Making A.D.D Work - On-the-Job Stragegies for Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder

I checked out this book from my library and then ended up not having as much time as I would have liked to read through it. I did do a quick scan and liked what I saw and may check it out again some time in the future. 

The book is divided into three parts; Improving Your Work Skills, Finding the Right Career Path, Getting Help, which covers working with ADD coaches and professional organizers, and your legal rights.

The section on Improving Your Work Skills covers getting organized, managing your time, maintaining your concentration, cooperating with Co-workers and networking, and maximizing your strengths.

I think we all have ADD moments even if we are not “officially” ADD and so anyone could pick up some useful tips from this book.

The ADHD Autism Connection

What I am reading in this book is the information I have been searching for as long as I've been living with my ADHD kid. I would often tell people that sometimes I wondered if my son were autistic and that some of his behaviors are "autistic-like". I've also felt that his attention-deficit was a symptom of something yet un-named.

Here is a quote from the Author's Note found in the beginning of the book:

"The aim of this book is to explore the similarities that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shares with a spectrum of disorders currently known as pervasive developmental disorders. Like autism researcher Dr. Lorna Wing, I believe that these disorders do differ in clinical descriptions and degrees of impairment; however, I also agree that the population I seek to help is better served by recognizing that these disorders share similar features, especially in terms of social impairment. By viewing these as possibly related disorders, clinicians may more appropriately address the immediate needs of the patient."
"Regarding the idea that high-functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome are expressions of the same basic disorder, Diane Twachtman-Cullen believes that "given the nature of the similarities between the disorders, and in the absence of definitive information to the contrary, this would seem to be a most reasonable position." Because of the similarities between ADHD and Asperger's syndrome and the absence of conclusive evidence that differentiates these disorders, an important question is raised. Is ADHD most likely part of the autistic spectrum? This book examines the issue and the immediate need for further research."

Commitments for Parents

Commitments for Parents I will always love and respect my child for who he is and not who I want him to be. I will give my child space - to grow, to dream, to succeed, and even, sometimes, to fail. I will create a loving home environment and show my child that she is loved, whenever and however I can. I will, when discipline is necessary, let my child know that I disapprove of what he does, not who he is. I will set limits for my child and help her find security in the knowledge of what is expected of her. I will make time for my child and cherish our moments together, realizing how important - and fleeting - they are. I will not burden my child with emotions and problems he is not equipped to deal with, remembering that I am the parent and he is the child. I will encourage my child to experience the world and all its possibilities, guiding her in its ways and taking pains to leave her careful, but not fearful. I will take care of myself physically and emotionally so that I can be there for my child when he needs me. I will try to be the kind of person I want my child to grow up to be - loving, fair-minded, moral, giving and hopeful. Author Unknown

The Upside of ADHD

TheUpside of ADHD

Enthusiasm, empathy and high energy among traits the disorder carries

by Marilyn Lewis for MSN Health & Fitness

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) hasn’t changed, but how experts view the disorder is evolving in a new direction. Instead of only focusing on the difficulties posed by ADHD, today, the upsides are likely to be noted, too: the quick-wittedness, the speedy grasp of the big picture and the great enthusiasm for nearly everything. These traits make ADHDers endearing and simultaneously exasperating.

This change may sound like just a new way of describing the same old thing, but to those with ADHD, the difference is profound. An estimated 2 percent to 4 percent of American adults and 3 percent to 7 percent of children have the brain-based disorder. For them, it’s the difference between seeing themselves as broken and thinking of themselves as having advantages, even if they have to cope with being fidgety, distractible or easily bored.

In praise of ADHD

JetBlue Airways CEO and founder David Neeleman is famously frank about his ADHD. He was diagnosed in 2001, seven years after he realized he had it. By then, he’d already founded and then sold Morris Air. He had done so well in his own eccentric way that he felt he was doing fine without medication. Still, Neeleman says he’s not anti-meds: “I have talked to a lot of people who swear by the medication.”

Neeleman credits ADHD with his creativity and “out-of-the-box thinking”—it led him to invent e-tickets while at Morris, for example. “One of the weird things about the type of [ADHD] I have is, if you have something you are really, really passionate about, then you are really, really good about focusing on that thing. It’s kind of bizarre that you can’t pay the bills and do mundane tasks, but you can do your hyper-focus area.” He spends “all my waking hours” obsessing about JetBlue. The rest of his life, Neeleman says, would be a “disaster” if not for his wife, who manages their home and children; his accountant, who pays the bills and tracks his finances; and his personal assistant, who sends him his schedule every day and steers him from appointment to appointment, keeping him on track.

