Every ADHD Parent’s Dream

This website crashed earlier today. The second time in a week. Too many people on at once. (Please, don’t stop. It’s a nice problem to have.)
Looks like we will have to upgrade our Server Online Bit-Rate Capacitence Modulation Interface. (I made that up. Sounded good didn’t it? The word Capacitence was a bit of a stretch.)
What’s behind this surge in traffic? Beyond my good looks, the lively presentation, the reliable information, the powerful Forums, the strong community and my good looks?
I suspect it’s the time of year.
Namely “back to school time.” (Do other adults get the heeby-jeebies and feel the need to go buy binders every September? It’s like some life rhythm I’ve never outgrown. Maybe if they moved tax deadlines to June Report Card time inclined to actually meet them.)
Back to school is when ADHD is on everyone’s radar.
After a vacation from responsibility, and even from medication, it begins anew….(Insert theme from JAWS here.)
Kids and parents looking ahead. Familiar struggles erupt: The morning war over breakfast. The ‘Battle of The Homework” The request, given at midnight, “I need some Bristol Board so I can do a project that’s due tomorrow morning.”
ADHD kids brace for the dreaded classroom with it’s Read more

Why Me? A guest post from Chris Churchill

Here’s a guest post from Chris Churchill: Oakville, Ontario writer and Dad.

Since this is the first of what I hope to be many postings as a contributor to the Totally ADD blog, I thought it would be a good idea to tell you a little bit about me and where I’m coming from. I won’t bore you with details like where I live (in Oakville, by the way) nor about my beautiful wife and family whom I love dearly (can you tell I spent a few years in politics?). Instead, I’ll explain why I agreed to do this.

Any parent who has been faced with the news that their child has been diagnosed with a disability understands the emotional impact it can have on the entire family. We never want anything bad to happen to our kids and we want them to grow up to lead healthy and happy lives. Finding out that there is a roadblock in the way of their potential success is hard to accept. “Why me?” is often one of the first questions that leaps to mind. Or, perhaps, more accurately, “why my child?”

Eventually, of course, we work through the steps toward acceptance. We find a way to make the best of a difficult situation. This web site, and other organizations, goes a long way in helping individuals, and their families, come to terms with their challenges. In one sense, this blog is a way for me and my family to do the same.

These days, society is much more open about many health and personal difficulties. Sharing them can educate and shed light on issues and encourage public support. There was a time when diseases like AIDS where marginalized. But high profile support, particularly from the entertainment industry, helped people understand what it was all about. That helped to encourage public funding for research, educated individuals on ways to avoid transmission, and went a long way to help individuals receive the support they needed.

Awareness about ADHD and ADD can help build the same kind of public understanding and support. But that awareness requires people and families to be open about their personal challenges. Families who have children with ADHD must be prepared to advocate on their behalf in the school system, with doctors, camp councilors, team coaches, and even friends. Adults who are open about their challenges can improve conditions in their workplace by working with employers to find solutions and help them be more productive. Advocating with policy makers can improve funding for research, development of new medical solutions and other supports. Taking ownership of ADHD and ADD is necessary to achieve these goals.

When my son was diagnosed with ADHD, we struggled for a while with fear and anxiety. But the more we learned and the more we talked with him about it, the more I came to realize that the diagnosis was really a saving grace because it provided answers to a lot of troubling questions. Knowing what we were facing, together as a family, made a huge difference. And, we discovered that the more open we were with others, the more supportive people became. I’m still amazed at how many people volunteer that they, too, struggle with ADD when I say “Sorry that Matt was disruptive today. Just so you know, he has ADHD…”.

While ADHD will be my son’s personal life-long challenge, it is also our family’s reality. As a father, mother or sister, we all want to be there to support him as much as we can. Working together, we can help to ease his burden. After all, isn’t that what families do?

I’m contributing to this blog because I hope that by sharing my challenges as a father who has a child with ADHD I can help others. Of course, I hope it will help me and my son, too. (I’m not really that altruistic!) But it is “why me”.

