Public Service Announcement
This post is a public service announcement of sorts. I found the material in a link on Facebook, and I can't vouch for the authoritativeness of the source at all. I do know, however, that it meshes very well with what I know from a great deal of reading on the subject of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and my own experience with it. I am self-diagnosed.
Not everything in this article is true of me--particularly the references to physical sensitivity, high energy, and fidgety behavior. I personally lean to the catatonic side.
Also, I understand that, contrary to what this article suggests, people with ADD are found all across the intelligence spectrum. We are not all very intelligent. When a highly intelligent person has ADD, it's often hard for others to believe that the glaring weaknesses that are present are not truly the result of a huge character deficiency, but the result of a true disability. If performance in some areas is stellar, it's hard to believe that there's any legitimate reason for poor performance in some other areas.
This article of which I have been writing is for those who love someone with ADD. Read it, and, almost certainly, you will find in it things you already know if you do love someone with ADD. If you don't love any such person yet, I can almost guarantee you'll have an opportunity to do so at some point in life. You can't avoid such people. There are too many around to do so.
Not everything in this article is true of me--particularly the references to physical sensitivity, high energy, and fidgety behavior. I personally lean to the catatonic side.
Also, I understand that, contrary to what this article suggests, people with ADD are found all across the intelligence spectrum. We are not all very intelligent. When a highly intelligent person has ADD, it's often hard for others to believe that the glaring weaknesses that are present are not truly the result of a huge character deficiency, but the result of a true disability. If performance in some areas is stellar, it's hard to believe that there's any legitimate reason for poor performance in some other areas.
This article of which I have been writing is for those who love someone with ADD. Read it, and, almost certainly, you will find in it things you already know if you do love someone with ADD. If you don't love any such person yet, I can almost guarantee you'll have an opportunity to do so at some point in life. You can't avoid such people. There are too many around to do so.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
8:13 PM
3 Comments:
I enjoyed this very much! I wonder if you could direct me to other sites or books on this subject that you've found helpful and informative.
By
tabitha, at 11/03/2014
Tabitha, I'm realizing that most of the reading I've done on this subject happened about 25 years ago, so I'm not really current on the best materials available. See a followup post for more on this topic.
By
Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige), at 11/03/2014
"When a highly intelligent person has ADD, it's often hard for others to believe that the glaring weaknesses that are present are not truly the result of a huge character deficiency, but the result of a true disability."
YES. As a mother of a child with Aspergers, I know this painfully well. I think few people know how much love and tears and work and discipline has gone into this child. (But we have had support from many dear people, too.) Getting connected with mental health specialists was the best thing we've ever done. A year of therapy did a lot to teach our child coping strategies, and also equipped us as parents to deal with issues in a variety of helpful ways.
And he really is an incredibly interesting and intelligent child! We wouldn't want to live without him.
By
Rosina, at 11/11/2014
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