I have ADD

[pyromanic13]

I can't pay attention in school unless I'm actually interested. the exception being, if I repeat what the teachers are saying in my head...word for word

someone explain the speed test to me?

[hi]

it sounds like you simply dont care about what you hear. i think that people with ADD are simply people who only hear what they want to hear. its called "selective hearing". you said it yourself, you only pay attention when you want to. if thats the truth, then everbody in the world is ADD. im only saying this because my friend is ADD and he is perfectly normal and pays perfect attention... when he wants to.

[SpudMonster]

Not bad for me.

[schmanman]

Is this fast?

Holy sh*t thats fast!!!! But, I thought you lived in New Zealand...?
Why does it say Chicago? I think you're cheating...

nope, not in new zealand. I'm in michigan, and that was the closest server.

[chaos]

Australian broadband is sooooooo f*cking gay, our government would rather invest it on some other stupid idea

[BC Pneumatics]

Jesus christ. Not every fuckin' kid that doesn't wanna pay attention in school has ADD. Parents seem to be brainwashed into thinking their kid need's some pills becasue he is sick rather than accepting that some people just don't listen.

[cash68]

Or that the current school system/curriculum is boring and repetitive, and doesn't reward any creative thinking.

[th3p0p0]

not all of us are medicated. for the fact that we "curve" or ADD with change of are diet and life styles thats what i did for nine years of my life. now this sucked ass and then sum but it worked better than pills.

[Freefall]

Much of my life I've been listening to people say that ADD is bulls**t. I speak from experience that it is most certainly NOT bulls**t. It is Not laziness. It is Not selective hearing. It is Not just an excuse for poor performance, though it is often used inappropriately as such.

Imagine living in a world where every little thing around you is constantly and actively vying for your attention. For those of us with ADD, what would normally become just background noise to most people, is a full-time distraction for us.

For example, as I sit in a class or meeting actively trying to pay attention to the presentation, I am distracted by the leaves rustling outside. By the footsteps of people walking in the hall. By the ticking of the clock. By the kid two desks up tapping his eraser on the desk. By the buzz of the lights. By the thrumm of the airconditioner. By people opening and closing doors to other rooms. By the guy behind me mumbling to himself as he takes notes. By the girl chewing gum.

Every single one of these things and many more would normally just be random noise to a "normal" person. To me, every one of them demands a small portion of my attention, and that takes away from the attention that I'm trying to pay to the presentation.

Someone else also mentioned the tendency to hyperfocus on a task. This is also a trait I notice in myself and others I know with ADD. The detail is that these tasks which seem to be subject to hyperfocus are those with lots of instant gratification or instant repurcussion. More examples: I can sit for an entire day putting together a scale model, because I see little bits of progress along the way. I find that when I sit down to hammer out a computer program, I completely lose track of time, because I get that little bit of instant gratification every time I compile and see a new function running correctly. Even menial tasks such as mowing the lawn are easy to finish without distraction, as I can see my progress with every step.
Math and science homework was always fun for me, as I got results in little packets.
English papers and history reports were always difficult for me, as there was no instant gratification, no set of little steps to show that I was making significant progress. That's why I mentioned the schedule in my earlier post. Breaking up a long task into manageable, well defined steps made it much easier for me to concentrate on each step.

Just like you can't describe color to a blind person, you can't adequately describe to a "normal" person what it's like to be unable to filter out distraction.

[SleekZ]

Australian broadband is sooooooo f*cking gay, our government would rather invest it on some other stupid idea

yeah you're not wrong there! Here in Adelaide they're spending like 100s of millions on this stupid new tram thing, which nobody wants, or needs; all it will do is increase the noise in the city and cause congestion!
It's an absolute joke, and always was!
My broadband runs at a pathetic speed, (telstra) god they give me the shits. Who are you with chaos?

And about ADD, are there different "levels" of it, because I went to primary school with this guy who had it, who could barely read, always started fights, which he'd lose, and was generally just a nutcase with no form of intelligence; even in things that interested him.
I'm asking this because all of you who say you have it seem to be very articulate and intelligent, the other end of the scale to the guy I know.

