[billd]

It’s legally classified and protected as a disability in the states.

I work for a voc-rehab agency – iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Our counselors deal with it, and in fact, a couple of them HAVE ADHD.

Medically it is disabling, preventing full enjoyment of or ability to fully perform all of life’s normal function.

My neuro-psyc said it’s a disability and worked with me on reasonable accommodations as such. People can be declared disabled due to it.

When you have it severe enough (as I do) you’ll see the disability side of it well enough. The problem is that since the “typical ADHD” adult isn’t at the severe end, many view it as what they usually see – OTOH, there’s those who have it so severe….it can be disabling.

Legally, when applying for a job, I had to check “yes, I have a disability that may……. etc. etc.”

It also has the same effect of a learning disability in many cases. I can’t learn well in a normal classroom situation, and have an AR to ensure that any training I am supposed to have through work isn’t in a long normal classroom situation.

In reality, the terms are often used interchangably, and in fact, are defined almost alike in most dictionaries.

Working at the vocational rehabilitation agency means we need to know – and be sensative to the terms, how to use them in sentences, and make soure that they are a person first…….in fact, such training is required, even for the IT staff.

The Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA) has a three-part definition of disability.

Under ADA, an individual with a disability is a person who: (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; OR (2) has a record of such an impairment; OR (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.

This means that people with ADHD (people first, condition second) are disabled by legal definition.

A physical impairment is defined by ADA as “any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: *neurological*, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genitourinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin, and endocrine.”

*A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.*

Another definition:

Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Thus disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives.

Dictionary defintion of handicap:

A handicap is a physical or mental disability making participation in certain of the usual activities of daily living more difficult.

So, a handicap IS a disability. If you are handicapped, you have a disability according to most dictionaries (and doctors or lawyers, SSA, VR, and so on)

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[billd]

I’ve got a long list of items from the doc I saw about sleep issues (they can run with ADHD anyway, but I had some pretty bad sleep issues)

Don’t exercise in the evening – do it in the morning. Even the pros will tell you it’s the best time to do it not only due to the sleep connection, but because in the AM, it gets your body going for the day, blood/oxygen flow, metabolism, etc. – Exercise is not only more effective in the AM, it won’t interfere with sleep as it would in the evening.

Don’t shower less than about 4 hours before bed time. the shower will tend to wake the body and get it prepared for action, a shower in the evening can interfere with sleep.

No TV the last hour before bed unless it’s a really boring show………. no computer/internet before bed, similar issues, it tends to get your head more awakened and alert, so can interfere with sleep. If you read, LOW light only. Bright lights tell the body it’s time to wake and go. If you read, make it something boring, not exciting.

The list was quite long and I’ve probably missed a lot or messed up somewhere……

Multitasking is a myth. The human brain time-slices, not multi-tasks. In time slicing, it switches back and forth – even if quickly so you don’t think that’s what it is doing. In an ordinary person with normal attention spans, and a normal ability to quickly focus on new things, they can time slice more effeciently.

Fact is, when you think you are, or are trying to multi-task, it will actually take longer to complete the list of tasks, and you’ll remember less of each, and the number of mistakes increases as opposed to doing that list of tasks one at a time.

(there’s been a lot of testing on this by universities and other groups – the research is out there)

Further, attempting to multi-task will actually lead you do ADHD symptoms and memory issues as you age. For those with ADHD and/or memory issues – it ain’t gonna get better. Attempting to keep up multi-tasking actually stresses the brain in a bad way and when you reach into your 50s or there-abouts, you’ll pay for it.

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[billd]

kc5jck – I actually have one of those.

It’s sold under the trade-name of “wife”.

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[billd]

>>sounds like life can be a thrilling success regardless of how each of us is affected by our particular flavor of ADHD, It’s a fact that while we have a very general set of predictable and diagnosable characteristics. We’re still individuals.<<

AMEN.

Face it – I see you know the Bible…….. so what happened when the master left and gave three folks some coins……… who fared better? Wasn’t it the risk taker? The one who buried the coins to keep ’em safe, didn’t turn out so well, eh?

