What do you view AD/HD as?


* A Gift

* A Difference

* A Disorder

http://thomhartmann.com/disorder_or_difference.shtml

Oh it is a gift. I am brighter, more sensitive and empathic because of this. My intellgence of somethings scales off the roof. Just imagine if I wasn't ADD. I would have to take over the world! :)

I now view this as a gift. I agree with Mystica as my strongest traits are empathy, intererst in others and an innate sensitivity to how others are feeling at the moment. My two sons with ADD share these traits. I think it is all part of the wiring of ADD.

Phil

I have taken over the world.. problem is, no one else knows it yet.. MUAHAHAHAHHAH! *cough* durn evil laughs.. always scratch my throat..

I might consider it a gift one day, but for now its a difference. Somedays a good one, somedays a bad one (depends on how my sons day is going).

If AD/HD is a gift the why do some of you who think it's a gift take medication for it?

For me personally, I think that some ADD traits that I exhibit are a gift (manage very well under pressure, able to manage multiple tasks, able to hyperfocus on complex problems) But I also think that many of the other ADD traits I exhibit are far from being "gift-like". For that reason, and to make my life more manageable and a little easier to live on a daily basis, I take medication.

I agree that AD/HD has both its postives and its negatives. So, I view it as a difference. I guess it just doesn't make sense to me that somebody who truley viewed it as gift would take medication.

Well some of you have heard me say that ADHD is a gift turned upside down. So therefore, that allows for medication. We take meds because others do not understand us and we have to adjust to what is considered the norm. We do not live in an ADHD society.

I view it as a gift because we think differently. And in the same song we learn to understand how the norm thinks. But the norm does not understand how we think..........hmmmmm is that one reason why we are more intelligent........??

I would have to say a gift...though I'm still getting used to it. All of these "weird" traits I have.....for the most part, I like. I have always felt more sensitive..too much so, sometimes, but sometimes I feel more priveledged than others....like I get to perceive and thus enjoy more things. I wonder if others see colors the way I do, or can relate to other's feelings the way I do....I think we are lucky. With every true blessing comes a little sacrifice, right?

:)

Speaking as a non adder,but with a whole lot of insight into add life,I would have to say its definately a GIFT just maybe a DIFFERENT GIFT,half way down the middle between being DIFFERENT and being GIFTED.

I view it as a gift. I do not medicate myself. Although I did medicate Boogie, mainly because of the school not willing to go the extra step to help her remember things and to stay on task.

I my self love the fact that I'm ADD. If I didn't have it I couldn't work circles around most people, nor multi-task like I've lost my mind.

The only thing that bugs me about being ADD is the memory problems, and getting my mind to shut down at night from having a million thoughts run through my head so I can go to sleep at night.

I voted for gift... but I consider it as all 3. My daughter is a bright, beautiful gifted child... who is tender, caring, compassionate, loving child. On the down side of this her temper leaves a lot to be desired, she gets moody... she cries easily when she is upset. Yes, there are times she is out of control. But with all these things I love her dearly and I'm glad and thank God that she is my child.

Yes, I have to agree...though I can accept it for me, I must say I wish my daughter didn't have it. Her main problems are at school...focusing, remembering, retaining new information. But I keep telling myself....with struggle, comes depth, right?

i see it as a gift sometimes but other times i see it as a difference

for me i view it as a gift and dont take meds for it. for my son i have it as a difference he struggles with it and meds help him with that and feel more comfortable in life. For my daughter she views it as a gift and copes every day without meds.

may the road always rise up to meet u!!

I see it as a disorder... it hampers my social life, my work life, and my home life. It may just be that it's a "difference", but I certainly don't see it as a gift.

Although as someone once said to me, a "gift" doesn't have to be a good thing for you to like it :)

(For example, for my first wedding, we got a very colorful, rainbow-colored toilet seat cover my wife's aunt had hand-made for us. Was it a gift? Yes. Was it welcome? Heck no. Was it desirable? No. Was it anything you wanted? No. Was it anything anyone ELSE wanted? An emphatic No.)

So I guess I can see the point about it being a gift too... but for me, it is a gift I wish I could have refused. :)

(Does making it an enforced gift -- one you can't refuse -- really make it a gift?)

A gift....

