Hi All,
I met with my son’s Neuropysch on
Wednesday and he said some things that gave me hope for my little ADDer’s future.
Firstly, he said Attention Deficient is actually wrongly named (his opinion). It gives the impression that our kids have no attention at all. He said ADDers can Hyper-Focus (as we all know) on the things they are interested in. School environment is too restrictive for our ADDers (we know that)and is not the best environment for learning for them. That most ADDers do extremely well in the workforce and are successful in their chosen field because of this ability to hyperfocus. He said if he had a choice he would hire an ADDer because you know you will be getting 110% effort because of this ability. Also in most cases where you find ADDers you will also find very high IQs and self-taught coping mechanisms. He also have many friends that are ADDers who are very successful (writers, Doctors, Psychologists etc) He recently atttended a lecture by a well known Professor who is ADD, at a recent Psychologists’ conference. This person is very well thought of in the field of ADD.
I know we read these things here and there but coming from a Professional who doesn’t see this as a Negative with “a doom and gloom” future for the kids, is somewhat refreshing to say the least.
Just thought I would share this
Thanks for posting this, Friend:
I never liked the word deficit. Inconsistant or misdirected might be a better word. But when I looked up the word deficit, it has two meanings and strangely enough they are sort of opposite;
1. excessive amount spent: the amount by which expenditures exceed income or budget
2. shortfall: the amount by which a total is less than it should be
I agree with your doctor about learning to capitalize on these strengths. I have always felt the things that come along with ADD like self esteem and inabilities were caused more by society than the disorder itself. Thats why I say the treatment is irrelevant, a parent doing anything to help thier child feel better and undo what the world does to them is the best treatment in the world.
I could have worded that better, but, you know what I mean.