Response to ADD Comment

This is mostly in response to a comment on an earlier post on Attention Deficit Disorder.

One piece of advice I have is to try to identify what is the area of challenge in your life right now, and then seek information on specific ways of coping in that area.  If you are a student or are teaching a child who has ADD, you would likely benefit from learning about how an ADD teacher or student can be successful.  Other categories may be parenting, homemaking, keeping a family calendar, dealing with finances, etc.

Flylady is one of the best resources I know of for help with housekeeping and a variety of other practical challenges.  There's a lot of good humor and encouragement there for those of us who are "SHEs"  (Sidetracked Home Executives).  Look at www.flylady.com.  Sign up for the daily emails, at least for a while.

Sandra Felton, who wrote The Messies Manual is another good source of information.

Google and Amazon will turn up more information than you could possibly want.

Some random tidbits I've figured out somewhere along the way--

1.  No one is really sure what an ADD brain looks like.  Neurotransmitters, however, (think of them more in terms of brain juices rather than structures) are thought to play a significant role in transmitting signals.  I've developed hunting jargon to describe what I understand happens.  When neurotransmitters are working in a typical fashion, they transmit activity in an orderly "rifle-shot" style rather than in a far more diffuse, shotgun-like ADD style.

2.  At one time I saw convincing evidence that ADD is on the Autism spectrum, with Asperger's Syndrome being located about halfway between ADD at the mild end and Autism at the severe end.  More recently I have not been able to find much on this, but it makes some sense to me.

3.  Some Christian people are naysayers when ADD comes up.  They think it's all a matter of self-control or Spirit-control, and those who struggle aren't concerned enough or diligent enough.   I have puzzled considerably over how these things fit together.  I do think an important understanding for those with ADD is to recognize that they are in great need of help.  Even adults will need to come again and again to God like a child to a parent--just to figure out how to make it through ordinary tasks like pulling a meal together, doing the laundry, or cleaning the house, especially when life is stressful, and thoughts are clouded.  Through this process of coming to God continually, good habits can be established and progress is possible.  I think it's likely that the brain actually changes eventually somehow.

4.   Ritalin is a drug commonly prescribed for those with ADD.  Some people who have used it find it very helpful.  I have  never wanted to use it because of side-effects, but I do think it would be better to use Ritalin, at least temporarily, than to see relationships completely destroyed or diligent effort  come to naught.  ADD people need crutches, and sometimes Ritalin may be the crutch the Lord provides.

5.  Nutrition makes a difference.  This shows the most promise, I believe, in altering behavior without directly addressing the behavior.  Those neurotransmitters in the brain are constructed from raw products in our food.  More knowledge specifically about glyconutrients and their role in cell-to-cell communication is becoming available, and when the right nutrients are supplied, the brain works better.

6.  Memory issues are a huge factor.  I can't tell you how many times I have done exactly the right thing, and had a long painful time of figuring out what I did when I needed to remember.  Filing papers properly is an example.  I forget I've filed them and look frantically through piles and boxes and who-knows-where-all because I've forgotten what I did with them.  If I'm lucky, I'll finally think to look in the file drawer.

7.  Sticky notes are a godsend, especially for ADD people.  They can prompt you to do what is almost impossible to remember otherwise--if you post them where your eyes must fall on them.  At eye level on the inside of the door by which you leave the house, on the mirror where you look when you're getting ready for the day, wrapped around your keychain, inside your lunchbox, on your devotions Bible, etc.

8.  Timers are a second godsend.  Setting a timer is how I tend my laundry in a timely fashion.

9.  I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about electronic reminders as many people are, but I do use emails to myself occasionally.  I use them to communicate with my family, even with those who live in the same house--if they're not home at the moment.  Some people look at this as a sad symptom of how person to person relationships are suffering in the electronic age.  I look at it a huge gift--a way of getting something done that needs to be done with more effectiveness and less stress than is possible otherwise.

10.  Balancing the recognition of how needy we are, we ADD people need to reflect too on the Sovereign Lord's good design of each individual.  Somehow we need to come to terms with how things are without seeing ourselves as a big mistake that needs to be corrected.  "Show me how this is not a mistake" is a prayer worth praying, as is "accomplish your purposes through me, in spite of  my faults and failures."

11.  I don't know a great deal about this, but food and food additive sensitivities may make concentration impossible.  This bears checking out when things seem to fluctuate without another reasonable explanation.

I hope these notes might suggest a place to start looking for more information.