How is ADD like a Three Ring Circus?
We are talking about ADD for a few days. What makes me an expert? First hand experience, or maybe I should say second hand. Anyways, my husband is ADD, my stepson is ADHD and I am a retired teacher who taught several children with the same disorder. I made it a point many years ago to study the subject when I met my first ADHD student in 1988. I have been fascinated by it ever since.
It was good preparation so that when I married my second husband Cliff in 1998 I was well aware of the effects of ADD. The ideas I am sharing with you here are not as a result of my own personal research, but as a result of my experience living with an ADD person since 1998. It is never dull.
Yesterday I mentioned two things that our pastor does that seem to help my ADD husband focus on the sermon. The first thing is that he always mentions hockey during the sermon, usually right at the beginning. That GETS my husband's attention. (The ADD person is no different from the rest of us in that things which interest us are easier to give our attention to than things that do not interest us).
The next thing is that the pastor has something going on at the same time, images on the overhead.
Distraction can sometimes help focus!
Did you read that right? "Distraction can sometimes help focus"? Yup, that's what I said.
So, now I have a little trick question for you which might explain the picture I have chosen for today. Is it easier for an ADD person to concentrate on a three ring circus or a one ring circus? Did you get it right? A three ring circus! Why? Because distraction, the very thing that seems to be the enemy of ADD can also be the catalyst for attention. If there was only one ring, the ADD would soon be distracted by something else and lose interest. But with three rings there is always something to appeal (or distract), keeping him focused on all three rings. I know, it doesn't make sense to me either, but it really does work that way.
It's kind of like distraction creates the adrenalin needed for focus.
You may be one of those people who can study better with background noise. The distraction helps you focus! Silence would cause your mind to wander. Some ADD people can be like that.
My husband can't just watch TV. He is always reading something or working on the computer at the same time. To concentrate on just ONE thing is very painful for the ADD. They can do it if they have to. We can all do hard things when necessary, but this is a costly and difficult thing for the ADD, concentrating on one thing.
This sounds contradictory. Their problem is distraction and yet they need distraction in order to concentrate! This is just another interesting and complex thing about the ADD person.
The one thing that is so annoying to them and makes their lives so frustrating as well as frustrating to those who live with them - DISTRACTION - is the very thing they crave and sometimes need.
It is like they wake up each day with a craving - what can I find to distract me today? You know how some people hate to be interrupted? Not my husband, he loves to be interrupted! He could run from job to job to job to job all day long. Of course at the end of the day he will be angry at himself for once again, accomplishing nothing.
It is important to realize that this behavior does not necessarily indicate laziness. It is just the inability to stick with one job. I have found that working alongside with Cliff on a job is helpful. I can keep him on task. I have found that he will do practically anything you ask him if he can just remember what it was you asked him to do!
Stay with me now. As I continue to describe different aspects of this disorder, you will begin to understand more and see some ways in which it can be livable, both for the sufferer and the sufferee!
Next time I am going to tell you why my husband walks out of stores backwards....yes.... backwards! You have to see it to believe it!
WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? Do you need distraction to help you concentrate?
Don't give up! There is hope for ADD and hope for depression.
My husband can't just watch TV. He is always reading something or working on the computer at the same time. To concentrate on just ONE thing is very painful for the ADD. They can do it if they have to. We can all do hard things when necessary, but this is a costly and difficult thing for the ADD, concentrating on one thing.
This sounds contradictory. Their problem is distraction and yet they need distraction in order to concentrate! This is just another interesting and complex thing about the ADD person.
The one thing that is so annoying to them and makes their lives so frustrating as well as frustrating to those who live with them - DISTRACTION - is the very thing they crave and sometimes need.
It is like they wake up each day with a craving - what can I find to distract me today? You know how some people hate to be interrupted? Not my husband, he loves to be interrupted! He could run from job to job to job to job all day long. Of course at the end of the day he will be angry at himself for once again, accomplishing nothing.
It is important to realize that this behavior does not necessarily indicate laziness. It is just the inability to stick with one job. I have found that working alongside with Cliff on a job is helpful. I can keep him on task. I have found that he will do practically anything you ask him if he can just remember what it was you asked him to do!
Stay with me now. As I continue to describe different aspects of this disorder, you will begin to understand more and see some ways in which it can be livable, both for the sufferer and the sufferee!
Next time I am going to tell you why my husband walks out of stores backwards....yes.... backwards! You have to see it to believe it!
WHAT ABOUT YOU? How are you feeling today? Do you need distraction to help you concentrate?
Don't give up! There is hope for ADD and hope for depression.
