Re: NOT SURE WHAT TO DO AS AN ADULT WITH ADD AND GOING BACK TO SCHOOL. PLEASE HELP!

[Anonymous]

If this makes you feel any better, I’m in probably about the same boat as you. (Looking forward to doing new things in my career next year and trying to sign up for a university couse. I’ve just managed to ‘kill’ the afternoon searching for a course that still had an opening or wasn’t already closed for registrations.

Just last night before I went to bed I came on this site and read Dr. J’s blog posting about our ‘types’ being such procrastinators about buying tickets for shows and other events. I declared to myself that I NEVER do that!!

Do what do I find myself doing today? Trying desperately to find a summer university course that still has a space available… 😳

What can I say? I guess he has some of us pegged for what we are- procrastinators.

So what drove me to suddenly get the bug in my head that I had to sign up at this late date? Oh,….that would be working alongside two much younger and ORGANIZED colleagues who have managed to teach full-time, write and turn in report cards on-time AND take extra course through all the report card writing.

They have been encouraging me to take some courses with them but I just couldn’t see how I could manage teaching full-time and going to school as well. They have seen glimpses of my brain at work but they’ve continued to keep at me to join them.

Normally, it takes the entire summer for me to catch my breath after the school year! I’m just a tad obsessive-compulsive about things being done ‘just so’ that I knew there was no way I could manage EVERYTHING at once and still come out on top.

The thing that tipped the scale today? I had to go into Toronto to see my doc for a 7:00am appointment. Not an easy task for me. I’m a night owl who hates to go to bed even when she has to be at work the next day (been that way since birth- nearly drove my mom crazy ’cause she also had my twin to contend with, who fortunately, didn’t get my brain).

I work only a 15 minute drive away from my home and it’s a battle for me to get there each day in time for the 8:00 am bell. And today I needed to be smack dab in the middle of downtown TO??? Yeah, I begged my DH to drive me in. A one hour mad dash drive down the freeway had me there 5 minutes late.

Why was I late? I had the same problem I always have when I get there. I can never find the entrance to his building!!! Same thing every time. You would think I would learn from my errant ways but no, I do the same thing every time. Walk back and forth past the entrance NEVER seeing it. The local street life watch me go back and forth along the same block and I’m sure they’re wondering what I’m doing.

I almost begin to panic every time since I certainly never think to bring the address, do I? That would be ‘thinking’ and ‘planning ahead’. So when I finally ‘discover’ the doorway to his building (think skyscrapers all squished together on a downtown city block) and make it up to his floor, he has that knowing look that tells me he KNOWS that I’ve done it once again. 😳

“Ahh, I think we should be looking at increasing your dose.” Bah! I put that suggestion off at my last visit but today I took his advice. So I’ve been bumped up to 90 mg of Concerta and voila! Now I’m actually WANTING to sign up for a course. (Well there is a bit of an ulterior motive….partly so I can prove to the pdoc that I’m not the dunderhead I appeared to be this morning and every other time I’ve arrived in his office). 😆

It’s just that he had that look in his eyes as we talked and I could just read his thoughts. Way back in the time before dinosaurs, I went out with two guys who were a couple of years ahead of me in school- no, not at the same time!!! Anyway, by this time they were well into med school. They both ‘thought’ we were dating but as far as I was concerned, we were just friends.

Both really nice guys but not for me. Anyway, the death knell for both of them guys was that same ‘look’ I got from the doctor today. One even had the nerve to say that if you just watched me I appeared to be a total ditz but in actuality I was actually very intelligent. It just wasn’t apparent unless you got to know me.

Yes, I do go in circles sometimes, okay maybe a lot. But I won’t have that ‘look’ from guys anymore (doctor or otherwise).

The doc refused to back down from my rebuttals that getting lost each time was normal and just kept quietly countering with “you know, that’s a very ADHD behaviour……you know, those behaviours are very ADHD. Getting lost on the same block every time you come is very ADHD…. You keep repeating the same behaviours that were problematic the last time… you don’t bring the address!”

I guess it was that semi-amused look he had while I argued with him. Oh, that and the fact that I realized that my adamant arguing with him that EVERYONE else also gets lost over and over like me was starting to sound very ADHD even to my ears…. I knew then I needed to shut up and sit down and perhaps just….do some listening. *sigh* Oh well, at least it was friendly arguing. The poor guy. Can you imagine he deals with people like me all day long and he was able to do it with a smile???

Soooo, I’m partially signed up for the next level of my Special Ed course. Being ADHD, somehow or other I’ve managed to thwart the university’s on-line registration system and now have to wait for an administrator to contact me. All I did was push the ‘submit’ button.

Do you think that red lights started flashing and warning bells ringing down at the registrars office? WARNING! WARNING! ADHD ALERT!! ADHD ALERT!! Shut down system!

You and I will do just fine with our course/courses! Let the games begin!

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