Ken Melotte, 43, of Green Bay, Wis., is quick to credit ADHD for his successes, too. “I have ideas immediately,” says Melotte, who’s on the management team of a national trucking firm. “I instantly start working on solutions, seeing different ways to do things.”

Yet, ADHD has been a struggle for him. Melotte doesn’t care for medication. The disorder vexes him most at work, as a project manager, when he had “a terrible struggle” keeping track of all the details. On the other hand, he believes that ADHD traits like empathy, intuition and the ability to motivate and inspire others made him a successful manager.

A “context disorder”

ADHD is considered a “context disorder,” Thom Hartmann says. Hartmann, an expert on the disorder, is one of the few who saw the positive side of ADHD before it was fashionable.

“If a left-handed person has a job cutting origami with right-handed scissors, that doesn’t mean they have a disability; they have a context disorder,” Hartmann explains. “Short people trying to play basketball have a context disorder.”

People with ADHD “may instead be our most creative individuals, our most extraordinary thinkers, our most brilliant inventors and pioneers,” writes Hartmann in his 2003 book The Edison Gene: ADHD and the Gift of the Hunter Child. He posits that the people with ADHD may carry genetically coded abilities that once were, and may still be, necessary for human survival and that contribute richness to the culture.

A spate of books has come out that echoes Hartmann’s positive spin, including Delivered From Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life With Attention Deficit Disorder, by Drs. Edward Hallowell and John Ratey, and The Gift of ADHD, by Lara Honos-Webb.

To Hartmann, “Any kind of difference, even those differences that may make life more difficult or be viewed by some as pathologies, have to have some sort of upside, outside of pure disease processes. Otherwise they wouldn’t survive in the gene pool.”

Marilyn Lewis is a freelance writer who lives in Northwest Washington State. She specializes in writing about personal technology, health and medicine, business and lifestyle. Her work has appeared in MSNBC, MSN and The San Jose Mercury News.

http://healthyliving.msn.com/diseases/adhd/the-upside-of-adhd-1?GT1=31001

Modifications for the Hyperactive Student

Modifications for the Hyperactive Student

I bought a book a while back called "It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend" by Richard Lavoie. The book is about helping the child with learning disabilities find social success.

Because life got busy I had to take a break from reading but I recently picked it up again. I skipped ahead to the chapter on Attention Deficit Disorder and immediately found something that I just had to share.
The book made a few suggestions for modifications and adjustments that could be made in the classroom that would allow the hyperactive child to function more effectively:

"These techniques take a "fight fire with fire" approach: rather than constantly battling with the child's need for activity and movement, provide the child with ample opportunities to be active during classroom activities. In effect, you are legitimizing the child's need to move by making movement part of your lesson plan!"
"For example, provide the hyperactive child with a standing desk and allow him to complete written work while standing. This simple adjustment may satisfy the child's need to be active during a sedentary activity. Give the child a clipboard to use during writing activities and allow him to work on the floor or in a beanbag chair. One teacher reported remarkable results after allowing her hyperactive students to sit in rocking chairs during silent reading activities. Another teacher assigned a child two seats in the classroom and allowed him to change seats whenever he needed to move about. Ask the hyperactive child to do classroom chores (e.g., water the plants, erase the white board, deliver messages). You can also legitimize the child's movement by doing quick (thirty-second) calisthenics between class activities. Again, these modifications recognize that the excessive movement is beyond the child's control."

I especially liked the idea of having two seats assigned to the child in the classroom. Wish I'd had this book when my son was in school.

Impulsiveness and creativity

My son decided to make cookies last night. But he threw the butter in before it had a chance to soften. (Impulsive) Hmmmm…now what’s he going to do? Aha!!! He gets out the potato masher and mixes the dough with that. (Creative) Had to work a little longer on it than he would’ve if he’d done it the usual way. But what the heck! It worked. LOL I’ve never seen anyone use a potato masher to make cookies before. There are always surprises in my life with my ADHD son around.  Yup! I DO love him!

Think of all the fun I would have missed if I’d opened my big mouth and tried to “fix it” for him, rather than waiting to see what HIS solution was going to be.

Feb 1, ‘05

More: How To Swallow A Pill

More suggestions for teaching a child to swallow a pill:

1. Put the pill under the tongue and take big gulps of water. This will usually wash the pill out from under the tongue and down the throat.

2. Place the pill on the middle of the tongue and fill the mouth with water until the cheeks are full, then swallow the water. The pill should slip down too .