I can say I hate my job, I hate what ADD has prevented me from doing, I hate the way it causes my wife and I to have some sore moments, I hate how it’s caused me to have a lot of accidents, get hurt a lot, end up in trouble in school, at work, failed relationships, etc.

HOWEVER, this weekend we’ll have been married 23 years, I’ve got a son who lives only 6.3 miles from us, and he CHOSE that location, I live in a nice neighborhood in a nice home (very small, but nice non-the-less), great shop building, fun hobbies and a wife who doesn’t put any restrictions on that other than the realities of budget, our vehicles are reliable, I may hate my job but I DO HAVE A JOB (with benefits), I have good friends, etc.

I’ve survived everything that’s been tossed my direction. I take scraps of wood, scraps of metal and make things – I take old cars, old engines, and make them new again. My wife quilts – she takes scraps some would toss in the trash and makes quilts. (“when life gives you scraps, make a quilt!” is one of their sayings)

Take what ya got and run with it!

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[billd]

Check the list of pratfalls, symptoms, whatever you want to call it for ADHD – ADDICTIONS are one of the biggies that most experts agree will be on the short list of many many folks with ADHD.

And among those addictions most commonly listed? SEX.

And for men, pictures and talk can be stimulating. Some docs call it “self-medicating”. The stimulating effects release chemicals in the brain that are like a medicine, like a stimulant med. I dunno how to explain it well other than it’s sort of like if your toe hurts bad, you’ve noticed some folks will bite their thumb? The toe no longer hurts so bad……..

For me, the addictions are soda/pop/cola, chocolate, or can be anything with strong flavor. I go through anywhere from 2 or 3 to 6 cans of soda a day, plus coffee, flavored water, whatever. Yes, I am indeed addicted, and I get a bit goofy and anxious feeling if I try to not have a couple cans of soda – even DECAF makes me feel good now!

HOWEVER, I also am one who could find myself in a situation of thatr “other” addiction if I let it happen. Frankly, I believe that I’m at a place where I’d be more resistant to becoming so addicted with the meds I’m on for ADHD – that’s one of the things it’s controlling just a bit.

Sort of funny, my first wife and I, well, she wasn’t ADD/ADHD, but, well, any excuse, any place, at the drop of a hat which matched my ADHD “desires” very well. Then we divorced and I started dating again…… and got married again, and it lasted just weeks. Funny, as after #2 and I divorced (she was a bit crazy, I found papers in her stuff as I helped her carry things out showing that the very week we got married, she’d bought a house in another city and was kind of creepy and a bit off in a few ways) -I started dating again, and my 2nd ex found out who I was dating and wrote her a letter attempting to scare her away from me, telling her that I was, well, addicted……. anyway, the letter didn’t work.

#3 and I will celebrate 23 years this weekend. in MY case, I’d read enough, learned enough, I learned to recognize some of those things about me, and it’s oddly enough, one of those things about the ADHD and myself that I CAN control therough logic and will-power at most times, so she’s not got to worry. I’ve put sort of a control on the computer if you want to call it that, by literally teaching her everything about it, having her do email, pictures and documents and knowing where and what everything is on the computer.

Anyway, again, the med stuff wears off about 5 or 6 pm, and it’s almost 10 here so the posts are growing long again……. ahem….. that’s a long way to say – addictions are not unexpected with ADHD, and among those addictions – yup.

I’m not a doctor, but having lived nearly 55 years with this stuff – in MY personal opinion as one who’s been there, done that, and knows how life with ADHD can be, the addictions, the needs/wants/desires, my first instinct is that he’s ADD, and he has addictions, that he’s “addicted to sex”, even if it’s just talk and pictures, (for a male, that can be a big deal) and needs help, and may actually want help. That’s the first step – and usually the hardest.

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[billd]

You need a couple of Tonks. They LOVE to talk, they speak in complete sentences, and when they speak, you best listen then respond with the right answer, or they will ask again.

When we get back later than normal as when we go shopping after work, and open the door, there they are to ask us where we’ve been, and chew us out for being late. They get lonely.

