I thought that I would start a new thread on from an idea that I got from the thread http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2219

I think some on this board were jumping to the wrong conclusion about my view of AD/HD. I do consider AD/HD to be a difference in the brain opposed to a defective brain.

Is AD/HD a disbilty or a disorder?

I think that yes it can be. If our brains are set up to work differently than the majority of those around us then yes it can be a disorder or disabilty. If the way our brains work prevent us or make it very challenging for us to accomplish things then yes it's a disorder.

I guess I think of AD/HD as a disorder which is based on a difference instead of a disorder which is based on a defect.


If you take a person out of a 3rd world country and put him or her in the United States he or she will have a lot of trouble. He or she will not understand the language and many other customs. I would imagine that this person would be under great distress.

So this person too would have a disorder of disablity that is based in difference. This person will still face many problems and issues. Yet is or her brain isn't "damaged" it just works differently.

During th emaking of the movie "edward Scissor hands" the actor, Depp, was in makeup for very long periods of time.

Eventually he got so good at doing things with his "scissor hands on" that when it came to filming some segments he had to play like he couldn't do things he actually had become quiet unexpectedly good at doing, inspite of the challenge of those unfamiliar appendages. Well, they had become familiiar, and he had addapted himself to their existance and use.

i beleive that the ADHD also adapt to doing things, sometimes very well, inspite of the peculiarites of the ADHD mind.

Setting and task do matter. Haveing different brain connections, more direct, less direct, what ever, can be a meire difference.

I would like to explore, however, what might be discernable about one difference vs another, where we might more broadly agree that a certain difference was apropriately called a difference and another difference might appropriately be called a defect.

Any takers?

Years ago lefted handed people were thought to be defective too. And when left handed people are given all right handed tools being left handed can be considered a disorder. But, when left handed people use left handed tools they do ok..

The structure of a left handed brain is different s well, less tree branch strucure and more bushy structure. It leads to and spports differnt strengths and vulnerablities in processing information.

In fact, as a progression , that aspect of brain stuture runs

rght handed male (most ree structured)
left handed male
right handed female
left handed female

a difference not a defect.... I'll take that one as such.

Originally posted by livingwithadd
I thought that I would start a new thread on from an idea that I got from the thread http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2219

I think some on this board were jumping to the wrong conclusion about my view of AD/HD. I do consider AD/HD to be a difference in the brain opposed to a defective brain.

Is AD/HD a disbilty or a disorder?

I guess I think of AD/HD as a disorder which is based on a difference instead of a disorder which is based on a defect.



When others describe reading false negatives and false positives, how can that be anything but a defect?

Respectfully, david

http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17661#post17661

pasted for convenience:
My problems interpreting social cues result mainly from inattention.

Wrong word! diction allert! Over focused single attention in a situation requireing multiple attention!

I sometimes see social queues but don't realize their significance until later because I wasn't thinking about body language. Or, I was thinking about body language but failed to consider tone of voice. Or, I considered tone of voice but the thought zipped through my head at 90mph as I debated the relative merits of sarcasm as a form of humor.

Much to the oppositon of those who claim ADHDers "do more than one thing at once, just because they START more than one thing at once, ADHDers demonstrate an INABILITY to consider more than one axis at once, whereas "other people" seem to parallel process along many multiple consideration axises at once!

I do tend to read false negatives more often than I see false positives.

But this is mainly because I fear the consequences of befriending someone who obviously hates me (and thereby opening myself to abuse) more than I'm excited by the possibility of making a new friend.

I do however, often read false positives.

I've been accused of 'stalking' because I persued a woman who I thought liked me.