3. Put the pill right at the back of the tongue rather than in the middle.

4. Have a few sips of water before trying to swallow the pill, this should help the pill to slip down more easily.

5. Put the pill on the tongue then ask your child to take 3 gulps of water using a straw. When he swallows the water he will probably swallow the pill too.

6. Have your child try swallowing pills standing up rather than sitting down.

7. Try the pop-bottle method (This method reduces the tendency to gag on the pill.)

• Place the tablet anywhere in the mouth.
• Take a drink from a soda-pop bottle, keeping contact between the bottle and the lips by pursing the lips and using a sucking motion.
• Swallow the water and the pill.

8. Try the two-gulp method (This method helps to fold down the epiglottis (the flap of cartilage at the back of the throat that folds down and protects the airway during swallowing.)

• Place the pill on the tongue.
• Take one gulp of water and swallow it, but not the pill.
• Immediately take a second gulp of water and swallow the pill and the water together.

9. If your child’s medication is in capsule form, try the lean- forward technique. Capsules are lighter than tablets and have the tendency to float forwards in the mouth during swallowing. Leaning the head slightly forward while swallowing causes the capsule to move towards the back of the mouth where it more easily swallowed.

10. You could give your child different liquids such as milkshake or yogurt drinks to take the pills with. Thicker drinks slow down swallowing and make the pill less likely to separate from the liquid. Some children can swallow pills in spoonfuls of peanut butter, applesauce, pudding or jello. Pills can also be tucked inside mandarin orange segments, and the segments can then be swallowed whole. Chewing a cookie or some crackers and popping the pill in the mouth just before swallowing can also be effective. Always check with your physician or pharmacist before your child takes his medication with anything other than water in order to avoid a medication interaction with food.

11. If your child isn’t ready to learn how to swallow pills explore alternative forms of the medication. Many medications come in liquid, sprinkle or chewable forms and some can be crushed or dissolved. Never crush, break or dissolve tablets or capsules unless your doctor or pharmacist has advised you to. Some specialized pharmacies can make up an elixir that contains a palatable tasting liquid containing the required medication if your child cannot swallow pills or capsules.

12. If swallowing pills becomes essential, e.g. a condition for entering a research study or if the pill only comes in pill form and cannot be cut or crushed, ask for a referral to a therapist who has experience teaching children how to swallow medication. Your child may learn this new skill more easily from a neutral figure than from a parent.

Be sure to reward your child’s efforts with praise even if he is not successful at each try. The goal is to help your child succeed with a variety of techniques that will make taking daily routine medication less of a challenge for you both.

This material was originally found at: Newsletter of the Child & Adolescent Bipolar Foundation www.bpkids.org
http://www.imakenews.com/cabf/e_article000203313.cfm 

This is no longer a working link. 

How To Swallow A Pill

Swallowing Pills

I found this article about helping kids swallow pills at Northern County Psychiatric Associates Website   

Teaching Children How to Swallow a Pill

Carol Watkins, M.D.

Many children have trouble swallowing pills. There are a variety of reasons for this difficulty. 

Some children truly do not have the mouth and throat control to swallow a solid pill. This can be seen in the very young child. It may also be present in a child with a developmental delay that affects his ability to swallow or speak. If a child cannot swallow a moderate mouthful of water without it dripping out of his mouth, he may have a physical problem with the swallowing reflex. If you are not sure whether your child has the physical maturity to swallow pills, consult his doctor or a speech therapist.

Children may also have trouble with pills for emotional reasons. They may associate pills with frightening medical experiences. The pill may be a symbol of sickness or weakness. The child may misunderstand what the pill is supposed to do. He may fear that it will change his personality or cause frightening side effects. The pill may be the focal point of a control struggle between parent and child. In such situations the child may actively refuse to swallow the pill. If the child has mixed feelings about the pill, he may agree to take it, but will gag and be unable to swallow it.

Sometimes addressing the mixed feelings about medication can help with the swallowing problem. A child may not be able to verbalize all of his concerns.

If your child has mixed feelings about the pills

• Talk to him about the medication and why he needs it.
• Ask a member of his health care team to explain the disorder and the way the medications work. Diagrams and visual aids help some kids especially if there are take-home handouts. 
• Find some kid-friendly books about the condition or about taking medication. Otto Learns about His Medication is good for children who take stimulants. 
• If the pill swallowing seems to be part of a control struggle, take a look at how you and your family handle conflicts. See if there are other ways for your child or teen to express his independence. 

