written on it and so stuff that's already there needs to be erased in order for this new stuff to fit.
As such, if we're in the middle of some particularly important mental task, and our eye should happen to light upon... a doorknob, for instance, it's like someone burst into the room, clad in pink feathers and heralded by trumpets, screaming HEY LOOK EVERYONE, IT'S A DOORKNOB! LOOK AT IT! LOOK! IT OPENS THE DOOR IF YOU TURN IT! ISN'T THAT NEAT? I WONDER HOW THAT ACTUALLY WORKS DO YOU SUPPOSE THERE'S A CAM OR WHAT? MAYBE ITS SOME KIND OF SPRING WINCH AFFAIR ALTHOUGH THAT SEEMS KIND OF UNWORKABLE.
It's like living in a soft rain of post-it notes that keep presenting themselves demanding to be read, then posted on your bulletin board.
This happens every single waking moment, and we have to manually examine each thought, check for relevance, and try desperately to remember what the thing was we were thinking before it came along, if not. Most often we forget, and if we aren't caught up in the intricacies of doorknob engineering, we cast wildly about for context, trying to guess what the hell we were up to from the clues available.
On the other hand, we're extremely good at working out the context of random remarks, as we're effectively doing that all the time anyway.
We rely heavily on routine, and 90% of the time get by on autopilot. You can't get distracted from a sufficiently ingrained habit, no matter what useless crap is going on inside your head... unless someone goes and actually disrupts your routine. I've actually been distracted out of taking my lunch to work, on several occasions, by my wife reminding me to take my lunch to work. What the? Who? Oh, yeah, will do. Where was I? um... briefcase! Got it. Now keys.. okay, see you honey!
Also, there's a diminishing-returns thing going on when trying to concentrate on what you might call a non-interactive task. Entering a big block of numbers into a spreadsheet, for instance. Keeping focused on the task takes exponentially more effort each minute, for less and less result. If you've ever held a brick out at arm's length for an extended period, you'll know the feeling. That's why the internet, for instance, is like crack to us - it's a non-stop influx of constantly-new things, so we can flick from one to the next after only seconds. Its better/worse than pistachios.
The exception to this is a thing we get called hyper focus. Occasionally, when something just clicks with us, we can get ridiculously deeply drawn into it, and NOTHING can distract us. We've locked our metaphorical office door, and we're not coming out for anything short of a tornado.
Medication for some, beer or wine for others often takes the edge off. It reduces the input, it tones down the fluster, it makes it easier to ignore trivial stuff, and it increases the maximum focus-time. Imagine steadicam for your skull. It also happens to make my vision go a little weird and loomy occasionally and can reduce the appetite a bit.
b>General Discussion I found the following (below listed) research at http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm authored by Ronald D. Davis
Most dyslexics will exhibit about 10 of the following traits and behaviors. These characteristics can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute. The most consistent thing about dyslexics is their inconsistency. Read more: http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm#ixzz2v6ubOrO9
•Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.
•Labeled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or "behavior problem."
•Isn't "behind enough" or "bad enough" to be helped in the school setting.
•High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written.
•Feels dumb; has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies; easily frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing.
•Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering.
•Seems to "Zone out" or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time.
•Difficulty sustaining attention; seems "hyper" or "daydreamer."
•Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.
Vision, Reading, and Spelling
•Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.
•Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences, or verbal explanations.
•Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.
•Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying.
•Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't reveal a problem.
•Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.
•Reads and rereads with little comprehension.
•Spells phonetically and inconsistently.
Memory and Cognition
•Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces.
•Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not been experienced.
•Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words (little internal dialogue).
Behavior, Health, Development and Personality
•Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.
•Can be class clown, trouble-maker, or too quiet.
•Had unusually early or late developmental stages (talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes).
•Prone to ear infections; sensitive to foods, additives, and chemical products.
•Can be an extra deep or light sleeper; bedwetting beyond appropriate age.
•Unusually high or low tolerance for pain.
•Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection.
•Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress, or poor health.
Hearing and Speech
•Has extended hearing; hears things not said or apparent to others; easily distracted by sounds.
• Difficulty putting thoughts into words; speaks in halting phrases; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words, and syllables when speaking.
Writing and Motor Skills
•Trouble with writing or copying; pencil grip is unusual; handwriting varies or is illegible.
•Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports; difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks; prone to motion-sickness.
•Can be ambidextrous, and often confuses left/right, over/under.
"© 1992 by Ronald D. Davis. Reprinted with Permission from Davis Dyslexia Association International"
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
ADHD & Dyslexia often run hand in hand
Often A.D.H.D. & Dyslexia run hand in hand. Some call Dyslexia a disability and others recognize it for what it is and then use it to their own advantage.
What is Dyslexia?
the word dyslexia comes from Greek and means poor speech. As a lifelong condition dyslexia is a language related disability that especially involves reading. People who have dyslexia tend to have difficulty making the connection between letters and the sounds those letters represent. Specific symptoms, however, may differ from person to person.
What causes dyslexia?
the exact causes remain unclear, although heredity is a factor. While studies indicate abnormal brain development and function, dyslexia is not linked to general intelligence or lack of the desire to learn. In fact, suffers are often gifted in areas not requiring strong language skills.
How is dyslexia treated?
early identification of the condition is important. Effective training and language skills involves using several senses, especially hearing, seeing and touching. So that they can progress at their own pace, many students need one-on-one assistance. They may also need help emotional issues resulting from difficulties in school. With good tutoring hard work, students with dyslexia can learn to read and write well.
It is viewed by some and as characterized by difficulty with learning to read fluently and with accurate comprehension despite normal intelligence. This includes difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, processing speed, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, language skills/verbal comprehension, and/or rapid naming.
Dyslexia is the most common learning difficulty. Dyslexia is the most recognized of reading disorders. There are other reading difficulties that are unrelated to dyslexia.
Others see dyslexia as distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or poor or inadequate reading instruction. There are three proposed cognitive subtypes of dyslexia (auditory, visual and attentional), although individual cases of dyslexia are better explained by specific underlying neuro-psychological deficits and co-occurring learning difficulties(e.g. an auditory processing disorder, an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a visual processing disorder) and co-occurring learning difficulties (e.g. dyscalculia and dysgraphia). Although it is considered to be a receptive language-based learning disability in the research literature, dyslexia also affects one's expressive language skills. Researchers at MIT found that people with dyslexia exhibited impaired voice-recognition abilities. Interestingly, a study published online (and in the July issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics), reported a genetic origin to the disorder, and other learning disabilities, that could help lead to earlier diagnoses and more successful interventions.
Signs and symptoms
In early childhood, early symptoms that correlate with a later diagnosis of dyslexia include delays in speech, letter reversal or mirror writing and being easily distracted by background noise. This pattern of early distractibility is partially explained by the co-occurrence of dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Although each disorder occurs in approximately 5% of children, 25-40% of children with either dyslexia or ADHD meet criteria for the other disorder.
Dyslexic children of school age can have various symptoms; including difficulty identifying or generating rhyming words, or counting syllables in words (phonological awareness), a difficulty segmenting words into individual sounds, or blending sounds to make words, a difficulty with word retrieval or naming problems (see anomic aphasia), commonly very poor spelling, which has been called dysorthographia or dysgraphia (orthographic coding), whole-word guesses, and tendencies to omit or add letters or words when writing and reading are considered classic signs.
Signs persist into adolescence and adulthood with trouble with summarizing a story, memorizing, reading aloud, and learning a foreign language. Adult dyslexics can read with good comprehension, although they tend to read more slowly than non-dyslexics and perform more poorly at spelling and nonsense word reading, a measure of phonological awareness.
A common misconception about dyslexia is that dyslexic readers write words backwards or move letters around when reading – this only occurs in a very small population of dyslexic readers. Individuals with dyslexia are better identified by reading accuracy, fluency, and writing skills that do not seem to match their level of intelligence from prior observations.
Several learning disabilities often occur with dyslexia, but it is unclear whether these learning disabilities share underlying neurological causes with dyslexia. These disabilities include:
Dysgraphia – a disorder which expresses itself primarily through writing or typing, although in some cases it may also affect eye–hand coordination, direction- or sequence-oriented processes such as tying knots or carrying out a repetitive task. In dyslexia, dysgraphia is often multifactorial, due to impaired letter writing automaticity, finger motor sequencing challenges, organizational and elaborative difficulties, and impaired visual word form which makes it more difficult to retrieve the visual picture of words required for spelling. Dysgraphia is distinct from developmental coordination disorder in that developmental coordination disorder is simply related to motor sequence impairment.
