I never thought of this question before. But some people are great at memorization but bad at math or great at visual skills but bad at reading. I'm good at recognizing visual patterns such as busy wall paper tiled floors etc. I can find a pattern in a manufactured wood grain door or fake marble counter top. It's like my eyes are hypersensitive to the world around me. I'm learning how to extend this to my sense of touch. Learning ceramics has become a wonderful preoccupation but I cannot start again until the 27 of June. It's great to feel like I can use my ADD for something productive. So how have you compensated for your inattentive hypersensitive personality? What are you talented at? Have you found it yet?

Good question! I have very good visual skills- if I read it or see I can remember it. I think this area is so strong because my auditory skills are so awful! I love to read and do it constantly. I also like to paint. I am teaching myself how to do portraits right now.

I can pick out constellations and other things in the sky faster than most people due to my constant awareness of my environment. Its good for driving too, I always see the person in the road before anyone else.

Years ago, I had started seeing a counselor at Vocational Rehabilitation to help me narrow my focus on a career direction. He had me tested by a psychologist. One of the tests was called "picture arranging". He had a deck of cards with these cartoon pictures on it, and a stop watch. He spread the cards out on the table. He said to arrange them in a logical sequence and he started the stop watch. I looked at all these cards. I immediately saw the story and arranged them in sequence. He was a little surprised, so he got another deck out of his psychologist bag of tricks. Again, I instantly saw the story.

When we were going over the results of my tests, I was above average here, below average there, but on that picture arranging test, I was almost off the chart. It wasn't part of my official diagnosis, but I'm sure they were thinking "idiot savant".

Years ago, I had started seeing a counselor at Vocational Rehabilitation to help me narrow my focus on a career direction. He had me tested by a psychologist. One of the tests was called "picture arranging". He had a deck of cards with these cartoon pictures on it, and a stop watch. He spread the cards out on the table. He said to arrange them in a logical sequence and he started the stop watch. I looked at all these cards. I immediately saw the story and arranged them in sequence. He was a little surprised, so he got another deck out of his psychologist bag of tricks. Again, I instantly saw the story.

When we were going over the results of my tests, I was above average here, below average there, but on that picture arranging test, I was almost off the chart. It wasn't part of my official diagnosis, but I'm sure they were thinking "idiot savant".
That's great that you could do it so quickly. I've never seen cards like this but I'd probably try arranging them according to color theory or something. It's interesting that you could interpret a story so well from just images. Have you noticed anything now that you are good at that is similar to this? I wish I could apply my ability to finding visual patterns to math better but maybe it's a good thing that I can't. I guess I've never really tried it.

That's great that you could do it so quickly. I've never seen cards like this but I'd probably try arranging them according to color theory or something. It's interesting that you could interpret a story so well from just images. Have you noticed anything now that you are good at that is similar to this? I wish I could apply my ability to finding visual patterns to math better but maybe it's a good thing that I can't. I guess I've never really tried it.

Actually, years later when I was goofing around with a video camera, I had quite a thrill with video editing. That's when I explored the possibilty of film school, that never materialized (end of story). I do, however, see some kind of connection with that skill and my interest in sculpture. Maybe it has something to do with the evolution of form, or how each part relates and is connected to the whole. Interesting question. Thanks for asking.

Possibly a good book for finding visual patterns in Math is a book called "The Art of Mathmatics" by Jerry P. King. It's hard to believe, but math doesn't have to be dry. It can be highly creative, so they say. It's all too much for me.

Actually, years later when I was goofing around with a video camera, I had quite a thrill with video editing. That's when I explored the possibilty of film school, that never materialized (end of story). I do, however, see some kind of connection with that skill and my interest in sculpture. Maybe it has something to do with the evolution of form, or how each part relates and is connected to the whole. Interesting question. Thanks for asking.

Possibly a good book for finding visual patterns in Math is a book called "The Art of Mathmatics" by Jerry P. King. It's hard to believe, but math doesn't have to be dry. It can be highly creative, so they say. It's all too much for me.
I just got into ceramics. I have the same interest in "evolution of form" as you put it. It has been especially interesting working in three dimensions as I am used to 2-D work. I feel like as my art is evolving I am also evolving as a person. Sometimes they have film festivals in the town where I live just for short art films and what not. I haven't looked into it much but I think it's open to anyone. I haven't explored much photography but I always wish I had a camera with me when I'm out and about. I like to show movement in my art through line and form. Have you ever looked at the Nataraja sculptures? I'll have to check out that book, thanks for the tip.

