It's quite a long explanation of a problem. For now I'll start with some background information and hopefully move on from there!

I'm in my senior year of high school. I haven't been held back a grade yet or had realized that I may have ADD until recently. We have an appointment scheduled for sometime next year (or sooner) that will determine if I have it or not with someone who's an expert in this field.

I had complained to my dad about having problems extremely similar to ADD symptoms before I began to fail a few honor (pre-AP) classes and we thought we would go and see someone that would be able to help us. My dad, being a caring person and looking out for me, told me that he would try to get some help but I should listen to what he was saying first. My dad seemed very skeptical about what I was explaining to him and he said it was normal, although it didn't seem normal to me. I began looking up the symptoms that I were having and eventually they led to me this, ADD. Not ADHD which I had confused with ADD but just ADD. It seemed a lot of my symptoms matched symptoms listed for ADD and the list of matching symptoms began to grew more and more as I began to find out more about it. But being my skeptical and somewhat more prideful self, I began to look at more various sources. I started with Wikipedia, then I looked at Texas Children Hospital's site, then a few more like About.com. It was pretty much listed there, and I became a bit disturbed. I had talks with my dad and some other trusting people, like my grade level counselor.

Now the big problem is between my dad and I. He's definitely been an understanding and good guy but he said we needed to talk about this. We haven't yet but he has been saying that I should know what I'm getting myself into. He keeps on saying that this is actually normal for me to go through this kind of thing, however it still doesn't feel or seem very normal. Now he's kind of distrusting about people, I'm not sure exactly why, but he always says not to give into anything that my peers are saying. It's actually a bit weird because he keeps on telling me this and I keep on telling him the truth: that I haven't told any of my classmates and I doubt I will tell them as this is a sensitive matter. Now what really surprised is that before school, he gave a short little speech to me about these things:

- He said that I should really rethink about this and that it was actually normal because he had talked to two former students of his at Colorado School of Mines and basically to sum it up, he said these things were normal for them, especially because usually teenagers are not used to this kind of work during high school.

- If I were to be diagnosed with ADD, I would become limited in my career options, I wouldn't be able to join the military (not that I really plan to...), some good medical schools would reject me because I have ADD. Overall this is not a good future it would lead to.

- ADD would go on my medical records and it would look like a stain for those who would be my future employers, basically they don't want a person with ADD.

- ADD medicine is basically a drug that has the effect of 10x amount of caffiene in just a regular bottle of soda and people may percieve me as some kind of a drug addict if I use the drugs.

I must reiterate that my dad is a kind and caring father overall, which is why this was a bit of a shock when he told it to me. He justified it by saying that he had talked with those two college students after a meeting about my case and seen an article done by ABC news. Now, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and decided to see if I could find any information about this, either proving it and effectively citing it as evidence that he is right or disproving it and making my more doubtful self right. Now if this wasn't such a stingy issue for me, I probably would have been fine with leaving it alone and believing my dad but... when it's something that you might have to re-evaluate your whole life with... it's just bleh and I never really have trusted major news sources and things that I have to rely on wrod of mouth for. :\ It's something I'd like to get used to and cope with rather than continue to feel frustrated about. I'm really confused and if only I had and could find some information about the matters that he discussed shortly with me then I think I would feel less confused and more comfortable about what I want to say about this.

So if anyone would be kind as to post any information regarding this, I'd be much obliged and comforted.

If I were to be diagnosed with ADD, I would become limited in my career options, I wouldn't be able to join the military (not that I really plan to...), some good medical schools would reject me because I have ADD. Overall this is not a good future it would lead to.

Lack of diagnosis doesn’t mean lack of ADD. . . . .if the ADD traits are not impairing then you won’t qualify for a diagnosis. ADD is having traits at one end of a spectrum that cause functioning problems in two areas of your life . . . .being ADD isn’t the same as being a looser.

Diagnostic criteria on first two post. (http://www.addforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23276)

Some people who have ADD have joined the military as long as they are able to function without medications for six months prior. I do not know about medical school but having ADD certainly doesn’t prevent one from going into nursing school. Often times it is the need for medications that is the limiting factor not the ADD itself.

Schools do not have access to medical records without your permission. They can not refused to admit you because you have a disability. ADD does fall under the protection of the American with disabilities act.

If you want to work for the CIA as a special agent then yes you may look at disqualifiers. I see it like this being ADD and getting treatment won’t limit any more possibilities than being ADD remaining untreated and flunking classes.

