What Do Jim Carey and Robin Williams have in Common?
Does this little girl look like she is focused on the same things the others students are focused on? No! She looks a little distracted, doesn't she. Maybe she has ADD?
Yesterday I wrote a post about someone I admire - my husband! One of the things I admire about him is how he handles his shortcomings, of which, like all of us, he has many.
One of those shortcomings is a condition called ADD. I have decided to chat about this for a few posts. You may recognize someone you know when I describe some of the behaviors of an ADD person.
And so, you guessed it. Jim Carey and Robin Williams also have ADD (apparently).
ADD adds a dimension to my life like nothing else could. Let me explain.
My husband has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). What does that mean? It means he has a hard time paying attention and/or staying at attentive. It means if he goes to the store to get bread and milk, he may come home with pop and chips (which he has done).
It means if you are talking to him he looks like he is not listening (and he probably isn't) because he will have a hard time focusing on your eyes. It means that he always has something on his mind that has nothing to do with what is going on right in front of him.
Sound annoying? It is! But it is harder on him than on me. Let me explain. A person with ADD is kind of like someone who is hard of hearing. They miss things, but they get some things. They daydream so much that they are never sure just what they missed.
For instance, an ADD student in a classroom, will attempt to listen to the lesson, but begin to be distracted by some other thoughts going around in their head. The teacher asks a question. The ADD student says to themselves "I think I know the answer, but I have been far away daydreaming and I don't know how long I have been away, so I had better not answer and look stupid". Usually however, that ADD student does know the answer because they are so clever. But unfortunately they don't think they are clever, because they are so forgetful. Depression can also accompany this frustrating disorder.
Not only are they seriously forgetful, they are often disorganized (resulting in messiness), to the extreme. It is difficult for an ADD to create order or keep order. They often live in chaos and so that means they are always losing things. And so distraction heaps upon distraction. Sound frustrating? It is!
It is frustrating to live with someone like this, but no more frustrating than living with anyone who has different strengths and weaknesses from you.
When I first met my husband and suspected he was ADD, we heard about a doctor in a nearby city who was doing a study on adult ADD and was looking for adults to volunteer to be tested. Cliff volunteered. I was there observing and it was fascinating. One of the interesting exercises he got Cliff to perform was some simple eye/hand/knee stuff. Cliff and the doctor would sit facing one another and the doctor would do some of these movements, for instance, he might touch his right eye, his left knee and then his right eye. Cliff would have to mirror this. Now my Cliff is an extremely intelligent man, but he couldn't do it. He would either get the first two movements right, or the last two, but somewhere along the way, some distraction would cause him to forget the complete exercise.
The doctor confirmed that he was ADD, but he said something very positive to my Cliff. He said that for someone with ADD he deserved a lot of credit because he had maintained one marriage for 21 years and one job for over 31 years. Apparently most adults with ADD cannot say that! Hooray for Cliff!
So anyways, does he drive me nuts? Yes! But no more than I drive him nuts, for other reasons. However, there is a bright side to all of this and I would like to share with you some strategies that worked for us. Maybe you can tell someone who is dealing with ADD in their family (it is genetic by the way) and send them over here for a few days!
WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? Do you have any experience with ADD?
Don't give up! There is hope for depression.
For instance, an ADD student in a classroom, will attempt to listen to the lesson, but begin to be distracted by some other thoughts going around in their head. The teacher asks a question. The ADD student says to themselves "I think I know the answer, but I have been far away daydreaming and I don't know how long I have been away, so I had better not answer and look stupid". Usually however, that ADD student does know the answer because they are so clever. But unfortunately they don't think they are clever, because they are so forgetful. Depression can also accompany this frustrating disorder.
Not only are they seriously forgetful, they are often disorganized (resulting in messiness), to the extreme. It is difficult for an ADD to create order or keep order. They often live in chaos and so that means they are always losing things. And so distraction heaps upon distraction. Sound frustrating? It is!
It is frustrating to live with someone like this, but no more frustrating than living with anyone who has different strengths and weaknesses from you.
When I first met my husband and suspected he was ADD, we heard about a doctor in a nearby city who was doing a study on adult ADD and was looking for adults to volunteer to be tested. Cliff volunteered. I was there observing and it was fascinating. One of the interesting exercises he got Cliff to perform was some simple eye/hand/knee stuff. Cliff and the doctor would sit facing one another and the doctor would do some of these movements, for instance, he might touch his right eye, his left knee and then his right eye. Cliff would have to mirror this. Now my Cliff is an extremely intelligent man, but he couldn't do it. He would either get the first two movements right, or the last two, but somewhere along the way, some distraction would cause him to forget the complete exercise.
The doctor confirmed that he was ADD, but he said something very positive to my Cliff. He said that for someone with ADD he deserved a lot of credit because he had maintained one marriage for 21 years and one job for over 31 years. Apparently most adults with ADD cannot say that! Hooray for Cliff!
So anyways, does he drive me nuts? Yes! But no more than I drive him nuts, for other reasons. However, there is a bright side to all of this and I would like to share with you some strategies that worked for us. Maybe you can tell someone who is dealing with ADD in their family (it is genetic by the way) and send them over here for a few days!
WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? Do you have any experience with ADD?
Don't give up! There is hope for depression.