Some children are more sensitive to new foods and new textures. They have sufficient physical control to swallow but need some extra training. They may need specific instruction to gradually get them used to pills. Go to the baking section of your grocery store and find the candy decorations. Buy about five different sizes of items, ranging from the tiniest—the multicolored sprinkles—to larger—Tic Tacs. Help your child practice swallowing the small candies. Put one on his tongue and give him a cup of water. Once he has been able to swallow the candy four or five times in a row, move to the next larger size. Limit each practice session to about 10 minutes. Do not forget to limit the amount of candy eaten too!

Not all children need to go through this gradual process. Sometimes, giving the pill with a semisolid food makes it go down easier. Applesauce pudding or yogurt make swallowing easier and can mask a pill’s unpleasant flavor. A few kids may chew up a cracker and pop the pill in the middle just before swallowing the mass of cracker.

Liquid and Chewable Medications Sometimes we can avoid the pill problem altogether. Many medications come in liquid, sprinkle or chewable form. . If the child objects to the taste, pharmacists can often add flavoring. Be extra careful with liquid medications. It is easy to measure wrong and accidentally give the wrong dose. Do not use an eating spoon out of your kitchen drawer. When I prescribe liquid medications, I prefer that patients or parents discuss measuring technique with their pharmacist.

• Antidepressants: Several of the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Celexa) come in liquid form. Paxil has a relatively palatable orange flavor. It was difficult to find in pharmacies for a while but is now more available. Celexa has a mint flavor with a slight medicinal aftertaste. 
• Stimulants: Adderall XR and Metadate CD capsules can be opened and sprinkled on pudding and applesauce respectively. Avoid swallowing amphetamines with citrus or other acidic juices.
• Mood Stabilizers: Lithium comes as a syrup. Tegretol comes in a chewable form. Depakote comes in sprinkles. Some antipsychotic medications come in liquid or suspension forms.

Some pills can be dissolved in certain specific liquids. Years ago, Prozac came no smaller than 20 mg. When patients needed a smaller dose, we told them how to dissolve the capsule in cranberry juice—we called it Cranzac. Consult your doctor and your pharmacist before attempting to dissolve or crush a pill. Dissolving or crushing some medications, will change how the pill works.

Carol E. Watkins, M.D.

http://www.ncpamd.com/swallowing_pills.htm 

———————————————————————————————————————-

I am not promoting the use of medication for children or adults with ADHD. The decision to use medication is a personal decision to be based on each individuals needs or personal beliefs. 

10 Things To Do With A Pencil - If You're ADHD

Ten Things to Do with a Pencil –

- If you’re ADHD

1. Blow it across the desk.

2. Fly it through the air.

3. Hold it high in the air and drop it.

4. Stick it in the screws of the chair.

5. Thread it through your belt loops.

6. Pick the threads of your socks.

7. Roll it inside your desk.

8. Poke your neighbor.

9. Sharpen it – re-sharpen it.

10. Lose it.

Taken from - The Hyperactive Child by Dr. Grant Martin

This was my son’s and my favorite quote about ADHD. When he was in grade school I used to print up a copy of this and he would give it to the teacher at the beginning of the school  year. It was a fun way to break the ice.

Benefits of ADHD

Benefits of ADHD

Our society defines ADHD as a disorder, ignoring our essential contributions, and refusing any accommodation to our needs.

• We are inattentive, because we can’t abide boring nonsense, or worse, lies.
• Some of us are hyperactive, always wanting to get on to something interesting and important.
• We won’t do boring, stupid homework or makework in business or government.

Society has traditionally thrown us away as Black Sheep. However,

• Many of us have hyperfocus on what is actually interesting.
• We have much higher than average creativity.
• We have much higher than average empathy.

As George Bernard Shaw (one of us) put it, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

That’s us.

This is something I found at the Forum for Attention Deficit Disorder at About.com. Thank you to Edward Mokurai for giving me permission to share what he wrote here. :-)

About.com ADD / ADHD - Benefits of ADHD

“Hi. I’m glad Suswann asked me for permission to post my thoughts here. I and my whole family have ADHD, and wouldn’t give it up for anything. I know that others have much greater difficulties with it than we have, and offer my help to anyone who asks. (That’s one of the “symptoms”.)” ~Edward Mokurai

ADHD & Co-Existing Disorders

ADHD & Co-Existing Disorders

As many as 40-60 percent of children with AD/HD have at least one other major disorder. Any disorder can coexist with AD/HD, but certain disorders seem to occur more commonly with AD/HD.

