[memzak]

Hey mouse11 you sound like a debate moderator or a college professor.

I am most interested in the comments about free will. Does anyone else besides sdwa and munchkin feel like they don’t really have total free will? I have started researching the subject for my book and I am very interested in others comments on this subject of free will.

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[memzak]

I’m from Maryland, born and raised. My daughter has talked about moving to Canada because she likes colder weather. Unfortunately, her boyfriend is moving to Florida! Only time will tell how that will work out.

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[memzak]

LSA your story has brought me back to doing some writing again. I got really inspired this morning after thinking about what happened to you, myself and my husband’s inability to change his habits which has led to his current situation. i truely believe that we have less free will than many people believe. I will save the rest for my book. i figure it will take me 2 to 3 years to finish. I am in the process of getting disability and my husbands retirement money starts next month. When he passes it will become a survivors benifit so it will never go away.

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[memzak]

leonzeppelin

I remember reading a story about a sculptor that could never finish his work. He went to a councilor as part of his ADHD treatment and the councilor told him to find a finisher. He found someone that had trouble starting works but was great at finishing and they formed a partnership and lived happily ever after churning out their combined works of art. Maybe you can find a finisher for your song work.

PS. I must confess I skipped reading your first post. The length was a little daunting and I need to get off the computer in a few minutes. I will come back and read the whole thing when I have more time.

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[memzak]

LSA – I decided a couple of months ago to write a book. The main focus is hidden disabilities and general attitudes toward people with them, the court system’s treatment of people with hidden disabilities and the number of ADDers that end up in prison. My research has shown that between 25% to 75% of the prison population has ADHD depending on which study you look at. With approximately 7.5% of the population (again depending on which study you look at) suffering with ADHD this is a highly disproportionate representation of ADDers in the prison population. We have problems with judgment, as we all know, and it can land us in unfair positions. Currently, the United States court system does not recognize ADD as an “excuse” for making a mistake. I understand (have not totally confirmed yet) that in England, they screen people for ADHD before sending them to prison. I have gotten a glimpse of an attitude of greater acceptance of ADHD there.

I am having my own problems with the legal system. Fortunately I have a lawyer and when I went to traffic court by myself to get a postponement so I could get enough money to pay my lawyer, the judge was very nice and understanding. Since I already had a lawyer he was very willing to grant a postponement. I was terrified. I almost could not speak. This is my worst nightmare. To unintentionally do something that would get me in trouble with the law. I was driving my car with no insurance. I had lost my job, changed my insurance from auto pay to paper billing and forgot about it. I was having nightmares about going to prison, convinced that I was going to die. I also have never been in trouble before. I was so depressed at the time because I had lost my latest and last job that I did not get chatty.

My book writing has stalled a little because my husband is dying. They told him today that he is dying and it was just a matter of time. He is only 62. And I sometimes wonder why I can’t seem to get anything done. DUH

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[memzak]

Trashman – why did you lose your right to drive?

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[memzak]

Trashman, don’t worry about how long it takes you to read and respond to posts It takes me forever to formulate an answer to a post and get it on the screen. I spend a lot of time on a public internet connection that logs me off after two hours and I can’t tell you how many times I have logged on, read something I wanted to respond to, written a response only to find out that my two hours were up and I would have to log on again to start all over again. This has happened to me so often that I type all of my posts in Word first and copy and paste into the website. That way if I have been logged off I have not lost two hours of writing and editing, I can just copy and paste again. Just keep reading and responding, you are among friends here. This is one site where spelling does not count!

LOL, it just happened again. I was closer than I thougt to the two hours being up. I had to log in again to post this 😆

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[memzak]

Hey GameGuy, left or right? I’m right with ambidextrous tendancies. Infact i do use my left hand sometimes to do things instead of my right and I used to play the piano.

So far 3 lefts, 3 rights and one unknown.

Yahoo answers says approximately 10% of people are left handed. Very Interesting.

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[memzak]

bout68 I would not be so insensitive as to tell you what to do but I can tell you my experience.

I found out about my ADD in July last year. I went through the denial and trying to explain it to people stage before the holidays started. My family also controlled by guilt to a point. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around my feeling guilty all the time was not as much of an issue but I still felt I had to explain myself and apologize. I went to Thanksgiving dinner to a houseful of people, tried to explain what was happening to me and stopped trying when everyone seemed more interested in other things. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas was when the guilt just melted away, I just enjoyed being around everyone at Christmas. My usual Christmas crises never materialized and I just spent the whole time smiling. I had a full feeling (and not from dinner), a feeling of being comfortable with myself and my family. I am actually looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. I have gotten more phone calls from my family this year then I got from them the last 30 years.