Other things besides a gift, a disorder, or a difference I would call it, depending on my mood and the circumstances: :)

1. A curse.
2. A blessing.
3. A software glitch. ;)
4. A brain fart.
5. My cross to bear.
6. A uniqueness :)

Its mainly a gift that has a few glitches in it from time to time. :)
I love how creative I am, and no one can quickly come to a solution to a problem as I can... well as long as the problem doesn't effect me ;)

I would say that it is a difference that can make one seem like they are gifted at one time and disordered at other times. I certainly would not trade it, but at times am frustrated by it. Like when I get stuck Hyper-focusing on something for instance. Sometimes it is hard to get "unstuck". When I have some many balls being juggled it can feel overwhelming but it also can feel just as overwhelming in a different way when I feel bored. Boredom that I feel at moments is aweful for me, it is stifling, almost crushing. I would much rather be dancing on chaos at work than having to hunt for things to do.....usually there are things to do, they are just the "boring" things.

Maybe it is a Gifted Difference, that sometimes can seem very disorderly!

I like this post:)

Occasionally this thing can be a real pain in the *****. Like I don't seem to be able to enjoy some things as non-Adder's people do. A professor and friend took me out to breakfast today....yes very nice....and I would have been happy with just breakfast. But she insisted on going on a "tour"of her town....next town over from where I go to school....as she knew I had never seen it. So while we are in her car and she's showing me the pretty houses, trees, nature, landmarks, etc. I'm getting 1)carsick as we had just eaten 2)bored 3)antsy...

All I wanted to do was GO HOME...and the tour which was really only maybe 45 minutes long....seemed LIKE FOREVER...anyway, I feel as if being ADD, I am not able to enjoy things -- like this -- as much as the non-ADDer...ya know just sit, relax and enjoy....that's tough for me....:(

I know what you mean about not being able to just sit and enjoy. If I sit down, say in a hammock in the summer, and just lie there to enjoy the breeze and sunshine, before long I'm asleep. I can't just sit, unless it's watching something I'm *highly* involved and interested in. Also, I can't watch sports, as amazing as that is for a guy. Bores me to tears. Not football, baseball, basketball, golf... nothing. And now that I think about it, if I'm in a really *good* movie, like say "The Matrix Reloaded", the only way I can focus long enough and hard enough -- even though I may be interested in it -- is sometimes to fidget. For example, I have a horrible habit of picking at my nails... after a really intense movie, I sometimes discover that I've picked a cuticle raw... or more than one. Same thing if I have to drive late at night... there's no stimulation, so it's sort of like I have to self-stimulate (no, not THAT ;) ) in order to be able to stay awake and focused enough to drive.

Thanks for sharing all that....and of course relate....I DO love watching baseball, however....I think I started being a baseball nut before I knew any better....so can actually sit through a game; just need a little mild "self-stimulation" ("no not that") to keep focussed such as a soda....:)

Oh goodness, I feel badly for your nails...:)

BIG TIME DISORDER :(

ADD literally makes my life a living hell. Like yesterday and today. I managed to goof up in front of everyone yesterday, and today everyone treated me like I had some sort of plague. They scattered like roaches when you turn on the lights. Almost NO ONE socialized with me today.

It's like, "Oh no, I don't want to be associated with HER! She's a dummy. Don't want anyone to think I'm as dumb as SHE is." I wasn't surprised at this because I was actually expecting this. People can be so cruel.

The CONSTANT hell that ADD puts me through FAR outweighs the fleeting positives like intuition and all. I wish I could be more upbeat about this but I think this really depends on how much havoc ADD wreaks on your life.

Sure, I have a great sense of intuition and I'm creative. I just lack the ability to stay on task to really create anything worthwhile. <shrug>

Overload,

I understand about the non-socializing thing. I have come to realize that I spend most of my time alone in my office reading and writing and while other people often say "hey, you never socialize much" i dont hear any phones ringing or knocks at my door no matter how open I am about poeple coming to visit me...I find the only problem I have recently is that I get lonely...especially for female company...not romantic or anything like that, just a friend of the opposite sex, hopefully also with ADD so that I can relate to someone...there arent that many people in my program with ADD and it sucks...anyway, everyone feels low from time to time, but I am sure there are days when you you realize how brilliant you really are...I find that when I get angry, I get some really good ideas, so if you can turn your low feelings into anger and focus them on something productive...you can do almost anything (dont get anger confused with hate though...I find "hate" and "love" are ridiculous feelings that blind us, whereas both friendship and anger can be used productively)...My best relationships with women have been based on strong feelings of friendship and my most successful papers have been written while angry. On the other hand, I find that my worst relationships have been based on what felt were felings of love and my most unproductive days come when I am filled with hate for something or someone...(I also find it is really easy to go from love to hate, but I can befriends with someone soon after being angry with them). I am not sure if this makes any sense to you, but it has helped me over the past year...