As far as your Dad he sounds like a nice fellow but he may not know what is normal what isn’t, it would take a qualified medical professional to rule out any other possible causes and determine what is normal for your age and what isn’t. His information about ADD is of poor quality and full of offending stereotypes. . . .




ADD would go on my medical records and it would look like a stain for those who would be my future employers, basically they don't want a person with ADD.

I have had physicals for a few jobs but not one employer has ever wanted to view my past medical records. Accessing medical records isn’t possible without your permission once you are over 18, your parents permission while you are under 18.

ADD isn’t a stain on our perfection, being human is. ADD is considered a neurobiological condition (http://www.addforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=170680&postcount=1) by the medical profession.



ADD medicine is basically a drug that has the effect of 10x amount of caffeine in just a regular bottle of soda and people may perceive me as some kind of a drug addict if I use the drugs.

Some ADD medication are CNS stimulants not all are, the CNS stimulants are not chemically the exact same as caffeine. You haven’t even been diagnosed I think worrying about medications is a little premature.

A couple of things to consider first . . . . .

#1 Just because I have ADD and take meds doesn’t mean every one I know has to be notified. I do not even have to tell my employer unless I need special accommodations.

#2 The thing you have to decide What is more important finding if you have a condition such as ADD or what other people think if you do.





when it's something that you might have to re-evaluate your whole life with... it's just bleh and I never really have trusted major news sources and things that I have to rely on word of mouth for. :\ It's something I'd like to get used to and cope with rather than continue to feel frustrated about.

You are exactly right in the above, you sound really smart and have a lot on the ball. I wouldn’t rely on the news media, word of mouth or college students for health information either. If we could rely on them we would have no need for doctors. I would do as you said in the beginning of your post look for a medical professional that knows the difference between ADD and a wet wash cloth. I understand your Dad’s worry about doing any thing that may jeopardize your future as you sound like you have a lot of wonderful potential.


I hope some of the information I have provided helps.

Hi, Arylin. I understand your dad's concerns. There's a lot of sources I don't trust, too, and there is a lot of misinformation about ADD floating around. But as Mead said, being undiagnosed is not the same as not having ADD.

Two things I want to tell you from experience.

1) if you do have ADD causing significant difficulty at your age, and you do not treat it, what your employer/ school of choice thinks about ADD may never come into it, because the ADD itself will limit your performance and your choices. You can work around it and look perfectly normal for awhile if you're smart, but you'll waste a lot of energy that could be better spent getting better grades, learning more, being more effective. Voice of experience speaking here, and I was good at working around the ADD. I aced those honors classes. But eventually the ADD kept me from being able to grasp opportunities that should have been in my reach. (I didn't know about the ADD til much later.) Are you willing to take the chance of this being your life story? Don't want to scare you, but manohmanohman I wish I'd known about ADD at your age.

2) Treatment of choice may be stimulant meds, but there are other options. Non-stimulant meds. Just education about ADD and adjusting your thinking can make your road a lot easier. There's behavioral and cognitive therapy, or working with an ADD coach to focus and reach your goals, or working with a therapist to problem-solve specific effects of ADD on your life. There are some great books that give you lots of tools to work with ADD where conventional time and goal management techniques don't work.

And who knows... maybe you'll go to the doctor and it won't be ADD at all--it'll be anemia, or normal teenage stuff, or some slight learning disability. Point is you won't know until you go to a qualified doctor who won't shrug it off or diagnose you with the popular syndrome of the month. Sounds like you have an expert picked out, which is fantastic. You might want to call them and ask them about some of your dad's major concerns and see what they say. ADD has some discrimination protection in the US, and your discretion will come into it too. Look for threads on ADD and rights.

People with ADD go on to successful scholastic and professional lives, become doctors, raise kids... and that's the whole point of diagnosis and treatment. To put success within your reach. The more you can limit the negative effects of ADD on your life (oh, yeah, there's some positive ones, too!:) ) the less chance of losing opportunities due to discrimination or inconsistent performance. And if it turns out to be not ADD, but something else, the same is true--knowledge is the power to the most successful life possible.

All right, thanks for the info. :) It helped a lot. This will hopefully make him understand that this is a completely fine thing to have.

Sorry for any accidental offenses towards anyone, I didn't mean any although it was definitely hard typing out and conveying what my dad said to me, I spent quite a while trying to make sure that it sounded 100% like what he thought and not what I thought. :X