I can tell you that many things have changed over my 59 years and even with family squabbling we still got together every holiday and put our differences aside (as much as possible) and I remember the warm feeling I got as a child listening to the men watch football while the women got dinner on the table, I know that really dates me. Last year it was everyone gathered around the TV watching a movie while my brother got dinner on the table that will give the nieces and nephews and my own daughter the warm memories that will carry through their life.

Now I feel like a Norman Rockwell painting.

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[memzak]

I tried to separate a plug from an extension cord with a pair of scissors while the extension cord was still plugged in. Talk about sparks! Fortunately the scissors had a plastic handle so I was not electrocuted but now there is a chip in the blade of the scissors.

Then there was the time I was trying to cut off the yarn I had used to make a ring fit and ended up cutting my finger open to the bone.

I also have a dent in the middle of my forehead from catching it on the corner of the door of my car.

I got a concussion once in high school and was alone when it happened and I, to this day, still don’t know how I did it.

Just talented I guess.

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[memzak]

I do the backward look thing when I park my car too. I also stopped locking my keys in my car by having them in my hand before I shut the door. Even if I have put them in my special key pocket in my bag I still have to stop and look again before I shut the door. I came close to locking them in the car a couple of weeks ago because I got distracted my a loud noise but I caught myself in time.

I know there are a lot of jokes on the internet about the “shiny” and “squirrel” moments and one day a couple of weeks ago my daughter and I had just gotten home and were sitting in the car talking and I caught sight of a squirrel. It appeared to be running out from under my car and I actually said “Oh, a squirrel!”. My daughter nearly laughed her head off and still teases me about it.

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[memzak]

Get a second opinion. In the mean time Bobbie40N has some excellent advice. I too am going through a difficult time. I have applied for Social Security disability more for circulation problems and depression although ADD is playing a part. I lost my last two jobs to ADD symptoms mostly from problem with switching numbers around. Find someone to go with you when you apply for food stamps and other financial and medical help. I am having difticulty filling out forms and getting things done in a timely mannor so my daughter is helping me out.

If you are fired from your job and you live in the states, they have to continue your insurance for 18 months (been there) but you still have to pay for it. I had help from my family which is a good thing because that insurance covered my husbands surgeries before he went in a nursing home under state insurance. (18 months was up).

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[memzak]

Money-I stop myself from spending more than $5 on “stuff” and $1 on food and ask myself do I really need this or do I just want it. If I really need it but did not plan to buy it that day, I wait at least a day, think about it again and again then if I still feel I need it I ask someone if they think its a good idea. Then I go and buy it. If I just want it I walk away. Not always the easiest thing to do. Its embarassing to say how many times I didn’t do this and regretted it.

Talking-i try to listen to what is being said more than how I want to contribute to the conversation. I find that if I do this than I usually just come up with the right thing to say at the right time. However, this has taken many years of practice to feel comfortable not blurting out stuff. Every once and a while I regret not jumping in but that happens less and less.

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[memzak]

I know exactly what you mean. I have to have the sun or at least bright light every day, all day or I get depressed. Its called Seasoal Affected Disorder or SAD. Apparently it is quite common among ADDers. I have trouble in the winter when the days are short. Last winter we got snowed in for a couple of days and I went nuts. I was shoveling snow even though I’m not supposed to do that kind of thing because of an old injury just to get my car out of the driveway as fast as I could. I moved a 3 foot snow drift only to get plowed in by a 4 foot wall of ice. AARRGGHH!

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[memzak]

Hey everyone! My daughter has come up with an advantage! We ADDers are more interesting and entertaining than regular boring people. OH, A SQUIRREL! (I actually said that this afternoon and my daughter is NEVER gonna let me forget it).

Bobbie40N – I also had the disadvantage of a family that never took the time to explain things to me that my other brothers and sisters were able to figure out on their own. This is a problem of undiagnosed ADD.

Poisuneyevee – welcome to the site. You may be hitting on something there. Actually it kind of fits with #3 in the poll, good and bad but an excellent metaphor. I am definitely a #3. OOO SHINEY! If you are looking for more information, spend some time watching the videos on the CADDAC.CA website under teens and adults. Dr. Barkley and Dr. Brown are both lecturers on that site. Snippits can be found on youtube.com.

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