I guess waht it boils down to is that with anger and friendship, you have emotions that are controllable, but hate and love seem to consume people...and especially in our case with ADD, it makes things that much worse...

All three....

The difference results from a disorder (since it can be acquired artificially as well as by inheritance), and the gift is compensation for the resulting hardship.


Ken/Claremont

I think it's the other way around that the disorder is a result of a difference.

I see your point. I'm just trying to keep the neurobiology conceptually distinct from actual impairment, which depends also on the person's circumstances -- e.g., did he or she find a job that works well with the "difference", or did he or she drift into a job that most people without AD/HD tolerate quite well but bores or totally overwhelms people like us?



Ken

My answer to Vinceptor's either/or question above? definitely I drifed into a job (many jobs) that most people without ADD tolerate quite well but bores or overwhelms us...in my case it was either.. Sometimes bored me to tears. Most times SOOOO overwhelmed me, I didn't know which end was up...from the beginning of some jobs...I mean being trained would be a nightmare....Employers would train me and go over "stuff" and I would listen and pretend to understand for hours and hours....and in reality I would have lost them within the first 10 minutes of the time they started to speak...but I never wanted to admit it....To say, slow down?? Start again please? How many times can I tell someone who is training me to "stop and slow down"......I was afraid I would appear stupid....And I know ADD does not equal stupid....I receive and process information SOOOO differently from the non-ADDer...A fact of how mine works....So a definite disorder here.....BUT once I understand something and it's in my brain and heart and long term memory, I'm golden and can use it to come up with marvelous ideas -- and THEN, it's a gift....

joanrdtobe --

After I read your post (thanks, feedback is what this whole site is about), I had a couple of thoughts:

1) it seems to be true in my case, too -- the skills and knowledge I finally do master I master well. It's the getting there that's the hard part, and it seems that's only because the educational tools that are available to most people are not designed for ADD minds.

2) I've read a lot of clinical materials by psychologists, and notice most of them remark on how good-natured and optimistic most of their AD/HD patients are. I think that is the real gift -- however bad and hopeless things have seemed to me in the past, there was always a rock-solid part of me that expected to survive and even prevail.


Ken

Originally posted by vinceptor
joanrdtobe --



It's the getting there that's the hard part, and it seems that's only because the educational tools that are available to most people are not designed for ADD minds.

I think that is the real gift -- however bad and hopeless things have seemed to me in the past, there was always a rock-solid part of me that expected to survive and even prevail.


Ken

Wow, is it me or has ADD Forums REALLY started to rock lately???

Yes getting there IS the hard part... and yes educational tools are so NOT designed for ADD minds....so I have to really listen well to potential employers when they share on the method used for their training....I mean one potential employer (in Pensacola FL) said "2 or 3 days". YUH RIGHT...IN YOUR DREAMS....I'm supposed to learn a whole dietitian job in 2 or 3 days???? But another (in Boca Raton) talked of "competencies" and 6 weeks and there is direct supervision. Sounds like a good fit....Darn I hope I get this job...

"Rock solid part of me that expected to survive and even prevail"........well said, Ken, thanks....

Sounds like a shortened version of quote by Calvin Coolidge that I use on my work email:

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." ~Calvin Coolidge

This forum does ROCK!

Keep Cool with Coolidge (sort of)!

A site full of good motivational quotes from "individuals with that may have ADD/ADHD":

http://add.miningco.com/library/blquotes.htm

In particular, note the one from F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Hmm.... I seem to remember there's a resource listing in this site, but can't find it right now. My apologies if I tell you all about a site you may already know about.

Ken

James: Did you see the quote: "The best time to do a book is while you're doing the dishes"?? I thought of you with that one...:)

Anyway, thanks Ken for the great quote website....:)

Originally posted by jimmmaaa
...it also can feel just as overwhelming in a different way when I feel bored. Boredom that I feel at moments is aweful for me, it is stifling, almost crushing. I would much rather be dancing on chaos at work than having to hunt for things to do.....usually there are things to do, they are just the "boring" things.

Just wanted to thank you, James, for mentioning this. Sometimes I feel like such a whiny-***** brat when I am consumed by the overwhelming boredom that permeates my job these days. Reading your quote helps me to remember that my reaction to boredom at work isn't a character flaw. It's the way I'm wired, and I need to continue to develop coping mechanisms...problem is, sometimes I get bored with my own coping mechanisms! ;) And unfortunately, the type of chaos I'd be dancing on in this job would still be stupid, stupid, stupid...evoking no passionate response in me (well...maybe ANGER). Chaos in this job is not about bettering humanity...just bank accounts.

