[shutterbug55]

I just can’t let this subject go. A while ago I was talking with a few co workers and someone tried to “High five” me, I replied to him “It’s OK.  If you have a question, you don’t need to raise your hand. We are all friends here.”

Everyone thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard. It wasn’t until I was getting ready for bed, that I figured out I messed up again. Then I started laughing.

 

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[shutterbug55]

Not as a descriptor for ADD. But I have seen it used to …. OH! SHINY!!

show how we get distracted by things.

“SQUIRREL!” works really well too.

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[shutterbug55]

I answered this one a few years ago, and I am still avoiding social situations. I know why I have difficulties talking with people, and I know why I miss ques. This is especially difficult in interview situations.

Since I answered this post a while ago, I was diagnosed with Autism. So, I know why social situations make me uncomfortable and why I am so reluctant to participate. I know it is important to be part of these social groups. I understand the benefits. That knowledge is acedemic.

I also know I lack the capacity to learn how to participate in these situations. My wife wants me to join her by going to a few small gatherings. So I can get practice. For me it is not a question of practice and application of knowledge, it is a question of ability. So, I send my wife to the events, and get “reports” on what happened.

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[shutterbug55]

I have thought about this post for some time now. We all complain about how we lose things, how things just disappear, and how frustrating it is when it happens so often throughout the day.
We don’t talk about the other stuff, the bumping into things, breaking
things, setting things down on a table that just moved 6 inches away. Stepping off a curb that wasn’t a curb, steping off the sidewalk and not seeing the raised curb. Tripping over things… the list goes on.

We talk about the missed conversations, the missed appointments, the missing time. How about this: How long did it take you to learn to ride a bike? Skateboard? Skate? Play Baseball? Soccer? Basket ball? For me some of those
things are out of the question. I can’t do them.

I think all of those things come from the same place. We have so much coming into our brains, from sights and sounds that our brains don’t know what to filter out. I think NT people have these unconscious filters and don’t have a problem with this. Inevetably, we filter out the wrong thing. So we break things, bump into things and cause them to topple and break, or we miss some key component everyone takes for granted, that lets us learn how to hit a baseball, ride a bike or something else.
Conversations are are tough, because we miss verbal, or physical queues. That nonverbal language that makes up almost 93% of communication. Again we can’t filter out the irrelevant stuff, because our brains don’t know what is irrelevant.

I have been doing some reading on perceptual filters. This is pretty interesting stuff, and I am sure Dr J. and a few of the others on this board can explain it. I think it is connected to the whole Executive Function and Working Memory issues that are ADD.

What does it all mean, Shutterbug? Well, for me it means I have to be mindful of everything I do. If I let my guard down and get distracted, while doing something as simple as setting a fork down, it will end up on the floor. Walking with a cup of anything is an invitation to a clean up situation.
I make accommodations. I pour my water out of a lidded container where the cup is going to be used. When I cook, I have a pyrex measuring cup handy, to place forks and spoons and other things I am using to cook with. Things still end up on the floor, but not as often.

Sports? Sports are out of the question. I have a tough enough time walking down the street, without tripping. So taking a run, while bouncing a ball? Not going to happen. Not in this lifetime. Hitting a ball thrown at me? Nope. Nuh-uh. No way. I’ve been hit by a lot of things thrown at me, but the idea of hitting those things BEFORE they hit me? Out of the question. Ironicaly, I can calculate the ballistic motion they follow, and trace the arc with
a high degree of mathematical certainty. I can do this even while the object is in flight. but I can’t step out of the way.

As usual, knowing why something is the way it is, doesn’t make it any easier to live with.  My suggestion would be to figure out accommodations that minimize the breakage and be mindful of the things you are doing.

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[shutterbug55]

Hello adidas,

I take Adderall IR as well. I am a 59 yr old who weighs A LOT more than 125. I take 5mg a day, and sometimes 10mg. I split a 10mg tab in half. This is because Adderall is tailor made for my brain. Having said that, Adderall does not erase all my ADD symptoms. It makes them less impactful. This gives me a window of opportunity to self-direct or ignore distractions, or employ any number of coping mechanisms so I remain on track.

Mostly what Adderall does for me is allow me to react to situations by thinking through them, rather than get emotionally wrapped up in them.

Maybe Adderall is not made for your brain, maybe there is another medication that will work better, or maybe Adderall along with something else might work for you.

Each of our brains is a unique constructADD brains are even more different. Because ADD is a spectrum disorder, it affects us all differently. Distractions might be a nuisance to me, but debilitating to you and so on.

Get a partner. Moms work really well. You are too young for a wife, yet. and girlfriends won’t be there for the long haul. Sit down with your mom and figure out the top 4 symptoms that cause you the most trouble. Moms will tell you which ones bug her/others.

Then find a medication that knocks down those symptoms the most with the least amount of side effects. This will take time and experimentation with you being the guinea pig. You will have the medication dosage and timing down to a science. Your doctor will be a collaborator as well.

Meds are only a part of the picture. They will not cure your ADD or make it go away. You will need counseling and you will need to educate yourself on ADD. The great part about it is, your mom will be able to see the changes in you, long before you see them. Your mom will also be able to judge which meds are working and which ones don’t. You will have the final say, because you will notice the side effects and other things.

 

Hope this helps.

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[shutterbug55]

If you are going to fire him, why waste the time on trying to argue with him? You will not change his mind and he will not change yours. Move on and spend your precious time in places that you can make a difference… like organizing your sock drawer, or cleaning the bathroom.

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[shutterbug55]

Hello squirrelygirl,

I have no idea what you have, but I can tell it is causing you some concern. I could tell you not to worry, as if that could actually stop your worrying. ADD/ADHD is not fatal. I have had it all my life, and while it has led me down some interesting paths, I have not died from it.

