A.D.D. and Dyslexia

I was not diagnosed with A.D.D. or Dyslexia until the age of 28. I always just bought into what people had told me about my behavior and performance. I was told that I lacked motivation, I was disorganized, I was lazy and mentally unstable (crazy). When your own family tells you this stuff you kinda feel it must be true. I believed it. When I was finally diagnosed I went back to college to finish my Bachelors degree to enter seminary. I had left college to go to the gemological institute (I had problems there as well). My first two years of college and my education at the institute were horrible, in some classes I barely passed. After being diagnosed and was being treated by a physician I finished my last two years of undergrad with all A's then finished seminary with 3.65 GPA (Seminary was a little tougher than state college). I t was like living a miracle. I had pretty much thought myself retarded all my life. Now not so much .

Why I am I talking about this ?Well the A.D.D. thing seems to be touching me again only from outside myself this time. Within the last three weeks -two individuals I know have gone for A.D.D. testing and another has come to me for A.D.D. related counseling. I thought I'd give a little A.D.D. education as a public service here in BLOGVILLE.

1. Kids withe A.D.D. / A.D.H.D. do not grow out of A.D.D. . They just grow up to be adult with A.D.D. Kids that display the hyper activity symptoms with their A.D.D. will to stop that behavior as adults but the A.D.D. stays along for the ride.

2. Not everyone with A.D.D. displays hyperactivity. These individuals normally slip through the cracks and go undiagnosed through the school age years.

3. A.D.D. is not a psychotic mental illness. It is a malfunction in the processing center of the brain . People with A.D.D. tend to have normal to high IQs but they process info at a slower rate . That's why timed examinations are a bad idea for folks with A.D.D. Given enough time they achieve as well or better than anyone else.

4 A.D.D.ers tend to be emotional. Imagine feeling all the time like Lucy and Ethel (I Love Lucy illustration please bare with) in the chocolate factory episode where they are working as candy packers . Lucy and Ethel are trying to pack all the candy that pass by them on a conveyor belt. But the candy is passing by too fast to get it all in the box. Makes for a hilarious sitcom episode but makes for sucky life. Wouldn't pretty much anyone be emotional if they were overwhelmed and frustrated all the time?

5. A.D.D. can be treated but not cured. Through pharmaceuticals, new life skills and above all prayer, the person with A.D.D. can cope with the affliction very well.

Those are some facts about A.D.D. that some of you may have known already. Here are facts that I would you all to know that really no one know except for me.

1. People with A.D.D tend to be very good looking and should be told so all the time (It helps the A.D.D.)
2. Hunting and fishing make the person with A.D.D. smarter and easier to live with so they should be encouraged to go as often as possible.
3. People with A.D.D. are never wrong so you shouldn't argue with them (especially spouses and rector's counsel members)
4. Rush Limbaugh doesn't believe that A.D.D. is real. People with A.D.D. would like to kick Rush's butt (and it's big)
5. Patience is needed with A.D.D.ers. It's not that we don't want to pay attention it's just that the cloud in the sky above us as we talk looks just like winnie the pooh. Now who wouldn't be distracted by that ?
6. A.D.D. folks have a hard time completing tasks. Please forgive us.
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