Barbara has changed a bit lately – she’s started getting up very early (like 3 to 3:30 am) and goes down to her sewing/quilting area and enjoys 1 or 2 hours of quiet relaxing sewing time. (I think it all started when certain other changes started happening in her life….. probably don’t need to say more in this crowd )

I don’t have a set time, but I love being out in my shop alone working for an hour or two each day when possible. At times I have the radio on LOW, other times I’ve got some music cranked up a bit – but when I do that, it’s just for an hour or so, then I need to turn it down or off.

Night sounds generally don’t bother me much unless it’s snoring – then I can’t get to sleep for nuttin’. HOWEVER, give me a whopper of a thunderstorm, and I sleep like a baby!

Snow? We ain’t got no snow. None in the forecast even. It’s a brown winter so far, and the highs are going to be back into the 50s, then drop to the 40s in the next few days. VERY unusual for us! usually we are freazing our tails off by now – for weeks on end.

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[billd]

LOL – well said, kc5jck.

I saw a video put up by an ordinary ADHD person who explained how that the correct meds helped (often, keep in mind, not all ADHD bodies react to meds nor all all symptoms helped in all people) and if you didn’t have ADHD, it could actually make the symptoms worse, but in any case, meds didn’t “cure” or even help at all if there was no ADHD. Like you said – you just had a lazy stupid…. etc person on speed. HA.

>>I know ADHD is a real condition. And because I know it, I can deal with it for myself, without having to convince anyone else.

<<

I know it’s real, too – all too well…….. just ask about my youngest son, my mother, her father………. and this existed and was defined even BEFORE the big bad evil drug companies existed. (get real, even drug companies are just groups of people attmepting to make money by selling stuff – it’s a shoe salesman the same thing, only smaller? And if the stocks don’t do well – don’t the stock holders hang the board and director and get new ones who will make stock values higher? Get real – do you want your IRA, 401K, etc to do poorly and maybe make only 1% while your other investments do 5% or better – and you’ll get angry at the fellow running the company making only 1% on their stocks? OK, then – let’s get real as far as who is doing what, and WHEN this actually began.)

I also dislike the “right” or “left” – when it comes to ADHD, politics don’t matter, they can all be jerks, and they can all be helpful.

Guess what – I work in an IT department where almost ALL of the staff is what some of you would call “conservative” or on the “right”, and guess what we do – help folks with disabilities, and we bend over backwards to do so, even asking for MORE money to do it.

I”m sorry, and not meaning to “offend”, but you can really totally leave politics out of this, and I know, working for the government – for an agency where our sole purpose in life is to help folks just like me, and you, and other forums memvbers here, get training, jobs, computers, etc. – and we do it with a passion and caring…….. and our department pretty much all “leans” one direction.

This thing knows no politics.

It knows no educational levels.

They can be left, right, or dead, smart, dumb, PhD or high school drop out, and they’ll either believe you and want to help, or they’ll deny it exists regardless.

In my experience, growing up in the family I did – I personally saw no coorolation.

As far as made up by drug companies – a bit of research shown to the nay-sayers will show it was being found and diagnosed before my parents were even born and drug companies all went over to the dark side and abandonded the force.

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[billd]

I worked at On With Life, Inc, in Ankeny Iowa.

Head injury rehab facility – state of the art, best medical and neuropsychologists and therapists they could get.

I was there day after day, I ran the building and grounds, security, IT and all communications, safety and security. I worked pretty closely with some of ’em, and got to know many of the clients personally.

There are some things that just aren’t easily fixed – these folks often with a bump in the head would lose all inhibitions (you don’t want to know the fluids the nurses might have to clean up at times) had anger issues, bad memory…….. hmm, interesting parallels at times.

Even the “graduates” and success stories often had impairments that followed them for the rest of their lives.

I’m not saying to give up and not try, geesh, I found myself in the middle of some improvements myself…….. however……..

Oops – gotta run, more later!

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[billd]

Man these posts from the last couple of days, SO familiar!!!!!

Although this did NOT happen to me, it happened to my very NON-ADHD father.