The quick tests you take that say you could have ADD are like those artist adds on the matchbook covers: Just because you can draw a reasonable copy of the bird, doesn’t make you an artist. Just because you scored high(low) enough on the test, doesn’t mean you have ADD.

To find out if you do, you need to have a Psychiatrist or some other mental health professional, who specializes in diagnosis/treatment of ADD to perform a series of tests and interviews on you. This is to tell if you do have it. They look at your family as well. ADD is hereditary. They will look at your history. ADD is just a symptom of how your brain is constructed. They will try to determine how impairing it is. After all that you get the good/bad news.

I don’t know what the statistics are on diagnosis between girls and boys. Maybe someone else can answer that one.

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[shutterbug55]

Yep. KC got it right. I take Adderall. 5mg in the morning and 5mg in the afternoon about 6hrs after the first. Such a small amount makes a HUGE difference. I don’t notice it, because my world always looks fine to me. Other people notice it, because the meds don’t help me perceive the world differently, they help me interact with it differently, so the way the world perceives me is way different.

If you want to find out whether or not the medications are working, all you have to do is ask those closest to you.

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[shutterbug55]

I am usually not too quick on the uptake, so I can’t tell if you are serious or not. Please don’t be upset.

Have you been diagnosed with ADD? Taking  meds? Seeing a counselor? The reason I ask, is you sound like you are self-medicating. Adrenalin wakes up our brains, and where NT’s freak out, we are cool and calm and awake. That feeling we look for is why a lot of people with ADD are drawn to “exciting” jobs.

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[shutterbug55]

Hello noitartst,

I think Dr. Snyder’s first name is Arlan. I tried looking him up in the Group Health directory, and couldn’t find him. Their office is still located downtown seattle, in what I call the “Piano” buildings. They are silvery white, with black keys on the sides. Across the street from the downtown REI store. Directions and contact information is in the Group Health web site.

Dr. Tasha Morris.  Bellevue. I think there is another in Seattle, but that isn’t the right one.  The one you want is

2820 Northup Way Suite 105
Bellevue, WA 98004

I couldn’t find a phone number for her office.

Hope that helps.

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[shutterbug55]

Try Dr. Snyder at Group Health Psychiatric or Dr Morris in Bellevue, WA. If they aren’t experts, they are professional enough to say so and give you a good referral. Good luck.

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[shutterbug55]

@tonar,

I am one of those “blessed” with both. What do you need to know?

I posted my experiences with both quite a while ago. The way I figured it out is that the diagnosis and subsequent treatment for ADD solved a lot of problems, but did not address other key impairing issues. I was watching some stupid TV show which featured an autistic boy, and got curious. Not because I thought I had it, but wanted to know why they portrayed Autism so incorrectly.

I know a few autistic people and we get along just fine. They are nothing like what you see on TV or any media. So I started studying up on Asperger’s and Autism. I read “The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome” by Anthony Attwood. If you look at his bibliography, there are the other sources I read from, and the sources from those as well.   It is very technical, but very thorough.

Larynxa brings up several other good points. Other causes for your child’s behavior. AS, like ADD have certain cornerstones, which EVERYONE exhibits at some point in their lives. The difference is impairment and history. That takes some testing and doing those surveys. Environment is everything to us. The wrong environment will overwhelm us and cause us to withdraw.

 

 

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[shutterbug55]

@Scattybird

I am sure Autism had something to do with it. Ever since I can remember, I have been taking things apart and getting them to work. Radios, TV’s all sorts of things. Math and Physics has always been a fascination as well. What ever I am doing, Math and Physics comes into the picture. That is a very Autistic trait, I am told.

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[shutterbug55]

This is an OLD thread. I wrote in here a4 or 5 months after being diagnosed with ADD. So… Here is a follow-up.

I never did tall anyone in my office, until a while ago. One of our people had some trouble with one of their conditions. We started talking, and during the conversation they shared the circumstances and reasons for the trouble. We discussed my ADD and Autism, and how I sought treatment. Outside of that one person, nobody knows.

I treat it like a state secret. It is on a need to know basis and if you need to ask, you don’t need to know. Basically, it’s nobody’s business whether you have ADD and are being treated for it. I know it sounds harsh, but look at it like Diabetes, or Color Blindness. Unless it directly affects you, you would never know if you were around people with those conditions.

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[shutterbug55]

I had a difficulty with High school. It took me 6 years to “pass”. I think they got tired of having me there. Since I have a low tolerance for idiots and the school was full of them, I didn’t listen too closely in class. With the exception of a couple teachers, none of them really had my attention.   1.1 GPA was still passing.

College was completely different. I got my First Bachelors in 2 years, by testing out of most of the boring stuff. I got the second one a year later, because it was very closely related to the first (Physics and Mathematics).  I got my PhD in Computer Science, which I use all the time in my work.

Homework was fun for me, because I like solving problems and puzzles. Each question was a different puzzle, so time stopped while I was doing homework. Projects would get done WAY too fast, and so I always added things to the project to make it better. I did that, just so I could maintain that thrill of working on something fun. I ended up with a very high GPA and T/A several classes.

I was diagnosed with Autism in the beginning of this year, which explained why I can get so focused on one thing or a family of related things.  The secret to my success in school, was to remain interested in the subject, surround myself with really smart professors, who liked to teach. The rest was just a matter of remembering to turn in homework.

I am going to retire very soon and get another PhD. Probably something fun like Geology or Chemistry.  I would rather do that, than play cribbage with the old folks. I may even teach at a community college, looking out for ADD students and giving them the help, some of my teachers gave me.

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