Attention deficit disorder – A high degree of co-morbidity has been reported between ADD/ADHD and dyslexia/reading disorders. Study's show it occurs in between 12% and 24% of those with dyslexia.
Auditory processing disorder – A condition that affects the ability to process auditory information. Auditory processing disorder is a listening disability. It can lead to problems with auditory memory and auditory sequencing. Many people with dyslexia have auditory processing problems and may develop their own logographic cues to compensate for this type of deficit. Auditory processing disorder is recognized as one of the major causes of dyslexia.
Developmental coordination disorder – A neurological condition characterized by a marked difficulty in carrying out routine tasks involving balance, fine-motor control, kinesthetic coordination, difficulty in the use of speech sounds, problems with short-term memory and organization are typical of dyspraxics.
Experience of speech acquisition delays and speech and language problems can be due to problems processing and decoding auditory input prior to reproducing their own version of speech and may be observed as stuttering, cluttering or hesitant speech.
Causes?
Researchers have been trying to find a biological basis of dyslexia since it was first identified by Oswald Berkhan in 1881 and the term dyslexia coined in 1887 by Rudolf Berlin. The theories of the etiology of dyslexia have and are evolving. Based on what I have found, there is no known sole cause for Dyslexia, although much research has blamed it on Genetics. But it must have started somewhere.
<
What is Dyslexia?
the word dyslexia comes from Greek and means poor speech. As a lifelong condition dyslexia is a language related disability that especially involves reading. People who have dyslexia tend to have difficulty making the connection between letters and the sounds those letters represent. Specific symptoms, however, may differ from person to person.
What causes dyslexia?
the exact causes remain unclear, although heredity is a factor. While studies indicate abnormal brain development and function, dyslexia is not linked to general intelligence or lack of the desire to learn. In fact, suffers are often gifted in areas not requiring strong language skills.
How is dyslexia treated?
early identification of the condition is important. Effective training and language skills involves using several senses, especially hearing, seeing and touching. So that they can progress at their own pace, many students need one-on-one assistance. They may also need help emotional issues resulting from difficulties in school. With good tutoring hard work, students with dyslexia can learn to read and write well.
It is viewed by some and as characterized by difficulty with learning to read fluently and with accurate comprehension despite normal intelligence. This includes difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, processing speed, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, language skills/verbal comprehension, and/or rapid naming.
Dyslexia is the most common learning difficulty. Dyslexia is the most recognized of reading disorders. There are other reading difficulties that are unrelated to dyslexia.
Others see dyslexia as distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or poor or inadequate reading instruction. There are three proposed cognitive subtypes of dyslexia (auditory, visual and attentional), although individual cases of dyslexia are better explained by specific underlying neuro-psychological deficits and co-occurring learning difficulties(e.g. an auditory processing disorder, an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a visual processing disorder) and co-occurring learning difficulties (e.g. dyscalculia and dysgraphia). Although it is considered to be a receptive language-based learning disability in the research literature, dyslexia also affects one's expressive language skills. Researchers at MIT found that people with dyslexia exhibited impaired voice-recognition abilities. Interestingly, a study published online (and in the July issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics), reported a genetic origin to the disorder, and other learning disabilities, that could help lead to earlier diagnoses and more successful interventions.
Signs and symptoms
In early childhood, early symptoms that correlate with a later diagnosis of dyslexia include delays in speech, letter reversal or mirror writing and being easily distracted by background noise. This pattern of early distractibility is partially explained by the co-occurrence of dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Although each disorder occurs in approximately 5% of children, 25-40% of children with either dyslexia or ADHD meet criteria for the other disorder.
Dyslexic children of school age can have various symptoms; including difficulty identifying or generating rhyming words, or counting syllables in words (phonological awareness), a difficulty segmenting words into individual sounds, or blending sounds to make words, a difficulty with word retrieval or naming problems (see anomic aphasia), commonly very poor spelling, which has been called dysorthographia or dysgraphia (orthographic coding), whole-word guesses, and tendencies to omit or add letters or words when writing and reading are considered classic signs.