I can pick out constellations and other things in the sky faster than most people due to my constant awareness of my environment. Its good for driving too, I always see the person in the road before anyone else.
haha...i still have a hard time picking out constellations though...:p

but yea me too...i'm always aware of the environment...generally i'm more aware of things that will go wrong...i can't come up with a specific example...but like i notice an object would fall to ground...but other ppl don't....and usually i don't say anything...until that object falls...and i have to act surprised and shocked...but in reality i already know i'd happen...

i guess i learn to say nothing...

i'm really really gd at direction...even without maps i can get to places by my instinct...but especially guy friends they tend to think they know direction better than women...so most of the time i already noticed how to get there...even both of us have never been to that place before...and i don't say anything either...if the guy thinks he's so smart...fine...go for it...

yeah yeah...it's gd to have ADD...avoiding danger and that's why we have survived...survival of the fittest

I see patterns everywhere. It bothers me when people put things down without arranging them in a pleasing manner. Weird, eh?

When I was tested for ADD, my spatial IQ was the highest. Part of the test was these unmarked shaped puzzles in ascending order of difficulty. I liked that test. Just spin the pieces around and... tada! There it is. I did each puzzle in seconds.
Fortunately for me, my job is spatial. I am a canvas fabricator. So, I make large three dimentional objects from a two dimentional medium.

Spelling and language comprehension is another strong point with me. Not perfect...(looks quickly for errors);) but I enjoy language very much. It has flavour and texture. Words have gradiations of meaning for me. I haven't figured out how to use this interest except for my own pleasure.

Possibly a good book for finding visual patterns in Math is a book called "The Art of Mathmatics" by Jerry P. King. It's hard to believe, but math doesn't have to be dry. It can be highly creative, so they say. It's all too much for me.[/QUOTE]
For whatever its worth I homeschooled my kids for several years. Math is my weakest subject. I really dreaded teaching it - even at the elementary level, until I found a curriculum called Math U See. It was wonderful! It had very concrete, visual methods of teaching math concepts. I think I would not of had as much trouble with math if I had learned it this way.

The Art of Mathmatics sounds like something that would be useful for me to read but I don't know if I could really get into a book about math now when I don't have to. :D

I never thought of this question before. But some people are great at memorization but bad at math or great at visual skills but bad at reading. I'm good at recognizing visual patterns such as busy wall paper tiled floors etc. I can find a pattern in a manufactured wood grain door or fake marble counter top. It's like my eyes are hypersensitive to the world around me. I'm learning how to extend this to my sense of touch. Learning ceramics has become a wonderful preoccupation but I cannot start again until the 27 of June. It's great to feel like I can use my ADD for something productive. So how have you compensated for your inattentive hypersensitive personality? What are you talented at? Have you found it yet?
Holy crap...you completely described how I see the world. I draw (not as much as I used to....stupid work! :mad: ) and will hyperfocus when doing so. I put my head phones on and crank the tunes to drown out the thoughts flying around in my head. I go into so much detail it completely freaks people out. They can't wrap their head around how I do what I do...now I know why, their minds don't work the way mine does. Hmmmm...this is like a huge "Whoa" moment and realization for me. I would just tell people, I draw what I see...and now I think I finally figured out how I can.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-7/260469/P2210001.jpg

No....I'm not hyper sensitive to what I see. I'll even go as far as to say thanks to the fact I probably am ADD because I wouldn't be able to draw stuff like this. :)

I am very strong at creative problem solving and at thinking though higher level strategy issues. I simply cannot focus on details because my mind wonders SO much, but ADD can be a wonderful trait to have when creative problem solving is needed. I was very lucky early in my career when I was given an opportunity to work in the strategic planning department of a fortune 50 company. I got to spend a lot of time thinking of cool creative stuff without having to do any routine work. I have developed the ability to see things that minds "trapped" in the orderly and detailed world simply cannot.

I automate boring tasks using my programming skills at work. I can extract information from schematics based on patterns to provide reports, tasks that would ordinarily be done manually. I have indexed textual information in schematics in order to make finding information easier. I can show relationships between information, and even detect logical errors without even having to look at the schematics. My ideas are often met with harsh criticism (from the "apply-what-you-know" department), however, the expressed dependency others have shown tells the true story.

I sometimes use the fact that I make the weirdest connections between things to memorize details that don't mean anything to me.

I can relate a reaction to a piece of music to the interactions of a catalyst and a substrate at a molecular level. The substrate per se doesn't fit into the active site of the enzyme, but its unstable transitional form at a slightly higher energy "unfavourable" level does. Therefore, an enzyme, or music can only act only catalyze a reaction under certain circumstances. My original theory was slightly more eloquent, since it referred to a certain album and I was writing to someone who both knows me and had heard the album. And yes, it was before a Biochem exam. Talk about strange metaphors!:D

Im good at memorization and visual skills, but math is a
major weakness for me.

