[Artist]

To all those who posted above me, I have always been fascinated with the human brain and riveted to understanding why we do the things that we do.  I have AD/HD, and I am a highly sensitive person (I also read the book in the past).  One of my cousins who has ADHD has a son who has been diagnosed as having Aspergers.

I have many of the symptoms mentioned by all of you who posted above me to varying degrees plus other symptoms.  I was also born with a gift for language.  My brain even has seretonin and dopamine “fireworks of pleasure” whenever I hear words and/or see the spelled word in my brain.

My aforementioned cousin’s son and I love studying/learning.  We both have sensitivities.  I feel so comfortable when I am with him.

Based upon my research thus far, I find that AD/HD, Aspergers, Autism are on a spectrum and there is an overlap of symptoms to varying degrees.  I heard or read somewhere that a psychiatrist said they were now focusing on studying AD/HD in much more depth, as they believe it to be the key to understanding Autism.

We are all unique.  But I keep hoping that we can all be accepted by everyone AS THE PEOPLE WE NATURALLY ARE (along with our respective disorders/syndromes/etc.).

Despite the fact that I will never live up to the expectations of the neuro-typical people in my life regarding the mundane, day-to-day tasks that I must complete, I still think that I AM normal.  I am tired of having to struggle so much to accomplish the simple, mundane tasks in order to please neuro-typical people.  I would much rather spend my time learning, creating, composing, inventing, solving, etc. … you know HAVE FUN!

I am oblivious to clocked time anyway.  I only “feel” time dragging while I am bored out of my mind trying to complete mundane day-to-day tasks.  I never “feel” time while I am having fun.  Only when something jars me out of my hyper focus upon a fun pursuit do I realize that many hours have passed by, and I failed to complete “important” tasks.

I really loved your post Larynxa.  It was a great summary and explanation.

For anyone who has Aspergers/Autism, I highly recommend anything written by Temple Grandin.  Here is her website link:  http://www.templegrandin.com/ where you can find a list of all of her books.  She has given lectures as well, which you may find on Youtube by entering her name.

Outoftune, I have no degree to diagnose anyone.  However, I would suggest that you also read Temple Grandin’s books or listen to her Youtube videos.  It sounds like you exhibit some of the same behaviors that people with Autism experience, but in your own unique degree.

All the best to everyone.

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[Artist]

I cannot stand mashups.  My brain cannot take all of that over stimulation. I find it confusing.

If I am in a room where the tv and radio are on while there are people having a discussion at the same time, my brain cannot stand it.  I have to turn off the tv and radio immediately.

A similar thing happens to me when I am at shopping malls.

If the shopping mall is only full of a few people speaking quietly, then I can stay up to 2 hours (approximately) inside the mall.  Afterwards, everything in the room starts spinning, and I have to run outside to get fresh air and out into wide open spaces.

If a shopping mall is crowded full of people talking loudly, has children jumping, screaming, and running around, babies crying, a loud flowing fountain, music playing over the speaker system, and people wearing overpowering perfumes, I want to run outside.  It is too much data for my brain to process on top of my own pre-existing racing thoughts.

 

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[Artist]

For 10-20 years, I would skim read the symptoms of ADD/ADHD contained in books when I visited book stores. Since I only had some of the symptoms at the time of my reading, and I had most of the symptoms when I was a child, I thought that I had either outgrown it or I was simply wrong. So, I continuously dismissed the idea, and I never purchased any of these books to read them in their entirety. I never sought any diagnosis from my doctor either.

A few years ago, my friend who has known me for more than 40 years was watching Dr. Phil interviewing someone who had ADHD and called me immediately saying that she definitely knew I had it based upon this one interview. After hearing this, I returned to the book store and happened to find Dr. Daniel G. Amen’s book entitled “Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD”, which I highly recommend. I took the tests and read it. I was simultaneously relieved, angry, sad, and happy at the same time. I immediately ran back to the book store and impulsively bought a stack of ADD books and took every test in each of the books just to be 100% certain. I became hyper focused upon reading these books. Finally, an explanation of why I do what I do that made complete sense. I finally understood that I had ADHD as a child, and I somehow lost my hyperactivity in my early teens and was left with ADD. Dr. Amen’s book helped me to determine that I have Type 2 ADD. I never understood myself and my inability to control what I did throughout my life, until I read these books.

I cried a lot, because I finally realized how much I had suffered so unnecessarily throughout my life, and I still do. I endured numerous cruel and incorrect labels. I have been misjudged. I have lived with extreme low self-esteem throughout my life. Etc., etc., etc.

When I was growing up, not enough was known about ADD and ADHD. I now believe that everyone needs to be educated about ADHD and ADD, so we can be treated with love, respect, and fairness.

I am determined to get an official diagnosis from a doctor, only because I want to learn appropriate coping strategies. I am definitely time impaired. I feel like I live in a perpetual now. I am either scattered or hyper focused. I consider myself to be high-functioning when it comes to my space and belongings. I know when everything is perfectly organized, I cope better. But as soon as I get distracted and things become messy or even if I walk into a cluttered, disorganized, and chaotic room, I become completely lost, distracted, confused, and scattered. I just cannot function in chaos. I need perfect organization all around me in order to function. I estimate that I have made a million plans throughout my life, but I simply cannot follow through. I cannot follow through on a planned schedule either. I also have other problems, but I do not want to bore everyone any longer.

Not only did my father have dyslexia, but I now realize (after he died) that he also had ADD. Everyone else in my life does not have ADD/ADHD, so I feel lonely and misunderstood. I am so glad I found this website after watching “ADD & Loving it?!”, because it feels good writing this in a place where I can finally feel understood.

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