The Elusive Side of ADD

I think that learning is one of the most important things you can do, and I don’t think it should stop with graduation. Life long learning will keep your brain active and make you a more interesting senior citizen.

When it comes to learning, people with Attention Deficit Disorder may struggle with the process. There are a lot of reasons for that:

Being easily distracted and unable to focus means the information may not get through to begin with
People with ADD tend to be poor auditory learners, which is the way most teachers teach
Many people with ADD have poor executive functioning, which controls how information is processed and stored
ADD has an elusive side that can put you two steps behind where you were yesterday

That last point probably didn’t make much sense. Here’s what I mean: a person who doesn’t have ADHD can learn something on Monday and recall it on Tuesday (or any other day of the week).

A person with Attention Deficit Disorder can learn something on Monday, not remember it at all on Tuesday, and yet have a basic grasp of it later in the week. This is tied into the executive functioning process.

A person without ADHD learns about saltwater sea life and stores in it a “file cabinet” in their brain under science or sea life. That way, it’s easy to find when you need it.

A person with ADD, however, learns about saltwater sea life and one (or both) of two things might happen.

Saltwater sea life reminds them of their trip to Florida when they were 12 and their grandpa took them deep sea fishing. Maybe they even caught some of the sea life they’re learning about. But in this case, the information might get stored under vacations, childhood memories, or grandpa. Not so easy to find when you’re looking for information about saltwater sea life.

The other thing that could happen is that the executive functioning messes up the connections. It could take longer than usual to store the information in long term storage, or it may file it in a completely random spot, like math. Now you have a problem retrieving what you’ve learned on a reliable basis.

If you add in the pressures of taking a test and trying to retrieve this information, it becomes easier to see why thngs they knew the night before have suddenly disappeared.

If this elusive side of ADD affects your child, it probably always will to some extent. Repetition is the best way to deal with it; giving the brain more and more chances to store the information properly.

You might also teach them to be alert to connections they make in their mind when they are learning something. There’s nothing wrong with storing saltwater sea life under grandpa as long as you know that’s where it is.

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The Value of Pets

My daughter’s cat passed away early this morning in his sleep. He hadn’t been sick, so although it was a shock, it was a good way to go.

Even though she is almost 21, my daughter was understandably upset. After all, Leonard had been with her since she was 5 years old.

I think pets can be a valuable part of childhood, and I think that’s especially true for kids with Attention Deficit Disorder.

For my daughter, Leonard was a loving companion who never judged her. He loved her unconditionally. He never cared if her room was a mess, if she got poor grades, or forgot to turn in her homework. He loved her for who she is, and he was never disappointed in her.

As much as we love our children, we still have to administer discipline and punishment at times. Even if you don’t intend it, your kids are going to feel some times as though they have let you down. And chances are, they’ll be right. We’re all human and we all make mistakes.

Pets can fill that need for uncondtional love that we may not completely meet. Sure, we love our kids unconditionally and would do anything for them, but I’m not sure they always know (or feel) that.

Kids with ADD have egos that get beat up a little bit more than most. They’re a little more fragile, though they don’t want anyone to know. Pets can dote on them, and love them, and expect little in return.

To be honest, I was never much of a cat person. Leonard was a good cat, but I can’t say that his passing has affected me in the way that it has my daughter. Still, I will forever be grateful for his existence and the way he loved my almost grown up little girl.

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The Paradox of ADD

You will be glad to know (at least I was) that I heard back from the dad giving away products in exchange for a donation to the Autism charity. It turns out that I was right and that the links were broken (although they are fixed now). Yay for me.

This brings up something that I bet you’re unaware of, unless you have Attention Deficit Disorder.

People with ADHD are infamous for not paying attention. That’s why they call it Attention Deficit. Duh.

The paradox of ADD, though, is that we aren’t paying attention to one thing - we’re paying attention to many things. We missed 5 minutes of the teacher’s lecture because we were paying attention to 20 other things instead.

Your child may not be able to tell you what tomorrow’s math homework is, but they might be able to tell you who was cheating on their test, or copying someone else’s work, or who was passing notes or sleeping during class. They might even be able to tell you about the person that got pulled over outside the school.

If you go to Thom Hartmann’s website and read his theory of hunters and farmers, it will make much more sense.

Imagine yourself in the jungles of Africa hunting lions. Who would you want with you? The person who got all A’s in school but can only concentrate on one thing at a time, or the one who didn’t do as well in school but notices everything going on around him?

That’s what I thought. Go thank your kid for saving you from being lion lunch.

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