Do you ever forget really obvious things EVERYBODY knows and shouldn't even have to think about?
For example what side of the road we drive on, right of left, what way the turn the key to lock or unlock? Anything thats everyday second nature knowledge..

I forget these things on a regular basis and I've had some wierd reactions to it.. is this normal for ADD?

I do as well,wheresmykeys,can forget the most simplest of things,thought it was related to ADHD-at least the memory part? :confused:

Left and right are a BIG problem for me when i am driving.
I forget how old I am .... whether or not I locked the door or my car.
I forget what I just said 9 out of 10 times.

The list could go ON and ON .................

Alas, I too forget some simple things...right and left are big ones....my age (I always seem to go up one year), I forget what I have done or not done lots of times....turning things off (or on), calling someone back, telling people things (I tend to repeat myself a lot).

Once I learned I had ADD, I've tried to be more accepting of that. I just laugh it off, and do what I have to do (like double check things, or ask people to stop me if I've told them before).

Also....I've tried to set up 'routines' so that I always do things in a certain order, and if I follow the 'routine', I know that I've done what needs to be done. For example, in the morning I always, in the same order:

let the dogs out
feed the cats
turn the coffee on
feed the dogs
take a shower (and wash in the same order!)
get my coffee
do my makeup
do my hair
get dressed
brush my teeth
put on watch, earrings etc.
give the dogs a bone
leave the house

I used to do the morning routine unconsciously....I didn't know about the ADD, I just knew that it worked for me. Maybe it was compulsive, maybe it was something else, but my roommates in college used to laugh at me, and make jokes about NEVER interrupting my routine...because it would throw me off for the whole day!

Wow! Some of the things you mention (like which side of the road to drive on) should be procedural memories once you've had a couple of years' experience.

Procedural memory involves very different mechanisms and I've never heard of it being implicated in ADD, but I'm still learning about ADD.

Even those who have damage that eliminates there ability to learn new "facts" or remember events (anterograde amnesia) can learn new procedures with enough repetition.

Yes it is procedural memory. I forget what side of the road to drive on all the time, like when Im turning out of a side street..its quite scary not knowing if you're going to be going the right way. Anyways, how I deal with it is I stop thinking about it and then my second nature to go the right way kicks in and I do it without realizing it. If it wasnt for that I'd have to sit there wondering for a few minitues before I moved.

Yeah, there are a million more examples of things I forget, not just procedural.

I NEVER know what I've just said, or what anyone else has just said. Im asked all the time "what did you just say?" and I dont remember at all. My best friends most used words are probably "I know, you told me 3 times already" ...the list goes on.

I have heard this related to ADD, I was just wondering if there were any personal stories out there. Its funny really, if you can see the humor in it.

how I deal with it is I stop thinking about it and then my second nature to go the right way kicks in and I do it without realizing it.
I think that might explain it. If you're consciously trying to pay attention, it doesn't become procedural anymore. Have you ever tried to show a child how to tie thier shoe? It's a pain trying to figure out what all the steps are!

I haven't had those kinds of problems, though (driving on the wrong side of the road). Scary!


I NEVER know what I've just said, or what anyone else has just said. Im asked all the time "what did you just say?" and I dont remember at all. My best friends most used words are probably "I know, you told me 3 times already" ...the list goes on. I have heard this related to ADD, I was just wondering if there were any personal stories out there. Its funny really, if you can see the humor in it.
YEP. You know the teacher in Charlie Brown? The one that sounds like "blah, blah, blah"?

And my dad is famous for asking a question, then asking it again 15 minutes later because he didn't "hear" the answer.

I used to think my husband had a serious memory problem. Now I know it's me. Argh.

I remember a few times where my memory just went blank ,I mean like standing at starbucks and going to order my favorite drink and then my mind would just go blank ,I could still talk but for the life of me I could'nt say the name of the drink ,this scared me and I attributed it to stress . I havent had any similer mem losses like that in a while although what I consider normal for me is to be telling some story and forget an important name -I just go on because I know it will come to me in a minute

When I was a kid and someone said "to your left!" I would have to stop, imagine myself sitting down at a table eating, and then I would make the motion of moving up the hand the fork would be in, thus knowing that was my right hand, concluding that my left hand was the other one. To this day sometimes I still do that to, only much faster.

