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ADHD Point of View….

ADHD Point of View….2011-01-20T14:16:58+00:00

The Forums Forums For The Non-ADD Other ADHD Point of View….

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  • #89013

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    I’ve been “labeled” with ADHD for several years, but, for the longest time I kept it to myself , I never took the time to let others know who I was and how my brain functioned.. About a year ago I came across a young co-worker who was the mirror image of me 20 years ago.. I so wanted her to know she was not alone, that the way she processed information was unique and actually a gift. And, if she learned to understand who she was and why, she could learn to harness her gift and use it to her advantage..

    Part of my creative therapy includes writing. Instead of wearing my feelings on my shoulder, I try to write them down.. I wrote this poem for my friend, she immediately recognized herself in the words.. Now, I share it with others who I believe are able to process what it means to think outside the box.. To me, this poem describes to others exactly how I process information..

    Common Point of View?

    Thoughts run through my mind at a furious pace,

    yet sometimes..so focused..I lose track of time and space.

    I’ve finished sentences for some who can’t keep pace,

    live most of my days like I’m in a foot race.

    I’ve dealt with anxiety which is hard to erase,

    yet in the eye of a storm there’s no fear in my face..

    I’ve driven by my destination.. at times having to retrace,

    yet can adjust to road blocks… no longer displaced …

    My vision of the world is quite unique,

    it allows me to see what others still seek.

    I’ve come to points of perfect clarity,

    solved problems after great disparity,

    had visions beyond reality,

    yet can lose my mind over simple formality.

    Daily multitasking….I’m at my best,

    managing the bubble….most are quite impressed.

    I can adapt myself from simple to chic,

    converse with those powerful to meek..

    My creativity reaches higher than the highest peaks….

    I’ve written this for you,

    because some of it may ring true?

    Just remember…when you’re a bit askew,

    I’m willing to listen to your point of view…..

    I hope you enjoyed reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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    #99428

    TLCisaQT
    Member
    Post count: 6

    Very good poem and sounds familiar :)

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    #99429

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    i like it *thumbs up*

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    #99430

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    You are good… really like your work! I will say it again because it is worth repeating; you are not ADD/ADHD thats a lable for a condition that you have traits of. We all create our own reality as we see fit. Our attitude consequently colors how we see and experience the world around us. We may not be able to change events around us but we can; if we choose, change how we experience thoughs events.

    No one will ever give us control of our lives, there is no asking permission to have control of our lives, we must take control of our lives we do so by changeing our attitude about what we are experiencing. In other words Timothy, we all make our own reality by our atitude regarding what we experience,since our attitude is how we percieve the world around us.we can change our perception at will if we choose to; but until we do, we are stuck with the reality that we have.

    Always remember attitude equals perception and perception is attitude it is your key to change the way you view the world and ultimately determines the quality of your life.

    K

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    #99431

    MarkJ
    Member
    Post count: 18

    Hey Timothy, the poem is fantastic. Good on you. And good on you for taking the time and effort to help and enlighten that girl if ADHD is an issue with her. I’m sure that she (and perhaps her lucky off-spring, if any) will one day be very thankful that you crossed paths. I hope you don’t mind that I copy and pasted your poem. I will share it with those that are lucky to cross my path. Sincerely.

    I agree with Kuzuo. But if we are just talking labels…I’ve been labeled a “burden” and if given the choice, I would take the ADHD label. I see it as a badge of honor.

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    #99432

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Thanks Kazuo, I agree, to a point.. Most of us are lost in our own multitude of thoughts and in the daily grind, it’s hard for us to “take control of our lives” as you said. We live in the moment, just surviving, no time to reflect on who we are much less the attitude we possess. I was able to write my poem only after taking a step back in order to take a deep breath.

    Tim

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    #99433

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    hi

    im a mother of an 8 year old girl .

    we just got her diognoised and we are dealing with it

    I would just like to know how she feels, because at 8 she is having problems explaining to me . and i cant understand because im not ADD ADHD

    (even though i think i am sometimes)

    i just want to know how her brain is thinking or what is going on in it.

    if anyone can help me understand. it would be great

    thank you :D

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    #99434

    munchkin
    Member
    Post count: 285

    Let’s see, age 8?