My mother had a 1960 Plymouth Valiant (this was in about 1970) and my father had a 1964 Rambler.

Mom had her keys, Dad had his.

Dad was making a trip to town, and as often happened, asked if I wanted to go along. YEAH, love to. So we hop into Mom’s car, get to town, do our shopping, and Dad digs into his pocket and pulls out keys. He’s looking for his car as he had his keys in his hands. We looked and looked and where we thought he’d parked HIS car, there was Mom’s car.

Total confusion, what the heck happened – this means Dad has lost the keys to Mom’s car as all he can find are his keys to his car.

We thought and talked it out, pieced things together (remember, I’m ADHD, and poor memory, I’d frankly not recall which car we’d taken)

Finally we figured it out, and were correct. We got into Mom’s car, he used his Rambler keys in her ignition switch, and it started……… and we drove home. He was so used to taking his car he instinctively grabbed his car keys and we hopped into Mom’s car instead for whatever reason… and driven her car to town with his keys.

We thought we were going crazy for a while there……..

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[billd]

MerryMac – I do that as well. It’s fun to watch the faces as they attempt to figure out “what the heck is this guy doing”.

I then say, “there ya go, easy change” and get back fewer small coins, or get back a single dollar and a dime for example.

One of my first jobs was delivering the daily paper as a kid – and collecting the payments each week. I got REALLY good…. then I worked in a hardware store running the OLD register where you punch down the keys and turn the crank……….. no computer doing your thinking for you then!

I worked as a mechanic mostly after that, but I filled in for the fellow who sold gas up front, filling tanks, checking oil, cleaning windshield – and collecting the money and making change. Again, no computers there! Old-style registers or cash boxes, all done in MY HEAD, each and every time. ODD, I am SO ADHD, but it’s something I’m able to do if I don’t think about it very hard. it’s when I TRY hard to deal with numbers and hurry I get into trouble. If I do it just as a matter of course while doing other things ,it’s natural. Odd, eh?

I’m not one of those folks who sees numbers as colors or words as something else………….. it would be very interesting, however, to just for an hour or day, to be able to see and experience what others do.

Frankly, I wish we could do that a lot – I think human understanding would leap ahead light-years……….

Ya listening up there? give me a chance or the ability to even for a short time actually see, feel and experience exactly as others do……If I could have that as a gift, I’d ask for nothing else ever. And frankly, I even wish to be able to do that with cats and other animals….

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[billd]

Real person or not, the message that was supposedly sent is one of the most insulting things – and what most of us endured all through childhood, and if folks would read info on some OTHER sites, would see it simply ain’t so. ADHD isn’t a choice. (jusg as other conditions – or aspects of “being different” isn’t a choice. ADHD is a medical condition where in some cases it’s been shown parts of the brain are smaller, not functioning properly, maybe inactive or less active, actually several possible causes. Simply “wanting to change” and “working harder” or “he could change if he wanted to” is the ultimate insult to those of us with ADHD that’s fairly severe.

Some even here are implying that all I need to do is decide to change, to work harder. Trust me, I’m totally exhausted at the end of the day from trying so hard.

If it was that bloody simple, we’d certainly not need any forums or support or meds – it would be a choice and counseling could fix it all.

Maybe for SOME here, simply trying harder works. But that’s not the majority, not even close, it’s the view of some who hang here because this forum fits their personality and beliefs. You can’t judge ADHD even by the members here because folks with certain types of ADHD, certain severities, etc. will end up in different places. it’s like visitng a hospital that specializes in heart care, then reporting back that most people who are sick have heart issues. No, most people with heart issues go to that hospital.

that’s a long ADHD way of saying I agree with scatty and my meds have WORN OFF………… it’s late here, and I’m 3 hours out of the meds effects.

I’m an intelligent person, I’ve studied psychology and did quit well at it, i’ve lived over 5 decades, i’ve tried all sorts of things, I realized how my son was, and how my mother was, and didn’t want to “be like that”, but no no avail. It’s not a choice, it’s a block that in some cases, actually many cases, can’t simply be walked around by trying harder. That’s what our unknowing grade school teachers tried to convince our parents 45 years ago.