Which conditions most commonly co-exist with AD/HD? 
AD/HD may co-exist with one or more disorders. The most common disorders to occur with AD/HD are

(1) Disruptive Behavior Disorders;

(2) Mood Disorders;

(3) Anxiety Disorders;

(4) Tics and Tourette’s Syndrome; and

(5) Learning Disabilities.

Disruptive Behavior Disorders (Oppositional-Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder)
About 40 percent of individuals with AD/HD have oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Among individuals with AD/HD, conduct disorder (CD) is also common, occurring in 25 percent of children, 45-50 percent of adolescents and 20-25 percent of adults. ODD involves a pattern of arguing with multiple adults, losing one’s temper, refusing to follow rules, blaming others, deliberately annoying others, and being angry, resentful, spiteful, and vindictive.

CD is associated with efforts to break rules without getting caught. Such children may be aggressive to people or animals, destroy property, lie or steal things from others, run away, skip school, or break curfews. CD is often described as delinquency and children who have AD/HD and conduct disorder may have lives that are more difficult than those of children with AD/HD alone.

Mood Disorders
Some children, in addition to being hyperactive, impulsive, and/or inattentive, may also seem to always be in a bad mood. They may cry daily, out of the blue, for no reason, and they may frequently be irritable with others for no apparent reason. Both sad, depressive moods and persisting elevated or irritable moods (mania) occur with AD/HD more than would be expected by chance.

Depression
The most careful studies suggest that between 10-30 percent of children with AD/HD, and 47 percent of adults with AD/HD, also have depression. Typically, AD/HD occurs first and depression occurs later.

While all children have bad days where they feel down, depressed children may be down or irritable most days. Children with AD/HD and depression may also withdraw from others, stop doing things they once enjoyed, have trouble sleeping or sleep the day away, lose their appetite, criticize themselves excessively (“I never do anything right!”), and talk about dying (“I wish I were dead”).

Mania/Bipolar Disorder 
Up to 20 percent of individuals with AD/HD also may manifest bipolar disorder. This condition involves periods of abnormally elevated mood contrasted by episodes of clinical depression. Adults with mania may have long (days to weeks) episodes of being ridiculously happy, and even believe they have special powers or receive messages from God, the radio, or celebrities. With this expansive mood, they may also talk incessantly and rapidly, go days without sleeping, and engage in tasks that ultimately get them into trouble. In younger people, mania may show up differently. Children may have moods that change very rapidly, seemingly for no reason, be pervasively irritable, exhibit unpremeditated aggression, and sometimes hear voices or see things the rest of us don’t.

Anxiety
Up to 30 percent of children and 25-40 percent of adults with AD/HD will also have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are often not apparent, and research has shown that half of the children who describe prominent anxiety symptoms are not described by their parents as anxious. Patients with anxiety disorders often worry excessively about a number of things (school, work, etc.), and may feel edgy, stressed out or tired, tense, and have trouble getting restful sleep. A small number of patients may report brief episodes of severe anxiety (panic attacks) which intensify over about 10 minutes with complaints of pounding heart, sweating, shaking, choking, difficulty breathing, nausea or stomach pain, dizziness, and fears of going crazy or dying. These episodes may occur for no reason, and sometimes awaken patients.

Tics and Tourette’s Syndrome
Only about seven percent of those with AD/HD have tics or Tourette’s syndrome, but 60 percent of those with Tourette’s syndrome have AD/HD. Tics (sudden, rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic movements or vocalizations) or Tourette’s Syndrome (both movements and vocalizations) can occur with AD/HD in two ways. First, mannerisms or movements such as excessive eye blinking or throat clearing often occur between the ages of 10-12 years. These transient tics usually go away gradually over one-to-two years, and are just as likely to happen in AD/HD children as others. Tourette’s is a much rarer, but more severe tic disorder, where patients may make noises (e.g., barking a word or sound) and movements (e.g., repetitive flinching or eye blinking) on an almost daily basis for years.

Tics can also become more noticeable when patients are treated with stimulants or — much less likely — bupropion. While these medicines no longer appear to cause tics, they may unmask or exaggerate tics. Accordingly, sometimes lowering the dose can decrease the tics.

Learning Disabilities
Individuals with AD/HD frequently have difficulty learning in school. Depending on how learning disorders are defined, up to 60 percent of AD/HD children have a co-existing learning disorder. Learning disabled persons may have a specific problem reading or calculating, but they are not less intelligent than their peers are.