Could I just BE any more negative?!?!? :p BUT, I'm not just whining and moaning. I currently AM setting wheels in motion to get outta this job. I'm just having one of those really ornery and impatient moods right now. Wait a few minutes and I'm sure I'll swing in another direction! :D

It's a gift, but it's the same sort of gift as a newborn baby would be... a joy beyond all joys, but your life is gonna be WRECKED while you wrestle with it for the next couple of decades...

I'm sorry you hate your job so much Smooch. I've been in that situation too.....Good luck as you slowly start to maneuver yourself out of there within the right time/space framework and into something better.....and I'm sure you've heard a dozen times..the best time to look for a job is when you have a job...so for that reason, you're in a great place:)

I think it's a gift, but like all gifts, there is a time and a place, and with ADD, for me, sometimes having a break is a good thing.

Part medicated. I decide when I want to be in hyper mode and when to be in get-things-done mode.

Sleepz.

I think it is a false choice. It is all three.

How can so many answer a "false choice' question, and not mention that these "groups" do not exclude each other?

"I" don't understand.

Thanks for listening.

I believe, also , that they all appy.

Is it a gift to me? Oh yes.. in many many ways.

A difference? Of course.

Is it disorder? You bet. I sometimes don't manage to be productive as i would like, or do certain things that require me to be solely focused on it.

However, for my case in particular, i believe it is a gift, thus my vote for it. I might be spacey and everything and have many things that are not favourable, but without it i don't know how i would be.

I don't take medication, though sometimes i really think i should, but i also fear that will slow me down, or make me too different from what I am, thus i am afraid to try it, and not pursue it.

just a thought, the way i see it (applied to me) :D

I see it as being a lil of all 3 really.

I heard it put this way at a conference once, that we all have a "working niche"; something we are naturally talented for and that ADHD's tend to gravitate that way.I believe that is true for me personally. In a perfect world that would be true, however, it certainly doesn't always play out that way.I do think tho that there are jobs where our ADHD can be an asset.By the same token, there are many others where it would not.

For me

Most of the time it's a difference

When I try to understand social situations or behave myself at karate after the meds have worn off, it's a disorder

When I can teach the autistic kids at karate and relate to my autistic son (because of the way I can think and get into their heads) it's a gift.

Since been on meds I've learned to integrate and now no-one can tell the difference unless I choose to tell them.

I view it as a difference. AD/HD can be both positive and negative.

Positive that we are more empathetic, sensitive, intuitive, creative. We have the ability to super focus and the energy to do almost anything we want.

Negative that it effects all aspects of your life it can destroy your social life, work life, romantic life, home life, and even spiritual life. Symptoms such as inattention and impulsivity can cause havoc in every area in your life. The ability to concentrate is a prerequisite for all success in life.

I also think how a person view ADHD depends on what form of ADHD one has and how severe it is. IMO those with mild ADHD, predominately hyperactive subtype has an edge over the rest.

I think it's all three.

Gift: I think the way I look at things is very cool, and it's certainly affected by how my brain works. I LOVE my sense of humor (although not everyone does, especially if they don't realize I'm trying to make a funny). My creativity is very strong because quite often I approach problem solving by looking at different ways to come to a solution than by using the most direct, conventional route. My empathy- I've been told that I'm good at reading people and bringing things out in them.

Difference: People look at me wierd when I say things that seem TO THEM to come out of left field, when in reality, I can always trace my line of thought through the 600 steps it took me to come to the thought (usually pretty quickly).

Disability. I feel very disabled in that I have trouble getting most anything done in a reasonable amount of time.

Gotta go. I'm supposed to be doing something else right now...

:) JH, You have crystallized my thoughts beautifully!

I officially haven't been diagnosed yet but i think it's pretty obvious that i have ADD, i mean i can relate to everything that's being said on here. So i'll answer anyway

I also think it's a bit of all 3. It's a gift because people w/ ADHD are some of the most talented people you'll find in this world. Were far more creative than the average person. In fact i'll go as far as saying, the world needs more of us:D

It's a difference because i feel different from most people. I feel as though I can't relate to "normal" people, but only people who are like me. The people I hang around tend to be either a few years younger, or several years older than I am. I don't get along well with people my exact age:( Unless I have a lot in common with them.

It's a dissability because i feel like i'm so far behind the average person my age. I feel like i have to work extra hard at things, where the average person can do with little to no effort

I agree with everbody.
I used to view it as a gift but, the reality of how inventive I am, and how little I have done with it has of lately weighed on my mind. I have 3 half done inventions. One would probably set me for life. It is so hard for me to follow through. I always thought it was the money, it's not it's my follow through. Two small hygien items and one kitchen aid things I went to the trouble to even make a prototype and planned to market many years ago, ended up in walmart in the last 3 years.
Meds here I come! Might not be the answer? Otherwise not to much of my ADD bugs me as I like being most of this way.
Janine

definately a gift...I'm me and if someone doesnt like it there is nothing they are going to change about it...

