Attention Deficit Disorder

WHAT IS ADD? DIAGNOSING ADD WHAT ADD Is NOT WHAT'S IN A NAME? HOW THE ADD MIND WORKS RESULTS OF ANALOG VS. DIGITAL THINKING TYPES OF ADD

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

As I stated above, ADD is not a disorder. Historically, the people who researched, diagnosed, and created labels for people, putting them in little boxes on paper, were not ADD. That is simply not ADD behavior. Unfortunately, these labelers did not understand the meaning of what they were seeing or what they were doing. What they did understand was that children who did not do well in the current school system or in certain kinds of jobs could be diagnosed ADD.

What they didn't realize was that they were only looking at children in systems that didn't fit the way the children learn. Given a different style of education, such as apprenticeship and hands-on learning situations or job settings that incor¬porated flexibility and creativity, the same people actually did fine-even better than their non-ADD counterparts! But, nonetheless, they labeled the "misfits" as disordered.

It is time for this designation to change.

You are not disordered. In fact, you probably aren't deficient in many of the attributes normally associated with ADD, such as attention and organization. But you certainly do these things differently than non-ADD people-at times to your advantage and, true, at times to your disadvantage.

It wasn't very long ago that children diagnosed with ADD were thought to out¬grow it at puberty. Then the literature began to reflect changing information about ADD in adulthood. At first, ten percent were thought to continue into adulthood with their ADD intact, then twenty percent. I recently saw an article stating that sixty percent of children with ADD continue to show symptoms into adulthood. But the reality is this: You are born with an ADD-style of brain wiring, you grow up with it, and you will have the privilege of dying with it. (While it is true that ADD symptoms can come about from head injuries, substance abuse, metal poisoning, or other outside causes, a condition called Acquired ADD, those are not the situations I am addressing in this book.)

I hope it won't be long until human differences are recognized and honored, rather than medicalized and disparaged. We can all contribute to this change by respecting ourselves as people who are ADD.

Each of us serves a wonderful role in the garden of life. All of our skills are necessary for the garden to bloom profusely. All we have to do is join forces to make a variegated arrangement that reflects the true beauty of life.