Another foreman once told me how he hated when he forgot something in the blue prints and had to go through hell to install it later after the other trades had come through and asked me if I did the same .I replied that since I was always making so many mistakes and forgeting all the time that I was constantly going back and double checking myself to be sure that did'nt happen and as a result I caught 98% of my mistakes before anyone else noticed .He looked at me and he knew I was different.

wow - rotweilermom, did you DRAW that dog?


I have always compensated for stuff by finding creative ways around things (ex: tests where I didn't study, design problems with tough boundary conditions)

creativity is especially helpful when I'm speaking German and don't know a word... most people here think I'm a lot better at it than I really am, simply becuase i can almost always find a way around my small vocabulary.

As for directions, I am TERRIBLE! But it's because I can't remember where i've been and can't take notice of the way unless i'm the one with the map and have to find it myself. (if someone else is with me, forget it!)

william tell - i do that with my work too! I make SOOO many mistakes that I double and triple check everything - and so in the end my work is cleaner than almost anybody elses. BUT, it's definately not because I make less mistakes... just that I don't want to admit all my mistakes to everyone ;)

I have a nearly photographic memory--this is why I got thru elementary, middle and high school with all A's. I graduated high school 2nd in my class, valedictorian...My crutch worked well enough, I'd say! High school requires no real analysis...just regurgitation of information.

You can imagine my shock when I arrived at college and it took me 4 hours to complete an online quiz that took other people 10 minutes. I subsequently got on Subject to Dismissal after two quarters of failing. I've managed to rack up an impressive 11 F's in my 6-year college career, and have landed myself on Academic Probation again!

It's so sad that the adaptations I developed to get around my deficit prevented me from getting help a long time ago...I had to go through 5 years of college, about 8 therapists, and unbelievable amounts of stress before someone recognized that I might have ADD.

In the satisfaction of knowing that my mind has gone into places, that no one has gone before !! :)
In owning creative insight and intuitive skills, acquired on my ADHD Visa, thank you !!
Nova

Heres something weird that happend to me tonight... Like you all know by now my g/f is like super dooper smart! Well we where watching this movie... and about mid way threw... a character said a few words, and for some reason my g/f didn't pick them out...but I was like I know who the killer is now! and she was like yea I know it's the girl... I was like no you are wrong... well at the end of the movie I was right... Then I explained to her how i knew i was right... she was like how the hell ? lol... See I can pick things out, if you say something that doesn't sound right like.... I are not going to get some food tonight... I'll pick out the words and correct you everytime... In most movies I already know what is gonna happend before hand.... I find myself finishing peoples sentenses before they finish... I know what people are thinking/going to say before they say it... It's completely weird.. I'm still trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with me lol... I'll figure it out! SOMEDAY :)

Maybe I'm just in a down mood and looking at the not-so bright-side of things but to me Attention Deficit has always been a curse,at school......you the story (I think all of my report cards for my first six years included the phrase "needs to apply himself").At work I can't take directions from a higher up if they take longer than it takes for me to be distracted (sometimes seconds) I have to read most things more than once to make them stick to my brain.I feel like I'm looked upon as less than competent because these things affect my "job performance" and I know I'm smarter than most of these people I work with. Also the ever present threat of saying something that can come back and bite me in my "backside". I'm sorry I don't see this problem as some kind of gift.From where I sit the glass is definetly half empty and leaking. Thanks,hopefully my next post will be from a better mood.

ADD is a gift, and a curse I must admit... The gift part side of it is that, guess what ! you will always see the world differently than anyone else... But the bad part is, that this society we live in doesn't appresate it... I like to think of ADD as this... If you do something your passionate about... I swear to you, you will be better than anyone else in the world... It's like me with history... I can sit here and watch the history channel and soak up everything :) my advice is for you to start doing something your passionate about and go for it in life... Thanks to all of you, I no longer care about my IQ and trying to be better than everyone else... All I care about now is living my life for my kids and having one hell of a time doing it! :)

Hey justcharlie !
Look around, you, on here :) Maybe you haven't had a chance to read some of our posts, yet...but we're all the same, sweetie...all lacking 'brakes' in most aspects, in our lives..but it never stops any of us, from going 80 mph, without them...does it??
At least your in your native country, on here, and you don't have to learn the language...
We're all gifted..
Nova