Substance Abuse
Recent work suggests that AD/HD youth are at increased risk for very early cigarette use, followed by alcohol and then drug abuse. Cigarette smoking is more common in adolescents with AD/HD, and adults with AD/HD have elevated rates of smoking and report particular difficulty in quitting. AD/HD youth are twice as likely to become addicted to nicotine as non-AD/HD individuals.

Contrary to popular belief, cocaine and stimulant abuse is not more common among AD/HD-individuals previously treated with stimulants: growing up taking stimulant medicines does not lead to substance abuse as these children become teenagers and adults. Indeed, those AD/HD adolescents prescribed stimulant medication are less likely to subsequently use illegal drugs than are those not prescribed medication.

This Fact Page was found at the C.H.A.D.D.Facts web page

Symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder

Symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM IV), the handbook used by those in psychiatric care as a guide for diagnosis, describes three primary symptoms of ADD: inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. To be diagnosed as ADD, the patient needs to exhibit at least six of the symptoms for inattention OR at least six of the symptoms of the combined hyperactivity-impulsivity list. So, with much warning about the danger of self diagnosis and without any further ado, here is THE LIST

SYMPTOMS OF INATTENTION

a. often ignores details; makes careless mistakes
b. often has trouble sustaining attention in work or play
c. often does not seem to listen when directly addressed
d. often does not follow through on instructions; fails to finish 
e. often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities 
f. often avoids activities that require a sustained mental effort
g. often loses things he needs
h. often gets distracted by extraneous noise
i. is often forgetful in daily activities

SYMPTOMS OF HYPERACTIVITY-IMPULSIVITY

Hyperactivity

a. often fidgets or squirms
b. often has to get up from seat
c. often runs or climbs when he shouldn’t 
(in adults, feelings of physical restlessness)
d. often has difficulty with quiet leisure activities 
e. often “on the go”, as if driven by a motor
f. often talks excessively

Impulsivity

g. often blurts out answers before questions have been completed
h. often has difficulty waiting his turn
i. often interrupts or intrudes on others

Of course, this list is very generalized. In fact, everyone probably experiences these feelings at one time or another. In order to be diagnosed, these symptoms must meet other important criteria as well:

A. symptoms must be present in two or more settings (such as work and home)
B. the individual must show “clinically significant impairment” at work or school or with other people
C. the individual must not suffer from another mental disorder that could explain the symptoms

10 Neurological Behaviors That Are Characteristic Of ADD/ADHD People

THE TEN NEUROLOGICAL BEHAVIORS THAT ARE CHARACTERISTIC OF ADD/ADHD PEOPLE

Attention Deficit Disorder is a neurological brain chemistry make-up involving neuroendocrine hormones and the synaptic system which connects one brain cell to another. The following is a list of neurologically (not psychologically) determined behaviors that are characteristic of ADD/ADHD people.

Children are born with their particular ADD/ADHD brain chemistry which evolves and changes with maturation but never fully disappears.

ADD/ADHD can be recognized in children. It is sometimes more obvious during the stress of the teenage years. Various aspects of ADD/ADHD brain chemistry always persists into adulthood.

The diagnosis of ADD/ADHD must be made clinically, not by presently available tests. It is dependent on the presence of at least several of the following TEN neurological abnormalities:

1. (*)Academic underachieving and/or inattentiveness due to difficulty processing and understanding information.

2. (*)Hyperactive or excessively fidgety behavior of varying intensity.

3. (*)Impulsivity: a. Verbal (i.e., blurting or interrupting others) and b. Action (i.e., acts before thinking or shifts from one activity to another excessively).

4. Enuresis (bedwetting).

5. Dyslexia: a. Spatial (i.e., writing with reversals or reversing number sequences) and b. Verbal (i.e., let me invite me to your birthday party (inverted meaning)).

6. Falling asleep slowly (even if tired).

7. Coming awake slowly (unless excited).

8. Frequent irritability and easy frustration.

9. Negativity with or without “awful feelings”: a. Holding on to anger and b. Holding on to negative thoughts.

10. Episodic explosiveness or “rage” or “tantrums” typically over “little things” or minor issues.

(*) based on diagnostic criteria in the DSM-III-R and DSM-IV manual

found at ADD and Challenged Individuals

Welcome to I Love My ADHD Kid

This is the same blog that used to be located at Multiply.com until they decided to discontinue that service, and MSN Communities before that.
I will be transferring all the useful information that I collected over the years while raising my son with ADHD from Multiply to here. 
See you soon!