I'm with you on that. I'm wicked special.

i recently got diagnosed so its been somewhat negative for the last 18 years, but I see the positives come out after being diagnosed. i feel like my different mind will help me in my career path(business) which i actually enjoy and I feel like add gave me the mind for that stuff just looking back at stuff ive done since i was a toddler. in kindergarten id have my friends trade me their snack to use my markers, and the longer he/she wanted to use em, more snacks, etc. although it probably seems selfish to others, to me it was just rational. just a million diff examples as im sure all of you have some other things you guys intrinsically have a knack at.

A disorder. Because you are born with it.
People over here actually see it as a disease.
The reason according to them is that someday a cure may be found, and a cure is for a disease. I disagree. It is a part of me I don't always like but still a part. And it will never go away or be cured. Nor does it spread to people around me

I look on it as a curse from God. My memory lapses come across as either laziness or passive-aggressiveness, which alienates everyone. I can't find anyone locally who deals with ADD in adults so I'm on my own. It makes school ten times as hard, which is reflected in my grades. Many professions, including some I would like to do, are closed to me because I can't do the work the way they want it done, etc. And don't get me started about self-esteem.

I consider adhd as my gift...Every once in awhile given the right situation I let my impulse's take over (this is NORMAL) for me even if it isn't for the general population...I find it makes me a step ahead of others in my profession as I"m excellant at multi-tasking and I tend to have only one speed (RUUUUUUUUUUUN). I aslo think it enables me to be more in touch with others feelings and it drives me to help them. And on a good day when everything is running smoothly and I can concentrate long enough,,,I"m actually quite intelligent. lmbo

Originally posted by Nucking_Futs
I consider adhd as my gift...Every once in awhile given the right situation ...

My contention is that ADHDers should be cultivating "the right situations..."

I'm amazed at the resistance that proposal engenders!

Originally posted by unreal33
I know what you mean about not being able to just sit and enjoy.

Ha, we went to the beach Saturday & I ended up digging a hole a couple feet deep in front of the beach towel, pulling up a dozen brick sized rocks & making a little sculpture from those while my wife sat calmly the whole time!

It is a part of me that brings out all my true gifts in life.

galexica

I call it a difference - or my new term is "condition" - especially among those alleged "normies" who are predisposed to label it as a "disorder."

Reason being (I may be being repetitive here; I'm posting after having read only page one of the thread - I ran out of acetyl-l-carnitine and my new order hasn't come in yet - impulsivity, anyone?) that, as E-Bunny says, we don't live in an ADHD society, and so even though I know I can do some things lightyears better than my colleagues and contemporaries b/c of the condition, I also know that sometimes we are required to label it as something in order to get the tools and resources we need to function w/in this particular society (which certainly has its OWN problems, but that is a whole 'nother rant).

OK, I'm going to go back and read all the rest of your all's wisdom in the thread now.

Originally posted by Mystica
Just imagine if I wasn't ADD. I would have to take over the world! :) :uhh:

Just imagine, if you weren't ADD you could follow through with the plan to take over the world..............:rolleyes:

I voted "A Gift" but I often wonder if I would be bored with life if I didn't have ADD. Even on meds I get so easily bored that sometimes I can't fathom what to do next that would be interesting.

Sometimes I think my life is so chaotic or inconsistent by my own designs. Just to keep it interesting.

I voted for disorder

I voted for gift. It has its ups and downs but if I could choose to have it or not I'd choose to have it. I see things in myself the normies don't seem to get. Sure I have my struggles but everyone does to a point and if I didn't have the ones I have had I wouldn't be who I am now.
As far as taking meds even though i see it as a gift. Well, I take meds mainly to improve my memory, mood, to stop procrastinating not to cover(mask) the ADD. And If you talk to anyone that is considered by everyone (including normies) to be gifted they will say its hard for them as well. They have a hard time fitting in just like we do. They have trouble getting most to understand them and the list goes on with what things we have in common with what society would call gifted. So why not think of ourselfs as gifted too? I think if society knew more about ADD then they do we might just be considered gifted to them too. We just may have a harder time finding our gift than others but its there.