Signs persist into adolescence and adulthood with trouble with summarizing a story, memorizing, reading aloud, and learning a foreign language. Adult dyslexics can read with good comprehension, although they tend to read more slowly than non-dyslexics and perform more poorly at spelling and nonsense word reading, a measure of phonological awareness.
A common misconception about dyslexia is that dyslexic readers write words backwards or move letters around when reading – this only occurs in a very small population of dyslexic readers. Individuals with dyslexia are better identified by reading accuracy, fluency, and writing skills that do not seem to match their level of intelligence from prior observations.
Several learning disabilities often occur with dyslexia, but it is unclear whether these learning disabilities share underlying neurological causes with dyslexia. These disabilities include:
Dysgraphia – a disorder which expresses itself primarily through writing or typing, although in some cases it may also affect eye–hand coordination, direction- or sequence-oriented processes such as tying knots or carrying out a repetitive task. In dyslexia, dysgraphia is often multifactorial, due to impaired letter writing automaticity, finger motor sequencing challenges, organizational and elaborative difficulties, and impaired visual word form which makes it more difficult to retrieve the visual picture of words required for spelling. Dysgraphia is distinct from developmental coordination disorder in that developmental coordination disorder is simply related to motor sequence impairment.
Attention deficit disorder – A high degree of co-morbidity has been reported between ADD/ADHD and dyslexia/reading disorders. Study's show it occurs in between 12% and 24% of those with dyslexia.
Auditory processing disorder – A condition that affects the ability to process auditory information. Auditory processing disorder is a listening disability. It can lead to problems with auditory memory and auditory sequencing. Many people with dyslexia have auditory processing problems and may develop their own logographic cues to compensate for this type of deficit. Auditory processing disorder is recognized as one of the major causes of dyslexia.
Developmental coordination disorder – A neurological condition characterized by a marked difficulty in carrying out routine tasks involving balance, fine-motor control, kinesthetic coordination, difficulty in the use of speech sounds, problems with short-term memory and organization are typical of dyspraxics.
Experience of speech acquisition delays and speech and language problems can be due to problems processing and decoding auditory input prior to reproducing their own version of speech and may be observed as stuttering, cluttering or hesitant speech.
Causes?
Researchers have been trying to find a biological basis of dyslexia since it was first identified by Oswald Berkhan in 1881 and the term dyslexia coined in 1887 by Rudolf Berlin. The theories of the etiology of dyslexia have and are evolving. Based on what I have found, there is no known sole cause for Dyslexia, although much research has blamed it on Genetics. But it must have started somewhere.
<
Saturday, February 8, 2014
A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. - A personal experience
What it’s like to have A.D.D. This is a statement, not a question.
A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) or often referred to as A.D.H.D. (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), hereinafter A.D.D. People with A.D.D. type issues can be an asset to your team if they have positive attitudes. It's a struggle for them but often they are honest, hard working and willing to do what they are taught. (This is not a generalization of all people, but is a statement based on what I have personally experienced because of my situation as well as others I have met in my travels that also claim to have ADD) They know they have learning issues, so they're often very cautious about making decisions, knowing that they forget and have to double think most tasks. Ask him if he wants to learn towing, It may take time, but in the long run, I'd rather end up with a loyal, ethics conscious worker on my team. I am 66 and now retired. I didn't know I had A.D.D. until I was 45. I can tell you all about those struggles.
It will be difficult for a non-A.D.D. person to totally comprehend what a person with A.D.D. is thinking or how to figure out his next move. They often stutter in their speech because their minds are way ahead of their speech which is trying to say what they think. They might even seem dishonest to some, but it's because their mind is already onto another subject and they could just be trying to focus on how to respond. They often are extreme multi-taskers. They also work well with a team, but do better as a team leader since they can easily delegate their assignments since they personally don't do well on long term projects. They're extremely proficient at short term "in and out" jobs. Often people with A.D.D. don't know they have it unless someone tells them. But the teller also needs to know how to communicate. Keep things simple, but don't talk down to them or as if they're stupid. Remember, keep your eyes focused on your results. You often don't get good results by treating your listener or targeted audience as if he's/she's/they're not worthy of your conversation.
They are often very good at math, computers and if given proper training can be very good at technical detail. But often cannot read instructions. They usually figure things out on their own. On the job training is the best thing for those with A.D.D.
