Re: Successful ADDers annoy the h*ll out of me.

[Bibliophile]

I have not commented on this thread to see where it would go, but I have a few issues now that I want to vent. I will state up front that I tend to agree with Dr. Barkley’s view of the disorder more than Dr. Honos-Webb’s or Dr. Hallowell’s.

• One cannot assume that one’s interests lie in artistic or non-office oriented endeavours simply beacause one is ADHD. If ADHD is an impairment of the executive functions, it has little to do with one’s interests or professional skills. If you like working with databases, computers and metadata, the odds are you are going to have to work in some form of office-environment or interact with one remotely. One can still be right-brain focused and ADHD as the two are not mutually exclusive.

• Do not cite famous people that you do not know for certain are ADHD or how serious their impairment is. This serves no purpose for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is difficult to know if they REALLY are ADHD or not something else. They might have had Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, Autism/Aspergers, OCD, etc. that displayed similar traits. Secondly, pointing out that a few people out of millions were successful is cherry picking the results. The fact is most outcomes are nowhere near that realm. Thirdly, successful examples are discounting the influence of luck on the outcomes of these individuals. Lastly, not everyone who changes the world is ADHD and there is no statistical evidence that a majority of them were. It is nice that some people are inspired by these examples, but keep it to yourself just as we would expect those inspired by their religion to do the same.

• While I agree that we do not all learn the same way, the same can be said for other people who do not have ADHD. Public education unfortunately cannot accommodate every permutation of learning style.

• Many of us are uncomfortable relying on others to get things done. I am such a person. Having to use others in this fashion is not empowering at all as it serves to remind us of our deficits.

We are all different in our experiences with ADHD. This forum can at times be very frustrating for some, especially those with severe impairment, who hear people discussing alternative therapies, trivial examples of impairment (e.g. I lose my keys a lot), or who claim ADHD gives them superhuman powers to achieve the impossible without analyzing it in a holistic fashion (Rick’s examples of the person who hyperfocused on a task only to see the house burn down in the meantime or it was a task not required at the moment illustrates this).

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