I see it as a difference - no greater or less than my hair color or height (it's genetic too)

If ADD is a gift, where's the customer service counter? I'd like to return it and get that plasma TV I really wanted..,:rolleyes:

still in the middle of "the acceptance process", so for now i'd have to say "a disorder", although i want to someday be able to say that it's a little bit of all three of the three alternatives...
(does that make sense? probably not - oh well...)

I voted for disorder,it's help to almost destroy my life.

I see ADHD as a gift...We are creative in our on ways, and some have a special intuition (call it ESP If you wish), and despite how others may view us..We are just as smart as those who do not have ADD and some even smarter.

I have enough to depress me with my manic depression, I have to see the positive sides of Having ADHD and I would not have found the positve if had not been for the people in the forums. Thank You, Everyone:)

A creative flow of fun energy, which is a wonderful gift!


Galexica

The reality is that it is a disorder first and foremost. That's why it's so important to try and make sure people (with and without it) understand what it can and will do without proper treatment.

It's especially important for parents of ADHD kids to know what they and their kids are up against for life.It can and will be devastating to their ability to make friends, succeed in school, manage time, organzie their lives and can create so many more additional problems with it. Most of all, it has a tremendous impact on the child's future.Which way that goes certainly can be influenced by early diagnosis and proper (key word is proper) treatment.

This site and forum go a long way towards helping with that and I'm grateful for it and the members.

Mctavish,

I'm with you on that. However, I don't buy the "Pathologizing" of ADD. I just don't. Clearly people wired in this way are at a decided disadvantage in modern society. Therefore, they are having real problems because of the difference. I just don't think there is anything inherently "WRONG" biologically with an ADD person. It's one thing to prepare a person for reality and it's something entirely different to make them think of themselves as crippled. A person taught to think of themselves as crippled and incapable will behave that way. Just as many ADDers think of themselves as worthless because we've been treated that way our whole lives.

I make the distinction I do about ADD not being pathological because I believe there is a lot of room for change in societal institutions. More flexibility in our educational system would be an enormous help. One size fits all theories of human learning and behavior need to be circular filed. Society in general needs to be more flexible as well though. The fact is most of the problems ADDers have in life have an enormous amount to do with trying to fit in, in an environment that is tailored to the strong points of people that think very differently from them. Modern society is not out "Natural" environment. Not for non-ADDers, and certainly not for ADDers either. Six to ten thousand years of culture and sedentary settled living is not enough to change five million years worth of biology in any significant way.

Fact: True pathological genetic disorders are generally accompanied by biological "noise". Biological noise just refers to the fact that whatever environmental insult that damaged the gene in question almost certainly wasn't so well targeted by random chance to only damage one gene. So these conditions tend to be accompanied by subtle physical abnormalities as well. Typically ADDers show no signs of "biological noise". This is suggestive that the Genes involved in ADD are not "Defective".

It is all well and good, to recognize that persons with ADD need to be diagnosed, and treated to get by in our society. However, utilizing the label "disorder" however convenient it may be to goad folks into action, is misleading. In fact, it is my firm opinion that in the coming decades the term disorder will be discarded from the professional terminology when discussing ADD. Disciplines outside of medicine have already contributed meaningful input that is simply being ignored. It is valid science, it is accurate science, and it has been tested, re-tested, and peer reviewed and duplicated for literall decades, but it's in another discipline, so it might as well be on another planet. A population geneticist, and I know I beat this one into the ground, but that is only because IT IS TRUE, wouldn't label ADD as a disorder. On the basis of the frequencies of just the genes they know are associated with it in the population alone, in addition to heredity data, they would quickly lable it an adaptive trait. When one pointed out the present circumstances to them, they would suggest modern society is hardly the environment humanity evolved in.

Soap box? Yep. In a nutshell we agree on the important stuff. Kids do need to be properly diagnosed and treated, it is serious business. The accidental injury stats for ADD children not medicated alone are frightening enough to show how serious it is. I just hurt inside every time I hear it pathologized. I really do think it's a society far bigger than the small band of hunter gatherers we all evolved to co-exist with that has gotten a wee bit unhealthy, intolerant, inflexible, and pathological. I wish I could give society a pill.