People with A.D.D. are also very organized in their minds, but sometimes they have many jobs in progress. To the outsider, they appear scatter-brained. But if you don't watch their every move and simply look at their final results, you often will be very pleased. With A.D.D. I also found it very difficult to take written tests since none of the answers provided seemed to fit or become the right answer. I needed to explain my answer which always got the response, "I never thought of it that way!"
We not only look at things differently, we think differently. It's like speaking another language. Like men & womens think differently, so is A.D.D. and other humans.
Please don't take this as boasting or talking trash, but most ADD people are frikkin brilliant, and get bored easily, and hate standing around...direct opposites of those folks in our industry who LIKE standing around doing nothing. I'll pick up a broom and start sweeping, just for something to do. Then I would get ridiculed by the lazy guys for being a suck up. Sitting still listening to someone talk is BORING to them. They would rather be DOING than sitting.
I'm not certain all A.D.D. people are alike in their end results, so can only speak from personal experience. I had a difficult time holding a job because the company supervisors couldn't understand my often misdirected zeal or enthusiasm. Yes, I got bored and often failed to finish projects on your schedule, (which eventually got done), but in time I was able to control my productivity and found through trial and error the importance of start to finish then move on.
Although A.D.D. is referred to as a disorder, it may at times be an advantage since following instructions often limit your ability to express yourself.
Personally, in many cases, I don't think A.D.D. needs to be treated, I think it needs to be understood. This of course would be a personal decision and one that could have positive or negative effects on you and those in your association. Proceed with caution. So always consult a doctor if you have a medical concern.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is said to be a problem of not being able to focus, being overactive, at times not being able control behavior, or a combination of these. For these problems to be diagnosed as ADHD, they must be out of the normal range for a person's age and development. So before making any decision in any direction, read experiences, get a second opinion and definitely talk to others with A.D.D. for their personal input. Make your own decision.
It is my personal experience that I have a certain level of A.D.D. but have heard and later read that there are more extreme levels of A.D.D. than mine. My A.D.D. is also coupled with dyslexia. I have no depression but then again have never taken medication. I have never actually been diagnosed with ADHD, but how it came about that I did have it was an interesting story, well at least was interesting to me.
I was on Maui doing a bid for a project. As I was walking back to my truck to get the contract, the owner asks me if I'm dyslexic? I was in my mid 40's at the time and had never heard the word dyslexic. The customer explained that he felt I might be dyslexic because of the way I walked. My hands were faced more sideways instead of parallel to my body. More like how a gorilla holds his hands and arms. Since then, I have noticed that this IS how I walk. Then after a brief discussion with him, I find that much of what I went through as a child is how dyslexic people go through life. Everything that I have found said about the difficulty reading, the way I find it difficult to concentrate, the fact that I am very good at math but often have a difficult time explaining to others how I come to my answers. I stuttered when I was a child, which I finally overcame in my mid 20's. Not only do I verbally stutter, I also stutter in my brain. I actually stutter when I think. I have always had a difficult time concentrating on one project. I always have 3-4 projects going at most times. I have always been able to multi-task very easily. I also find it is easier for me to concentrate with music or TV going on in the background. When reading, I skip or transpose words, often unintentionally leave out a word here or there, I often skip lines and often even lose place where I am reading on the page. A few times, the whole page simply went blank and I had no idea where I was reading and sometimes even what I was reading. I have read portions of a book before and then thinking about it for a second, try to recall what I've been reading, and I have no idea what I've read unless I really focus on what it was and maybe someone might remind me. I have been in the middle of a conversation with someone and then during that conversation, I forget what I'm talking about. When in a conversation with my wife, if that would happen, I ask her what I was talking about and she would tell me, "I don't know, I don't listen to you anyways!" Because of the difficulty I have in working for others, I have always been self-employed. I find it very easy to begin and run businesses, often 2-3 businesses at one time. The story goes on and on, but I can for a fact relate to ADHD children and adults very easily. Nothing I have read about this subject surprises me and I can relate to it all. I have found how to live with ADHD and have never considered it a disability. Maybe a liability, but never a disability.
A letter from school
Dear Mr & Mrs White, your son lacks discipline, good social skills, has uncontrolled energy seemingly causing hypertension in the display and interaction with other children.. He appears to have some sort of behavioral disorder causing interpersonal relationships with other students.
