Re: Teen ADD

[Anonymous]

I grew up with ADD and didn’t know it. Did the same as you, would get “lost” during conversations, spend an hour reading one page in a t;extbook, and not know what I’d just read. Yet, I could still manage to retain enough information to do well enough on tests, etc. to pass my classes. I’d do the term paper or big project the night before because I sucked at time management. . . and still manage to get a passing grade. Could not understand how my peers, whom I sensed weren’t as intelligent as me, could do so well with schoolwork. I tired 3 separate times to succeed in college. I still have no degree, even though I’m 3 courses shy (all independent study- studio) of an associate degree in graphic arts.

Flash forward to parenthood. Picked up a copy of a book “You Mean It’s Not All in My Head?” – about how women are commonly ignored/undiagnosed when telling their doctors about real physical or emotional concerns. A chapter that was a sort of “day in the life of an ADHD-er” was a lightning bolt. Tears shed over my life’s lost opportunities.

I realized my daughter mirrored my childhood. I was determined that she would have the tools to succeed that I didn’t. Daughter’s second grade teacher thought I was NUTZ for seeking an ADD diagnosis (“she’ll be labeled!”) and medication. But I did. It made a huge difference. My daughter is living up to her potential because her ADD was recognized early. She is now a junior in college and doing amazingly.

If you’re feeling out of sync with your peers, there is something going on. Your folks need to put you first and seek to help you find out what it is.

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