The Positive Side of ADHD

[Nova]

URL: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1353/26922




The Positive Side of ADHD

Author: Valerie de Armas

If you’re a parent of a child with ADHD, you may be thinking —what positives? She’s positively difficult maybe! And, believe me, I know how you feel —especially after this week’s church service with my four-year-old. — That experience may be a future article in itself!

Seriously, though, there are a number of positive things associated with ADHD. People with ADHD have high IQs, they are very creative, and many times those with ADHD are funny and romantic. ADDers are able to do many things at once: Multitasking, as it is now called in the corporate world, is a piece of cake. We think differently, but some of our ideas have turned into some of the greatest inventions, creations, and art work of modern times. (Edison, da Vinci, and Hemingway all had ADHD traits.)

So much has been said about ADHD being negative in our society, that we’ve forgotten the positives. When you have a child with ADHD, sometimes you forget the positives in the exhaustion of keeping up with the child, but the positive traits are there and need to be nurtured. We have to stop thinking of ADHD as “abnormal”, but as “different”. Only then can we begin to focus on what is good about ADHD.

"In my opinion, the ADD brain structure is not truly an abnormality. In fact, I believe a very good case can be made that it is not only normal, though in the minority, but may well be a superior brain structure. However, the talents of the person with the ADD brain structure are not those rewarded by our society at its current stage of development. In other words, the problems of the person with ADD are caused as much by the way we have our society, educational system, and business methods organized as by other factors more directly related to the ADD itself." - Paul Elliott, M.D. We really need to embrace ADHD as a gift. —We are so used to thinking of it in negative terms that we aren’t grateful for that part of having ADHD that makes us special. We think about our inability to get organized or remember things and don’t think about the things that we do that contribute to our society and families. While in the midst of writing this article, I decided to take an account of my own positives. I, too think about all the times I was late, the fact that my house is a lot less organized than I’d like and that I don’t complete everything I start, but if I am to look at ADHD in a positive light, I need to look at myself differently. I lead the choir in our church – a very creative task with our choir! I homeschool our children. This takes intelligence as well as creativity. I make people laugh on a regular basis, —sometimes without even meaning to. I am a very good cook and enjoy entertaining. I write these articles. And the list could go on and on. Make your own list today. You are contributing some vital things in your community, your family and in your own life. – What are they? Think about them and feel good about yourself.

[SB_UK]

Originally Posted by Nova

.....but may well be a superior brain structure.

Thanks Nova!

SB.

[SB_UK]

http://gradda.home.isp-direct.com/wi97exce.html
Here's another from this chap:
Bob M: One point I want to touch on, last night when we were talking you mentioned that there were some positive aspects to having ADD/ADHD. I'd like you to touch on that please.
Dr. Elliott: Statistically higher IQs ............

SB.

[Nova]

I remember you !!!
You were on a discussion pertaining to time being subjective..on here..a while back...
Good to see you on here again!
Thank you! For your wonderful article!!!
Nova

[SB_UK]

Hi!

Enjoying your stream of articles.
For me, the positives are a given though.
The $6M Q. though -- why?
This is where I wish there was more discussion.

The chap that we've quoted is ADD or has ADD in his family.
He appears to be respected as an ADD researcher.
His observations are valuable - as he obviously wants to know, with a drive motivated by self-understanding. But I think his observations are of even greater value because of his ADD. His ADD, I believe has bestowed upon him characteristics that are not held by others without - allowing him to interprete observations outside of the bounds of conventional thinking; I'd actually extend this to suggest that he hasn't any choice in this matter.
The negatives and positives have been repeated many times over, of course the negatives more so.

During a period of depression I took to walking.
I came across a graveyard, and in it was the grave of CS Lewis.
It was hidden in a corner, very discrete.

SB.

[Nova]

I only wish I would've had the chance to meet Lewis, in person. What a poignant story..of your discovery..It would've made me sad though..had I discovered it..I still think of him magickally alive...it would've just made his death, too 'final' for me..if you can understand that.
Sometimes, I break down his poems, or literature, into small paragraphs..that do acrobatics in my mind for hours...until I've wrung out every possible metaphor..every allegory..every emotion...
Your thoughts on the Research Analyst with ADD remind me of how it feels, as a 'girl', to go to a male doctor. In my opinion...they really, can't possibly, truly, understand 'how my body works'. I'm not saying every specialist has to have a terminal disease to understand it...but it does help if they do know their field personally!
You should post more often.
Nova

[Shakedown1979]

The corporate world increasingly sees creativity as a good thing, and is far less formal and regimented than it was 15-20 years ago. As time goes on and computers take on more repetitive tasks that used to be done by hand, the workplace is getting more friendly to ADHD-like unconventional ways of developing new systems and people who challenge the ways things are done. Schools, on the other hand, are woefully behind the times. Not just for ADHD kids, but all students. Many teachers are flustered by computers, but are quick to point out messy handwriting. The education bureaucracy hates change, and they especially hate their members being upstaged by children who know 10 times more about computer programming.