1) He does not play well with other children,
2) he always gives away everything he has so he never seems to have what he needs.
3) He constantly says he forgot to do his homework assignments and
4) He often cannot even remember what those assignments were.
5) his concentration levels are seriously lacking as he seems to be off in another world someplace.
6) He daydreams far too often which makes us feel he is not getting enough sleep at night.
7) He always fails to organize his homework assignments as instructed.
8) He has difficulty reading and doesn’t seem to want to improve or make any positive changes.
9) Although at times, we find him quite humorous, he often does disrupt the classroom.
10) Not only do we find that the “cracking of his jokes” is disruptive, he cannot sit still, is always fidgeting with his hands or feet during quiet time thereby disrupting others.
11) His ability to focus on any one task to its completion simply does not exist.
12) In fact, he seldom finishes what he starts and has difficulty following directions when he does.
He is extremely likeable but we don’t feel that we have the ability to deal with him according to our established directives. It is our suggestion that you get him professional help before he attains to adulthood, obtains employment, creates a relationship or bears children as we are certain that he will have a seriously negative impact on any that is attempted. Failure to do so is certain to condemn him to a life of challenges wherein solutions at that point will be hard to find.
Sincerely,
--------------------------- This blog is still under construction ---------------------------
A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) or often referred to as A.D.H.D. (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), hereinafter A.D.D. People with A.D.D. type issues can be an asset to your team if they have positive attitudes. It's a struggle for them but often they are honest, hard working and willing to do what they are taught. (This is not a generalization of all people, but is a statement based on what I have personally experienced because of my situation as well as others I have met in my travels that also claim to have ADD) They know they have learning issues, so they're often very cautious about making decisions, knowing that they forget and have to double think most tasks. Ask him if he wants to learn towing, It may take time, but in the long run, I'd rather end up with a loyal, ethics conscious worker on my team. I am 66 and now retired. I didn't know I had A.D.D. until I was 45. I can tell you all about those struggles.
It will be difficult for a non-A.D.D. person to totally comprehend what a person with A.D.D. is thinking or how to figure out his next move. They often stutter in their speech because their minds are way ahead of their speech which is trying to say what they think. They might even seem dishonest to some, but it's because their mind is already onto another subject and they could just be trying to focus on how to respond. They often are extreme multi-taskers. They also work well with a team, but do better as a team leader since they can easily delegate their assignments since they personally don't do well on long term projects. They're extremely proficient at short term "in and out" jobs. Often people with A.D.D. don't know they have it unless someone tells them. But the teller also needs to know how to communicate. Keep things simple, but don't talk down to them or as if they're stupid. Remember, keep your eyes focused on your results. You often don't get good results by treating your listener or targeted audience as if he's/she's/they're not worthy of your conversation.
They are often very good at math, computers and if given proper training can be very good at technical detail. But often cannot read instructions. They usually figure things out on their own. On the job training is the best thing for those with A.D.D.
People with A.D.D. are also very organized in their minds, but sometimes they have many jobs in progress. To the outsider, they appear scatter-brained. But if you don't watch their every move and simply look at their final results, you often will be very pleased. With A.D.D. I also found it very difficult to take written tests since none of the answers provided seemed to fit or become the right answer. I needed to explain my answer which always got the response, "I never thought of it that way!"
We not only look at things differently, we think differently. It's like speaking another language. Like men & womens think differently, so is A.D.D. and other humans.
Please don't take this as boasting or talking trash, but most ADD people are frikkin brilliant, and get bored easily, and hate standing around...direct opposites of those folks in our industry who LIKE standing around doing nothing. I'll pick up a broom and start sweeping, just for something to do. Then I would get ridiculed by the lazy guys for being a suck up. Sitting still listening to someone talk is BORING to them. They would rather be DOING than sitting.
I'm not certain all A.D.D. people are alike in their end results, so can only speak from personal experience. I had a difficult time holding a job because the company supervisors couldn't understand my often misdirected zeal or enthusiasm. Yes, I got bored and often failed to finish projects on your schedule, (which eventually got done), but in time I was able to control my productivity and found through trial and error the importance of start to finish then move on.
