What is AD(H)D?
AD(H)D stands for Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder. It is
a condition in some people where the part of the brain controlling time sense and some other
focus functions doesn't work as fast as the rest of the brain. This causes many life-disrupting
symptoms such as absent-mindedness, inability to keep track of time, distractability, daydreaming,
lack of focus and/or self-control, fidgeting, impulsiveness, unresponsiveness, etcetera.
But what does that mean?
It means that a person with ADD—hereafter the sufferer—is almost constantly in one of two opposite modes: hyperfocus or
hypofocus; that is to say, this person is almost always either completely distractable or
completely oblivious to evereything other than the activity at hand. The dual nature of this
disorder causes some people to be skeptical. Someone might say, "Don't tell me you can't
concentrate. I see you in your room all the time so intent on your book (/computer/TV/art/toys)
that World War Three could happen in the hallway without your noticing."
The sufferer is not merely undisciplined. He or she is literally incapable of focusing for long
periods of time on something he or she doesn't find interesting without an intense amount of
conscious effort. I must repeat, do not think that ADD can be easily overcome with a little
self-discipline. It takes an extraordinary amount of discipline, and here's why:
Imagine for a moment that you are in a large classroom. You are taking a test. You
want to do well on this test. You
want to concentrate.
Simple? Not so fast. You must overcome some significant obstacles. In the front of the room,
someone has a semiautomatic pistol filled with blanks, and once a second this person fires the
pistol. The teacher (in this example, a man,) is sitting at the desk, unaware of the pistol
being fired. He is moving a metal box back and forth on the desk, slamming it down loudly each
time he moves it. Out on the street which passes the school, a streaker is running up and down
the road. The police, fire trucks, and an ambulance are following him with their lights flashing.
Not only all this, but one of the students in the back of the room is thinking to herself out
loud, and she's not just whispering; she's shouting at the top of her voice while she thinks out
the problems.
Would you be able to finish the test? Do you think you'd have a hard time concentrating?
This scenario is rather ridiculous, and I readily admit that, but let's take a look at it again.
Instead of a person firing blanks every second, it's the ticking of an antiquated analog clock
on the wall. The teacher isn't throwing around a metal box; he's grading papers. The streaker
outside being chased by the police? Merely the normal passing of regular cars; there isn't a
police officer or law-breaker in sight. And the girl in the back of the room? She's not
shouting; she's barely mumbling.
Now could you finish the test? Not hard at all to concentrate, is it?
It is if you suffer with ADD.
If you have ADD, each of these inoccuous sights and sounds is as likely to catch your attention
and pull you away from your concentration as the gunfire, police lights, and shouting.
That's what it's like.
The sufferer can, with an extreme conscious effort, concentrate on what he or she is supposed
to be doing, but mastery of this ability takes years. It's not just a habit, or simple
self-discipline. Most people have no conception of what it takes to form a habit when your mind
is pulling against you every step of the way.
Until the years of practice enable the sufferer to manage distractions internally (and some people
are never completely free of this), the sufferer needs help. Parents can give the child
opportunities to practice concentrating and, if necessary, give the child caffeine to help the
slow part of the brain catch up with the rest of the brain. I recommend avoiding
Ritalin™. Teachers can help by using creative teaching strategies to
make the material more interesting.
Read on for more information.
Drugs, lies, and discipline.
One of the hardest things about living with ADHD is that many people don't
believe I have a disorder. This is because of the growing number of normal kids who have been
labelled AD(H)D incorrectly. There is a frightening trend among American parents to assume every
child who doesn't sit still has Attention Deficit, and this is clearly NOT TRUE! I read a case of
one youngster interviewed by his doctor, and the malpractitioner asked the young man about his
behavior. The child admitted he didn't sit still, but he also asserted that he didn't sit still
because he didn't want to. The doctor tried to get the child to say that he
couldn't sit
still, but the child wouldn't budge. He knew he could sit still; he was simply refusing to do it.
Most cases are not this severe, but the trend
is so severe that almost any time a child
does not pay attention in class, his or her parents are notified and urged to get the child tested.
Unfortunately, as most doctors will probably tell you, ADHD is difficult to diagnose. Having
lived with ADHD for more than 17 years, I have come to disagree with the popular wisdom on this. The facts,
coupled with some elementary logic, should make the verification or disproof of a diagnosis very
simple.
Consider: The most common (and completely inappropriate) treatment suggested for this diagnosis
is a stimulant in the subset known as amphetamines. Why do they
prescribe a stimulant? Because in the ADD brain, the section controlling time (track of time,
memory of time, patience, attention span, focus, etc.) doesn't run as fast as the rest of the
brain (which in ADD people tends to be very fast), so the stimulant gets that part of the brain
up to speed, allowing the person to concentrate and often to sit still.
Consider: Normal people who take a stimulant (caffeine, Amphetamines, etc.) get jittery and hyper.
Often they report feeling more alert and more awake, but really, they have moved themselves
chemically to a state more like that of a person with ADHD. Caffeine does not help most people
concentrate. It makes them nervous and inhibits concentration.
Logic: If the ADD-diagnosed person consumes caffeine and does not subsequently become calmer,
more focused, and better able to control him- or herself, he or she does not have ADD.
This is what my experience has told me. If you disagree, tough. It's not my fault if you raise
a drug addict.
While I do believe a person who genuinely has ADD is most unlikely to become hooked on this
drug, I also believe that drug therapy is entirely the wrong approach to treating this disorder.
I took this amphetamine for somewhere between six and eight years, and it calmed me, but I could
have gotten the same effect, with less risk, by drinking a soda every morning. Also, while it
did help me to concentrate, it did not help me in the long run. Not until I stopped taking it
did I begin to develop the control I needed for long-term stability. I'm not suggesting that
a person with ADD is simply undisciplined. Some very prominent people hold that opinion, but
they haven't lived with the disorder for 17 years, and they don't really know about the subject.
I was listening to one rather obnoxious radio host the other day, and he suggested in miniature
radio drama that all a child diagnosed with ADD needs is a smack in the head and orders to pay
attention. While something more along the lines of discipline may be what many children who
are diagnosed with this disorder need, it is not what the child who genuinely has ADD needs.
Parents, if your child does not have ADD, ride him or her hard until he or she starts pulling his
or her weight.
If, on the other hand, your child genuinely does have ADD, harshness won't help him or her, and
may hamper their ability to function. Children who have ADD tend to be actually smarter than
normal children, but they learn differently. If your child really does have this disorder, what
he or she truly needs is challenging, creative, and flexible teaching. You should probably home
school your child, but if you are unable to do that, please make sure he or she gets teachers
who teach creatively with a focus on the child learning as much as possible, because if you
give a person with ADD the tools he or she needs to pay attention, that person will accomplish
more than you could dream. Don't fall prey to the propaganda put out by drug companies. A
child with ADD usually does not need chemical intervention in order to learn. They need creative
teaching styles that will keep them engaged. If you feel your child does need chemical help,
a cup of coffee or tea is a much safer alternative to an amphetamine.
AD(H)D is a learning disability. It falls under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