    I could learn some lessons at lightning speed and felt impatient – why is the lesson moving so slowly? I would become bored and start looking out the window or talking to a classmate and get in trouble for it. I was always in the doghouse for talking, but I found it so hard to control myself – the talking would just erupt from me, and I would only realize it after it was too late! I wanted to be good so much, but no matter how hard I tried, I would be labeled as naughty.

    Other things – like reading comprehension – I just couldn’t slow myself down to actually absorb what the text was about. I could read the words and hear their sounds in my head, I knew what each word meant, but it took a great effort to actually pay attention to the meaning of a paragraph – or sometimes even a sentence. All the sounds and sights in the room would distract – at the same time I would focus in too much on each individual word or letter instead of having a mental picture of what the text was describing.

    I was so scared and embarassed because that was the age I truly realized I was different, and was never sure what the teacher’s expecations would be. Other kids didn’t understand, so I learned to keep quiet about it.

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    #99435

    Tiddler
    Member
    Post count: 802

    Exactly the same experience that munchkin so well describes.

    Also, at 8 I’d have said:

    Please don’t tell me to tidy up and expect me to understand what that means. You see a mess. I don’t know what ‘mess’ or ‘tidy’ mean. I don’t know what to do to make it ‘tidy’. I’ll pull everything out of my drawers and pile it on the bed so my drawers can be tidy but now they’re empty and you’re really cross and I don’t know what to do with everything on my bed.

    If I need to go to the loo – I REALLY need to go to the loo. I just don’t notice till I’m bursting. I CAN’T hold it in.

    Please let me keep my light on a little longer. I just lie in the dark for hours and feel sad because I can’t sleep. At least if I was reading I wouldn’t feel so lonely.

    What does ‘try harder’ mean? I tense all my muscles and really TRY but nothing different happens except that I get a sore head.

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    #99436

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    wow, wow wow , is all i can say.

    you guys made me cryand i really mean cry not a figure of speach

    . I really see my daughter in your messages(munchkin and tiddler )

    thank you soooooooooo much

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    #99437

    kc5jck
    Participant
    Post count: 845

    browneyes – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a description doesn’t give a clue as to what is going on with “ADHD.”

    Here is something I liked that you might want to watch:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rybVzoKOwWA&feature=related

    View the videos and look around the site to get a good feel for what ADHD is like. There are many descriptions like the ones by Munchkin and Tiddler.

    Oh, and my son’s first and second grade teachers said “he’s just immature and needs to grow up a little bit.” Now I know that “no, he had a problem which should have been identified. somewhere along the way by somebody”

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    #99438

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    BrownEyes, I know this doesn’t fully answer your question but it’s some good insight and perhaps it could give you some idea as to how your daughter feels about school, which plays a huge role in our development, so I thought it would be an appropriate are to discuss.

    Get this, our society, which is an industrialized one, runs on credentialism and this has been establish by our formal education system. If you don’t learn to adhere to the one way things are done in this society you are automatically labeled as “different” “odd” “unusual” “eccentric” “off beat” or my favourite, just plain “wrong.” Which is weird cause these are the words that we usually use to describe creative and artsy people, the “category” most people with ADD fall into.

    Schools also practice something called “tracking” or “streaming” In a tracking system, the entire school population is assigned to classes according to whether the students’ overall achievement is above average, normal, or below average. Students attend academic classes only with students whose overall academic achievement is the same as their own.

    Among older students, tracking systems usually diverge in what students are taught. Students in academically advanced tracks study higher mathematics, more foreign languages, and literature. Students in less academic tracks acquire vocational skills such as welding or cosmetology, or business skills, such as typing or bookkeeping. STUDENTS ARE USUALLY NOT OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE CLASSES DEEMED MORE APPROPRIATE FOR ANOTHER TRACK, EVEN IF THE STUDENT HAS DEMONSTRATED INTEREST AND ABILITY IN THE SUBJECT. This happened to me in high school. I wanted to take philosophy, a course in the University track, and my guidance counselor discouraged me, and I didn’t end up taking it.

    Get where I’m going with this?

    Even though I didn’t receive my diagnosis until I was 24 (I’m 26 now), I can definitely tell you that by the time I hit grade three I was definitely aware and informed by others that I was perceived as “different.”