Although A.D.D. is referred to as a disorder, it may at times be an advantage since following instructions often limit your ability to express yourself.
Personally, in many cases, I don't think A.D.D. needs to be treated, I think it needs to be understood. This of course would be a personal decision and one that could have positive or negative effects on you and those in your association. Proceed with caution. So always consult a doctor if you have a medical concern.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is said to be a problem of not being able to focus, being overactive, at times not being able control behavior, or a combination of these. For these problems to be diagnosed as ADHD, they must be out of the normal range for a person's age and development. So before making any decision in any direction, read experiences, get a second opinion and definitely talk to others with A.D.D. for their personal input. Make your own decision.
It is my personal experience that I have a certain level of A.D.D. but have heard and later read that there are more extreme levels of A.D.D. than mine. My A.D.D. is also coupled with dyslexia. I have no depression but then again have never taken medication. I have never actually been diagnosed with ADHD, but how it came about that I did have it was an interesting story, well at least was interesting to me.
I was on Maui doing a bid for a project. As I was walking back to my truck to get the contract, the owner asks me if I'm dyslexic? I was in my mid 40's at the time and had never heard the word dyslexic. The customer explained that he felt I might be dyslexic because of the way I walked. My hands were faced more sideways instead of parallel to my body. More like how a gorilla holds his hands and arms. Since then, I have noticed that this IS how I walk. Then after a brief discussion with him, I find that much of what I went through as a child is how dyslexic people go through life. Everything that I have found said about the difficulty reading, the way I find it difficult to concentrate, the fact that I am very good at math but often have a difficult time explaining to others how I come to my answers. I stuttered when I was a child, which I finally overcame in my mid 20's. Not only do I verbally stutter, I also stutter in my brain. I actually stutter when I think. I have always had a difficult time concentrating on one project. I always have 3-4 projects going at most times. I have always been able to multi-task very easily. I also find it is easier for me to concentrate with music or TV going on in the background. When reading, I skip or transpose words, often unintentionally leave out a word here or there, I often skip lines and often even lose place where I am reading on the page. A few times, the whole page simply went blank and I had no idea where I was reading and sometimes even what I was reading. I have read portions of a book before and then thinking about it for a second, try to recall what I've been reading, and I have no idea what I've read unless I really focus on what it was and maybe someone might remind me. I have been in the middle of a conversation with someone and then during that conversation, I forget what I'm talking about. When in a conversation with my wife, if that would happen, I ask her what I was talking about and she would tell me, "I don't know, I don't listen to you anyways!" Because of the difficulty I have in working for others, I have always been self-employed. I find it very easy to begin and run businesses, often 2-3 businesses at one time. The story goes on and on, but I can for a fact relate to ADHD children and adults very easily. Nothing I have read about this subject surprises me and I can relate to it all. I have found how to live with ADHD and have never considered it a disability. Maybe a liability, but never a disability.
A letter from school
Dear Mr & Mrs White, your son lacks discipline, good social skills, has uncontrolled energy seemingly causing hypertension in the display and interaction with other children.. He appears to have some sort of behavioral disorder causing interpersonal relationships with other students.
1) He does not play well with other children,
2) he always gives away everything he has so he never seems to have what he needs.
3) He constantly says he forgot to do his homework assignments and
4) He often cannot even remember what those assignments were.
5) his concentration levels are seriously lacking as he seems to be off in another world someplace.
6) He daydreams far too often which makes us feel he is not getting enough sleep at night.
7) He always fails to organize his homework assignments as instructed.
8) He has difficulty reading and doesn’t seem to want to improve or make any positive changes.
9) Although at times, we find him quite humorous, he often does disrupt the classroom.
10) Not only do we find that the “cracking of his jokes” is disruptive, he cannot sit still, is always fidgeting with his hands or feet during quiet time thereby disrupting others.
11) His ability to focus on any one task to its completion simply does not exist.
12) In fact, he seldom finishes what he starts and has difficulty following directions when he does.
He is extremely likeable but we don’t feel that we have the ability to deal with him according to our established directives. It is our suggestion that you get him professional help before he attains to adulthood, obtains employment, creates a relationship or bears children as we are certain that he will have a seriously negative impact on any that is attempted. Failure to do so is certain to condemn him to a life of challenges wherein solutions at that point will be hard to find.
Sincerely,
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