[ I just hurt inside every time I hear it pathologized. I wish I could give society a pill. [/B]
You hit the nail on the head! Society needs a good kick in the proverbial butt. Here, let me help you take the cap off of the pill bottle...
I would like to encourage everyone to look into the concept of giftedness and personality type. Before long you will come to realize that certain personality types prevail when it comes to ADHD diagnoses. No other "disorder" can be attributed to a specific personality type. There is no bllindness personality or Hodgkins personality or an influenza personality. How can a personality be a disorder I ask you? In addition if you check out the characteristics associated with giftedness, SURPRISE! They paint a portrait, an a good one at that, of a typical add-er.
Pesonally, I see conflict arising when gifted and INFP & ENFP personality types are not free to do what they NEED to do to be successful in their own estimation and not by society's linear expectations. Leave those to the masses, I say! We must strive to find a mate that communicates the way we do and shares our visions and to find a purpose and an existance that is MEANINGFUL to us. From the chasm between what is (to pay the rent) and what ought to be ( using the skills we have in an environment where we are appreciated) springs the ennuie and the emotional fall-out. So how do I feel about ADHJ? It's just me! And that is a good thing!giftedness perosnality type

I vote for a disorder but i wish i can select both gift and disorder :

a gift because add put a new ligth in many aspects of life.

a disorder as the add gifts are not very reliable and are the source of much stress for add people.

The pathology part can be summed up best by the negative impact that the symptoms themselves create.

i have pdd so empathy is not there
not that i am not socialised just that i do not
"get with emotions"
and cann't read others well enough to socialise
but i do not miss that
i always use the example
if i see someone cut themselves
it does not bother me
i do not go ah!!
or feel pain for them
but i am the first one with the firstaid
and at a couple of jobs they would have me close it
so they did not have to go to the emergency room
not having empathy is not a disability to me
and does not keep me from being nice
just saves me time cause of not socializing

the part that ****es me off is not being productive
have lots of ideas and can learn to do most things
very quickly, but have problems finishing and so on
but thats getting better

that and spacing and losing stuff
which i watch for but still loose stuff sometimes

i voted disorder but it's a bit of that and difference

actually disability
would be my real vote
as i am not able to do many "normal" things which
would allow me to use my talents
so i am disabled

but i do not get emotional about it
it is just something i have to deal with

feeling bad about it would not help
like when i set myself on fire in the lab
i did not scream just put out the fire
then myself
screaming would not have helped
i guess thats the wasp in me

Rob
That was very well articulated.I think that's the best description of PDD NOS I've ever heard. I hope things get better for you.Good Luck.

I voted "a difference" as I cannot logically see how having ADHD would be a "gift". If I were given a gift that caused me great difficulties and pleasures, I doubt I would want the gift by choice. A gift is something that relates to pleasure and enjoyment, and I don't think everyone here enjoys their ADHD.

Having said that, I also believe that everyone is different, therefore I fail to see someone with ADHD as any different from any other individual. :)

All individuals differ greatly.

I don't feel gifted. I voted for a difference but with trepidation. Most of the time I feel hampered by my symptoms not enhanced. However in the face of internal pressure I'm trying the more positive approach.. < g >
ian

Unpopular as the vote may be, I voted disorder. Attention Deficit Disorder is a statistically abnormal deviation in the individual, which impairs their ability to function within society to a maladaptive degree. Therefore, it is most certainly a disorder.

"Differences" are things like liking a certain type of food, or having preferences for music, or being better at learning one thing than another (without having anything impaired to a disabling level).

"Gifts" are things like talents twoards certain things (again, without impairments in others) such as a gift towards language usage, a gift toward mathematics, a gift towards art, or music.

Disorders are impairing statistical deviations that can be labeled. Is it a difference? I don't think so, because quite a few of us here have the same difference. That means it's not something unique, it's something similar. Differences vary from individual to individual. "Conditions," "Syndromes," "Disorders," "Disabilities," and so further are things which are quanitifiable, which have an epidemiology, and which have a serious, real affect.

Now, the question is whether the connotation of "disorder" as "inferior" is good or bad, and I would say that that is certainly bad. Having a disorder is not necessarily a bad thing. But it is a disorder.

a curse causing extreme and profound suffering

I would have to say it's a disorder and a difference.

First, I have to disagree with Kmiller about defining "differences." If this were a music forum, you would find quite a few people who preferred much the same kind of music. It's self-selection bias. Almost everybody who posts here has ADD, so of course we'll all have similar problems!

I look at myself and people around me, and I know I'm different. I've known it since I started school. Part of what makes me different is ADD, and the other part is my nonverbal learning disability.

ADD has certainly impaired me enough. I'd say I'm disabled by the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that a disability limit one's ability to function in at least 2 settings. It certainly has affected my home life and my social life, as well as work life, and (when I was in school), my school life.

So, I am different. ADD has made me disabled, so I would say it certainly qualifies as a disorder.

I'm having a hard time finding a way to justify saying it's a gift. My perspective on the world, as I said, is certainly "different" from most peoples', in part because I have ADD.

Hyperfocus is nice, sometimes, but I'd gladly trade it for normal focus, all the time.