Something else is analog clocks, even the ones with numbers. There is an analog clock with numbers in my ktchen and when I have to calculate what time it will be 20 minutes from now I will kind of squint my eyes, look at the clock and hop with my fingers from number to number 4 times so I know what position the hands will be in then, in that position I look like the "I crush you! I crush you!" guy from the 90's tv show the Kids in the Hall.

yes I forget those sorts of things all the time!!

Lost,

:eek: OMG, and some people think this isn't debilitating!

Forgetting really obvious things.
Just part of an average day for me. LOL
Most things having to do with numbers I forget the most.
Like filling paper work out at the Doctors I couldn't remember my zip code.
Or just recently I couldn't remember how to turn the High Beams on in the car.

OMG dont even get me started on analog clocks! AHHHHHHHHHHH! The only thing I use those for is on the hour and the half hours..otherwise I use my digital. I know I have to be at work when the big hand points down, or it points up... I cant read them otherwise. What would we do without digital? And then theres that 24hr time...I have figured it out SO many times but what does 14:00 mean?!?!?!?!

Hah similar to forgetting zip codes, Ive forgotten my name before! Ive told people I am someone else, and called other people by my own name. Its really embarassing when you yell to your own name across the entire store you work in with all your coworkers around...how do you explain "I forgot my name"? And my age, i forget that regularily. Im worried about when I'm older and there are so many years past Im sure I will NEVER get my age right.

OMG dont even get me started on analog clocks! AHHHHHHHHHHH! The only thing I use those for is on the hour and the half hours..otherwise I use my digital....I have figured it out SO many times but what does 14:00 mean?!?!?!?!
I'm the opposite of all of you guys -- digital confuses me. The clock face breaks down easily into parts for me. 14:00 = 2pm. Navy Brat.

Well, if these really are all ADD traits, then I definitely no longer have doubts (I was recently diagnosed).

Here are some of my daily occurrences:

- When I leave the house in the morning and lock the door, I walk about 10 feet then turn right around and go back to re-lock the door because I can't remember if I locked it.

- When I call someone on the phone, after one or two rings, I'll forget who I'm calling - thank goodness my phone displays the number I dialed!

- I usually forget the question I was asked that I'm trying to answer.

- I can't find my keys everyday.

- I forget what else I wanted to share with you. Oh well!

Are these ADD? Inattentive I guess?

Well, I'm the inattentive type.
I forget like that all the time, I double check a lot, that's how I cope.
Don't depend on me to take phone messages, no sirree!

But I remember a T-shirt I saw a kid wearing (when I was a kid, many moons ago) in the elementary school cafeteria, It said on it; 'I'm so broke I cant even pay attention!' That was a funny shirt!
I have an amazing long term memory, I can put myself back in time to certain moments in my childhood, like I was there, but I often forget what TV show I'm watching when a commercial comes on, and I struggle to remember!
But of course, long and short term memories are separate in the brain, but short term memories can cross over (the ones that make it :eek: ) and become cemented in.

Well, if these really are all ADD traits, then I definitely no longer have doubts (I was recently diagnosed).
uh....um.... Oh, yeah! Doubt no more, friend!

Ha yea I've had whole conversations then less than 5 minutes later not remember what I talked about. I often forget how to spell ridiculous things too... like four and five letter everyday words.

Ha yea I've had whole conversations then less than 5 minutes later not remember what I talked about. I often forget how to spell ridiculous things too... like four and five letter everyday words. The word issue!

If I scrutinize certain simple words, they appeared misspelled to me. I think I can generalize about this; its worse with simple words that have phonetic equivalents, there, their, which, witch.

As if my brain combines the equivalent words, so they all appear misspelled.