By 
Introduction by Ava Green, TotallyADD Co-Founder
There are so many adults with ADHD that inspire us each and every day – they go from struggling, to finding something that starts a spark.
Sometimes, it’s the online ADD quiz, or a funny video, and sometimes it’s just knowing that someone out there understands.
The following story is from Tim who has gone from not knowing adult ADHD was a thing… to getting a diagnosis… to being a big part of the TotallyADD Patreon community (see Rick’s note below). A big thank you to Tim for his kind and generous spirit, and for sharing his journey here with all of us.
An ADHD Story
“Hi my name is Tim Kiver. I’m 51 and live in Southampton, United Kingdom, with my family.
My ADHD journey started just over three years ago in early 2017. I was having problems at home and at work with, as far as I was concerned, no identifiable reason, I just felt that something had changed in me. I decided to pay a visit to my NHS (National Health Service) doctor.
It felt as if I had memory problems since I was forgetful, not doing what people asked me to do, not paying attention to detail, and was at times not able to recall information that I knew well.
15 months later, after numerous NHS doctor visits and referral to NHS Memory Specialists for observation and testing, I learned that I didn’t have memory problems but instead Attention Difficulties.
At that point I would never have considered ADHD because that’s just a new way of describing naughty kids isn’t it?!
Nonetheless, I asked my doctor, whether books on ADHD coping mechanisms would help me. She said that, yes, they might help.
That’s when I came across the Kindle version of ADD Stole My Car Keys. It was really easy to read and I couldn’t put it down . . . well turn it off!
It described me. The scenarios, the explanations about why these scenarios happen and ways to try to cope with it. It was an emotional read that suddenly brought back childhood memories. I began telling my wife, Kamila, things about my past that I have never told anyone. Not because of shame but because I just accepted how I was as just my normal behaviour.
I’m indebted to Rick Green because his book literally changed my life and enabled me to finally understand myself for the first time in 51 years.
It set off a new phase in my ADHD journey, that after three and a half years of struggling to get a diagnosis, has resulted finally in a private diagnosis of ADHD Combined presentation and the confidence that I’ve gained has spurred me on to set up a much needed ADHD Charity called the Tim Kiver Foundation to offer practical support to adults and children with ADHD symptoms in the UK.
I also found the Totally ADD website which is packed with content that helped me to find out much more about different aspects of ADD (ADHD) whilst I was waiting for my assessment, but the most important aspect was the feeling of belonging to an ADHD community seeing as nothing like that exists in the UK. It’s a safe place that we can all meet regularly with Rick and the community brings in people from all over the world (Australia, America, Canada, UK, Germany just to name a few).
These meetings plus all the website content is paid for not by corporations or advertising, its funded completely by the Patrons that donate monthly at different levels. I think its so vital to help Rick to continue to produce his content and to be able to go even further. I’m proud to be able to give back to others that are on their journeys and to support Rick . . . It’s the very least I can do and I hope many more Patrons join us. It’s invaluable . . .
Thank you so much Rick!”
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Rick Green here. You are so welcome, Tim! I love how inspired you have become! Thank you for being a regular on our webinars, and for allowing us to share your story with everyone. It’s lovely.
A note for everyone reading this, and I hope you don’t mind, but you may not know that everything we do at TotallyADD is supported by purchases our online shop, and also especially by our Patrons. And by ‘We’ I mean me, Ava, and David, aka Customer Support but he does so much more than that!
It is our Patrons who ensure that we can continue to produce new videos, new blogs, maintain the website, and the many app subscriptions to do all of that, plus send out our very popular Friday Funnies, and weekly newsletter.
One of the perks that Patrons enjoy are the live chats and webinars we organize. About half feature a guest expert, the other half are just us Patrons, and we explore a topic, symptom, challenge, or strategy that Patrons want to hear more about: Creativity, Self Esteem, Procrastination.
Once we all made healthy Chocolate-Banana Blender Muffins! Everyone arrived with the ingredients ready==an hour later we were all munching away on a ‘healthy treat.’ (I think I was the only participant who had never baked anything before that.)
Tim is also active in our Patron Online Chat Room. This is an exclusive, safe space where Patrons engage in conversations about whatever matters to them.
One Patron suggested we launch a chat room for “Female Topics’ and we did. Several others wanted a channel dedicated to” Non-ADHD” issues. Manuel, a Patron who volunteered to manage our chat rooms, created one called, “Off-Topic.” And boy, is it ever. Ha Ha!
To find out more about all of the Patron benefits, click here. It’s pretty easy to register and you can cancel at any time.
I’m always touched by the insight, humor, and kindness Patrons have for each other. My hope is that you will join us so that you can experience that too.
Benefits of Becoming a TotallyADD Patron
- Twice a month live chats with ADHD experts
- Exclusive early access to our new videos
- A free copy of our video ‘Tips For an Organized Life” (a $9.99 value)
- Access to our Discord community
- and more!
For as little as the cost of a cup of coffee a month you can take part in live Patreon community discussions with Rick Green + see our new videos first + other perks
TotallyADD.com is an independent website created & owned by Big Brain Productions Inc. (Rick Green).
Our amazing Patreon community, and purchases in our online shop pays for content creation. We are independent advocates who are supported by community members like you!
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