3rd marriage, lost track of jobs, 3rd career, all the losses and rewards – don’t think I’m not trying or haven’t been trying hard.

Doesn’t mean I’m not trying – I am, but I realize now finally that I need help – and I believe I’ve found a key – now I just need to find the correct combination of notches in that key so I can finally walk through the door and find more successes.

I almost feel at times like some folks actually believed what they were told all those years ago in school……… and I also at times question the diagnosis some folks were given.

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[billd]

no_dop’s quote struck a chord with me:

>>Meds-free is just not possible for some of us. Our lives are littered with the examples of med-free attempts. We changed our diet years ago ….. ………….. This all helps, but it stops short of addressing our symptoms……… I’m sure you’d prefer me to be medicated for my sleep disorder so that I don’t fall asleep while driving (there is no warning that it will happen). It’s also a safety issue, driving and unmedicated ADD is a risky combination according to professionals.<<

Yep – and in fact the folks I’ve seen are pretty insistent that if it’s REALLY ADHD of the type/combination and severity I have, it would be a huge risk for me to NOT be trying meds for help. They were pretty blunt and clear that they didn’t understand why I was just now getting help.

The meds are the key, I still have to unlock the door and go through it, and do the work. But without ’em, the door is locked. The first lady was VERY VERY concerned. The sleep doc considered it an emergency and worked me in THREE months ahead of others. Two of the 3 said it’s “for life”.

ANYWAY, back on topic – no_dop – on the decluttering – I’m sorry for your loss! LOL – just kidding. Wait until you see what I’m getting done….. I think my wife is in shock…….. I’m even insisting that I help get the house in order and got up early a few days to make sure things got put away and cleaned up.

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[billd]

that was me – it was yet another test I easily passed….unfortunately (or some days, fortunately, depending on lots of stuff)

I took the results to the doc, who then gave me the DSM-IV test, and mumbled “wow” under his breath as he scored it (BTW – I’m in the states so the tests might be different)

His sub referred me to a behavioral center for further work when the Strattera failed to be of any help.

They interviewed me for 90 minutes, then setup a follow-up appointment with a specialist. After a short time, she said she had no doubts…… and referred me to a neuro-psyc to get the best of the best diagnosis, complete with detailed info on the sub-types, and comorbid stuff and all that. He also said even before finishing the testing and scoring (the TESTING alone lasted over 4.5 hours) that I was very ADHD, combined subtype and had a few other things going on that generally go with the ADHD.

A few weeks later and follow-up with him he showed me the final results after all scoring and his reviews of the interview parts of the testing session – yeah, very much ADHD, very very near the top of the scale. In fact if I was in college and being graded on that test, it was a near perfect score and I’d have recorded just under a 4.0 GPA – in short, I was just shy of an A+.

But to get the final diagnosis – they first want to rule out every other possibility, as frankly, a whole lot of stuff can mimic ADHD, including difficult birth (which sort of means that having this from very young isn’t itself proof) anyway, the list he showed me of stuff he’s dealt with professionally that looks and acts and quacks just like ADHD is quite long – a family doctor can’t tell the difference, so should not even try, in my opinion. This guy was good……….. but he leaves the treatment up to the other gal who told me I had ADHD, and she’s the one doing the work from here on. (well, so am I, of course!)

He said feel free to call any time, and he’s always willing to help with talk or suggestions. I can’t believe how lucky I was – he’s great.

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[billd]

23 adult truths………

1. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind-of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.

13. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

23. The first testicular guard, the “Cup,” was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Ladies…..Quit Laughing.

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[billd]

The other day God was looking down at earth and saw all of the wicked Behaviour going on…

He sent one of his angels to earth to look into it.

When the angel returned, she told God, “Yes, it is bad on earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not.”

God was not pleased so he decided to e-mail the 5% that were good, because he wanted to encourage them and give them a little something to help keep them going…

Anyone know what the e-mail said? . . . . . . . . . . . .

Okay, I was just wondering because I didn’t get one either.

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[Author]

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