Are these symptoms of ADD?

[Anonymous]

I’m a 50 year old male. Until recently I just figured that my reading comprehension and writing issues were just me. But recently my son who is a Jr. in high school and good student starting describing to me how he feels when he reads and compared his experiences to mine. In college I did very well but had to find a place completely away from people… super quiet. I would actually sneak into closed academic buildings for no distractions. Even given that I would need to re-read my texts 10 times to understand the text. I carefully choose classes to avoid writing essays and reading literature. My writing was and is still fairly poor because what I think I write never makes it to the paper. When I re-read the text I wrote – I read what’s in my head and not what’s on the paper. Today emails are a challenge- if I’m not careful to read every word. I have never been able to read a novel —- not one since high school(when I had too). When I read I can have zero distractions….. When I read fiction I don’t see anything in my mind’s eye…. nothing…. I see my wife reading novels and I always thought that she see’s something… images when reading. Seeing that my son has the same symptoms and I brought him to a pediatric neurologist . He tested him… he scored a little low…I described his symptoms … my experiences … I think the Dr. felt how could a good student at a good school have ADD… I explained that he is very smart and copes – like I did. Thoughts?

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[Anonymous]

Hi Eagle…..fact is there are many folks here who have achieved very high scholastically, very high indeed, multiple degrees, business achievement….we have folks from all walks of life……..Doctors too. So type casting….. doesn’t work. ADD has no type…….some commonalities….which can be as diverse as anything you can imagine. Common thinking is ADD traits present quite differently and in different intensity….a spectrum if you will…so we are all over them map.

Read, read everything…..learn, discuss…….there are many good books become your own expert…….the medical profession is still struggling and struggling hard!!!

Pssst hint……Eagle bust up your posts into what looks like smaller paragraphs….they don’t have to be grammatically broken….it is easier for the ADD brain to read in smaller bites. Big blocks of post just swim…….

Toofat

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[Patte Rosebank]

If most of your difficulties are with reading and writing, then you may have dyslexia, not ADD. Sometimes, the symptoms of both may be similar. And sometimes, people have both dyslexia and ADD.

To get a better idea of whether or not it’s ADD, you should take some of the informal tests on this website.

Click on “Tools” in the left sidebar, and try the “Virtual Doctor” test. Then try the other diagnostics in there. These are purely “first step” tests. If you score high on them, print out the results and ask your doctor for a referral to a mental health specialist, who specializes in adult ADD.

If you score high enough that it’s likely you may have ADD, take the results to your doctor, and ask for a referral to a specialist.

This is important, because only a specialist can properly diagnose it and rule out any other possibilities (since many symptoms overlap with those of other conditions, such as dyslexia, depression, anxiety, and bipolar) or rule in any co-morbidities (since ADD often brings along some friends).

It’s also important to specify that the specialist must be familiar with adult ADD, because many specialists still refuse to accept the fact that it does, in fact, exist, and is NOT something that kids just grow out of.

Bring your “first step” test results with you when you see your doctor, so you’ll have some evidence to support your suspicion you may have it.

Of course, if it turns out that you may have dyslexia instead of ADD, you should still get a referral to a specialist—one who specializes in treating dyslexia. Dyslexia is a recognized learning disability, so there are definitely supports out there to help those who have it. If your son has it, then he will be eligible for learning supports to help him in school. ADD is a recognized learning disability too, but it’s still quite misunderstood, compared with dyslexia.

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