Me and Matt

Chris Churchill has been a communications professional and consultant for 20 years writing and editing articles and material on a variety of topics in every sector from health care to politics. His son was recently diagnosed with ADHD and since then he and his family have been educating themselves about how best to live happily with the challenges individuals and families face dealing with this condition. Contact Chris at: TorontoADHD@gmail.com

Humour is Different in Britain…

You’ve doubtless seen the video of, and been outraged by, the woman in Britain who picked up a cat and threw it into a garbage can. She claims it was ‘a joke.’ Okay, maybe it’s being a comedian, but Read more

Extreme Part 2

Several of the comments about my Extreme Pita Blog have referred to how TV has become so bad, or annoying, or un-watchable.
To be fair, there’s a reason for this.  VCR’s, PVR’s, Nintendo, Wii, Apps, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the Internet…
Back in the 60’s, there were three major American TV networks and a couple of Canadian ones.  Now there are thousands.  So the advertising dollars are spread far and wide.  To get a sense of how little paid advertising some networks are selling, compare how many self-promotion spots there are in a commercial break vs how much paid commercial time there is.  I’ve seen 3-4 promos vs 1 commercial in many breaks.   Astounding.
So the networks have far less money to spend on a show.  Plus, even a “hit” now is drawing a small fraction of the population compared to a hit in the sixties.
With VCR’s and PVR’s everyone started skipping the commercials.  So less incentive for advertisers to buy ads.
Anyone under the age of… well, me, seems to be watching their TV shows online.  And skipping commercials. So now the ads have to be included in the shows.  Welcome to product placement.  It’s no mistake that the judges on So You Think You Can Dance Canada have their cups turned so the Aquafina logo is facing the camera. Read more

Overwhelming Simplicity

Everyone is ADD!  To a point!

For better or worse “You’re so ADD!” has entered the popular vernacular.  Nowadays it’s used any time anyone is slightly overwhelmed or confused or forgetful or hyper.  Whereas the overwhelm and distractibility of ADHD/ADD is ongoing, frequent, and in more than one area of life.  (Hey we’re all a bit overwhelmed when we’re riding The Mighty Mindbuster at a Theme Park—It’s when you’re sitting in a small, quiet public park and you’re overwhelmed that it’s a problem.)

But people keep saying, “You are so ADD” because we are totally overwhelmed with information, input, noise, distractions and urgent messages…

If you strolled up Yonge Street in Toronto for a mile or two, you would pass a lot of people. You would encounter more strangers than a farmer from a couple of centuries ago might meet in a decade on his farm and in the small town he lives near.  
Every face you pass is being judged by your brain—Threat?  Danger?  Fight or Flight?  Sexy?  Scary?… All this going on constantly as you Read more

EXTREME!!!!

There’s a place near our house called Extreme Pita. Normally a pita is a flat piece of bread filled with vegetables, sauces and meat. Like a baked bread sack of food. (Which is what my wife calls me in her crueler moments.) All well and good. But what is an Extreme Pita? The moment they opened, my curiosity was aroused. We drive by it every day and I began to wonder… Perhaps the meat is still alive. Or the pita is the size of a bedroll. Or you have to eat it in under five seconds to avoid electric shocks. Maybe the staff are naked. Or covered in body piercings. Or both.

I finally worked up the courage and went in to see what constituted an ‘EXTREME’ pita. Assuming it was going to be something incredible and possibly dangerous, I wore my bike helmet and football pads and ear plugs in case of explosions. I won’t take you through the whole sordid seventeen minutes. Suffice to say I was disappointed. If giving ‘Free Pop’ to anyone who has coupon is extreme, then yes, this was an EXTREME PITA! Of course later, as I mentally digested what had happened, and physically digested the green peppers, I realized, I was the victim of ‘hype.’ A Pita is bread and stuff. How can it be extreme. It’s flat bread. It doesn’t even have the yeast to rise.
I’d been suckered into forgetting that we live in the age of hype. The age of extreme everything. Read more