I know I'm gifted in some ways, but I don't think those have anything to do with ADD.

I know I make it sound all doom and gloom, but I'm ok with the fact that I have ADD. Knowing I have ADD has actually made it easier for me to forgive myself for my ADD moments.

The reason it's a gift is because... hmm how do I describe... You know how children have that certain curiosity & when people grow up they become boring compromised & less inspired with lower ideals. Yes practicality is useful but is it really all that desirable? I'd rather be a dreamer than practical & well adjusted. If I can just figure a way to get by in the world of grownups I'll be happy. Maybe this is a cop-out enjoying being immature & refusing to grow up & be responsible or maybe really advanced grownups strive for that kind of mental lightness which comes natural to the ADHD mind. It's not without problems for sure. My ADD (if I even really have it) is less severe in many ways so you may disqualify my comments to the degree that I don't have difficulty concentrating, I just have trouble doing boring things so I tend to do what's interesting to me, which in the end means I do a lot of interesting things but don't manage well in the practical parts of life.

I would say ADD is a "difference". I likely have, however, a unique view of ADD. Though I believe there are neurological tendencies that are innate, I believe that these develop largely as a result of how we "learn" to respond to them.

For instance, if you grow up in an environment in which you're constantly being told "you'd forget your head if it weren't attached", then it would be quite easy for your brain to link "forgetfulness" with all of your behaviors.

If on the other hand, you grow up in an environment in which your creativity is encouraged and welcomed, then it would be easy to see "ADD tendencies" as something that are good, and important.

The difference, I believe, is largely in the way individuals who exhibit ADD tendencies have similar strategies we use to respond to our environment. Unlike veiwing ADD as a disorder, which implies no control over it, I see ADD as simply requiring us to use different strategies that can get us the results we want.

Are we "different" than others who do not display ADD tendencies? Of course that seems obvious. But whether or not we see those differences as controlling or uplifting, I believe, is more a state of mind, than it is a "definite".

growing up i knew i was different, didnt know what it was, just thought i was mental. yeah i got a lot of hurt & trouble for it.

now that i know what this is, i find it less hurtful, like i got an excuse for the occasional brain-fart (i call it my ADD moment) & i get some humor out of this, but today i think of it as a difference.
i dont think my horrible memory or temper outbursts would be a gift, unless given by a really warped individual :confused:
in my up moments ill even think of it as a gift,but im not sure if its ADD talking,
bi-polar, or just the committee mumbling :p .
its definately different.

In a way I see it as all 3 but I voted for a difference. It has been a real pain in the *butt* for me although it has been a relief to know the reasoning for all the *pains* it has caused.
It is also nice to be "different", a deviation from the norm, if you will. If we were all the same (lacking ADHD), imagine how boring the world would be.... So I guess it is also a gift.

I am new to ADD, I think it is a difference/disorder but hopefully I can start seeing the 'gift' side of it someday. I think once I have had a chance for it all to soak in or get out of my current line of work I will maybe start seeing it differently.

i voted that its a 'gift'
although i've struggled and struggled throughout the years before i even knew i had adhd i always thought: thank god i have passion thank god creativity isn't a foreign land and thank god that i experience the full range of my emotions....
i knew that i was a sensitive person and easily hurt, that i was 'scatterbrained'-most ppl have and still do consider me to be the absent minded proffesor type..
but the joy i ever feel is brimming with hope
and i do wonder constantly when i look at my husband and others...do they FEEL as much as i do?
with this much 'feeling' i have pain, but that is only one part of it.
i also think that life is exciting for us.
and even though its 'hard'....the BETTER FOR US! we can take pleasure in the smallest things - whether it be that i managed to clean my entire bathroom one day and do my laundry the next- that leaves me with a happy grin
can you say that of most ppl that do their daily chores? can you say that for anyone that has succeeded past the stratosphere?
its definitely about perspective. those ppl that have what you may anecdotally consider 'everything' may not have the advantage of experiencing pleasure the way we do..
additionally: its kind of like what i think about money..when is enough enough? for most normal ppl they seem to plateau and coast and feel bored...
there is always something to strive for for me...and i don't think there will ever be a day thats not true even when i'm a very old lady
and i'm glad for that.
i don't want ever to feel that i'm 'finished'.

I voted difference.

I was considered a "gifted child" who never acheived his potential. Frequently told by teachers, sometimes bluntly, sometimes obliquely, "We know you're not stupid, so therefore you are lazy or unmotivated."


Anyone who sees the inside of my home, or my car for that matter, can see just how "disorderly" I am.