[th3p0p0]

thank you freefall that was very well said. and i get that allot im lazy or i just don't care but i DO! :cussing: it makes me so mad to hear that. how long have you known that you wear ADD? if thats ok i ask

[Freefall]

SleekZ, you say:

all of you who say you have it seem to be very articulate and intelligent

There's a reason for that. As I mentioned, our filters are screwed up. Due to that, we notice everything. If we've got enough raw IQ, we manage to pick up enough of what's important to slip through the system as normal. If we don't have enough raw IQ, we're labeled early as having some form of learning disability. Only later does ADD become more of a hinderance than a benefit, as coursework becomes more difficult, requiring more of our focused attention.

I was diagnosed in 6th grade. Until then, I was always considered hyper, my report cards always had a note saying "does not pay attention in class" or "Not performing up to potential", yet my grades were good. I was that kid who appeared to be daydreaming or otherwise occupied, but would deliver the right answer when called on, even if I did have to ask for the question to be repeated.

I was put on ritalin (this was back when ritalin was fairly new, and proper doses hadn't quite been established) at a dose of 15 mg six times a day. Basically, I was stoned into submission. After about a month I became so physically dependent that I needed a booster dose at around 2 AM, or I'd get excruciating withdrawal headaches. About this point, I decided that I wouldn't take it anymore, and focused hard on other methods of treatment.

I learned of the Feingold program, which postulated that ADD is often aggrivated by chemical allergies which effect whatever part of the brain acts as the sensory input filter. I try to avoid any artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, as well as natural salicylates (aspirin, apples, tomatoes, most citrus). I can tolerate the salicylate foods reasonably well, but I notice a huge impact with any artificial preservatives, especially BHA, BHT and TBHQ. By eliminating these chemicals from my diet, my symptoms were greatly reduced, but not eliminated.

One point that I neglected to make earlier was the strong effect that ADD has on effective short-term memory. In order to assimilate whatever is stored in short-term memory, you need to keep that memory current for sufficient time. With so many distractions vying for attention, short-term memory is often flushed out with new info before the old info can be retained.

Through diligent use of my dayplanner, I was able to partially compensate for the remaining effects of the ADD.

I did take advantage of alternate test-taking programs that would remove me from the distractions of the classroom environment, but as a matter of personal ethics, I refused to allow myself additional time.

If you use ADD as an excuse for preferential treatment while you're in school, but do not actively try to overcome the symptoms, you will very quickly fall behind when you get out into the real world.[/i]

[spanerman]

very well put, i was diagnosed with ADD at the age of 11 and dyslexya at 13. it has nothing to do with intelligence i have an IQ of 145.....and freefals first post summs it up.....i can spend hours(if not days) on a task as long as i see gradual gatification....im a grade 6 guitar player..when i learn a new lick its instant gratification, but sitting in a class for a year to only get ewarded at the end is like hell, except physics which, when i grasp a concept makes me feel great! and i also realy get along with my tutor which helps.

IMO anyone who uses thyre disorders as an excuse to underachive isnt goin to get anywhere in life....end of.....


speaking of physics......i realy should do my assignments...

[cash68]

For having an IQ of 145, you sure confuse their/they're a lot, and in general have atrocious spelling. What gives? My IQ is about 145 also, so I'm curious as to why your spelling/writing is so bad, yet mine isn't. Really also has two L's.

Oh, nevermind. Dsylexic. Huh. Now..... I know ADD is real, but that I'm not so sure about. English wasn't easy for me, it required a lot of work. How hard do you honestly work at it?

[)DEMON(]

lol, i think i have minor ADD, but i suspect i just am really distractable. and i hate schoolwork, so ill do anything instead of it.

HEAR HEAR!!!

Like in English all I do is sit and pic the latex like paint off the school desk, I would do that all day if I could and my freind would sit there and watch me do it all day if he could

I get 80's for english anyway, no big deal. We have a really dumb teacher.