    When I was in Kindergarten I was labeled as “gifted.” This was due to the fact that I had exceptional reading and writing skills and not mention my printing was absolutely gorgeous (because I was so anal about it being neat.) Along with my reading and writing skills, my verbal proficiency was also advanced. I loved to read and I used to write stories and illustrate the scenes. And although this may sound odd, I had (and still do have) an intense interest in pregnancy, fetal development and the labour and delivery process. Even before I could read I would look at my moms pregnancy books. And yes, there were graphic images, but you know what, my parents were always good with answering my questions, and supported me in my pursuit of knowledge.

    When grade three rolled around I despised the fact that I had to go to school. It was stiffing my “think outside the box” personality and suffocating my creativity! It also demanded that I conform to a specific way of learning that was not conducive to me. It turned learning into a chore. My grade three report cards had comments like “needs to apply herself more,” “lacks focus and is easily distracted and frustrated,” “displays poor control of emotions,” YA THINK!? I felt tortured in school. I was always in the office not for being in trouble but because I was “sick and wanted to go home.”

    The biggest bully I faced growing up was the school system. It was so boring and not what I had imagined school would be like. It sucked my natural lust for learning right out of me. From grade three on, things just went down hill in terms of school. I managed to pass high school and obtain my diploma but I attribute that partly to the fact that I didn’t want to disappoint my parents. You see no one in my family has ever dropped out of school and everyone has pursued post secondary education of some sort. I guess you could say that even though it was never really stated, there was always an implied notion that I WOULD go to college or university (cause you know that’s the only way to be successful in life now a days *sarcasm*)

    I’m in college now, about to finish my nursing diploma (which is another story all together). This post is quite long and to be honest with you I have actually been working on it for 3 and a half hours now… GO HYPER FOCUS! But that’s what happens when you have ADHD, once you’ve locked on to something that actually sustains your focus, you don’t want to stop. It’s a blessing and a curse. When we do manage to focus and remain on task, it’s intense. Just like everything else we do.

    Your brain is so engaged and so deep in thought that if anyone should interrupt you or ask anything else of you at that time, look out! You’ll have a really peeved ADDer on your hands! Its like “This is what I’m doing now, I’m actually achieving something and not bounding around, my mind is at peace because it’s stimulated!” I know that doesn’t make sense, but it does. Our brains need to be stimulated in order to focus, unfortunately the problem with ADD is sometimes the external stimulus we receive is not enough and not conducive to our learning needs. It just can’t sustain our attention and we bore easily. Which is the problem with the school system.

    Also our internal mechanism is not very efficient (although this can be altered through therapy and medication which is why they treat ADD with stimulants.)

    Anyway I’m getting tired and I have to work tomorrow. I hope this helps a little!

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    #99439

    kc5jck
    Participant
    Post count: 845

    Browneyes – Here’s a random thought. Hang around here and you will get a lot of random thoughts. Also some confusing mispellings because our impulsivity causes us to hit the send button befor proofreading. Fortunately there is an edit button.

    You will also find people get off topic and ramble like I am doing now. It’s the way we think. We’re not stupid. Many here are in the upper levels of IQ. I’m talking 140-160 range. Read the “Mashed potato” thread and my post at: http://totallyadd.com/forum/topic.php?id=2205 for an example of how I think..

    Anyway, back on topic, although I haven’t looked back at all the posts, I would bet that you will find an underlying tone of frustration at some point, if not all the way throughout, many of these posts. It’s because people with ADHD are constantly and on a daily basis misunderstood on a variety of levels. I’m sure your daughter must be no different in this respect. Keep that in mind. You can hear it in the girl’s voice in the video I mentioned above as well.

    Oh, and another thing, being able to express these frustrations by posting on this site, it makes us feel better. Particularly if it is able to do some good and help others in the process. Thanks for your post seeking an understanding of how our brains work.

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    #99440

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Dear kc5jck,

    Are you trying to suggest that everyone’s thoughts on here are random, with the exception of yours?

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    #99441

    kc5jck
    Participant
    Post count: 845

    Browneyes – see, Bettyfoxes question is a perfect example of being misunderstood. And here it is less than half an hour into the day. How frustrating.

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