ADHD Awareness Month

[lcdc1]

I don't know how many of you get, or have seen the ADDitude magazine? I just subscribed to it through a magazine drive from my oldest daughter school and got the 1st issue yesterday and was reading an artilce in there about ADD awareness month and some things we can do to raise awareness of what ADHD is and is not! A lot of it is talking points, but well worth looking at.

The article list myths and facts and I will tell you the first one and give you more later: (although most of us know this stuff, it is worth highlighting some stuff as words might escape us at times!).

1. Myth - ADHD is not a real medical disorder. Fact - It has been recognized as a legitimate medical disorder diagnosed by major medical, physcological, and educational organizations, including the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Education. It is a recongized as a medical disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - which is also referred to as the "bible" used in that profession. It is biollogically based, it is the imbalance of of chemical messengers, nuerotransmitters, within the brain.

This information is summarized from the fall edition of ADDitude magazine, Volume 8, issue 6. Myth 2 later!

So be proud of who we are, who our kids are, who our friends and family are, and correct myths about this disorder (the word disorder sucks, but that is what is used medically!) I look at myself with severe ADHD as the hyper, joking, tries hard, works hard, forgives mostly, got your back, kind of person, not the ADHD adult that has to have medical intervention to succeed person!

[lcdc1]

OK, I am going to jump around and go to myth 7 - People who have ADHD are stupid or lazy, they never amount to anything.

FACT - People with ADHD are of above-average intelligence, recent studies show. The are not lazy. Many well known and high achieving individuals are thought to have had/or do have ADHD, inlcuding Mozart, Ben Franklin (who the heck else would electricute themselves!), Abraham Lincoln, George Bernhard Shaw, Salvador Dali and the list of high achievers today, includes; David Neelman founder of JetBlue, Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinko's, ,and Mike Phelps. AND of course LCdc(haha, just had to throw that in there to see if you are paying attention!)

I like this fact myself, because I like the theory that ADHD is not a deficit, I like the theory that it is an over abundance of information jamming into our brain so fast that we cannot filter it all in or out at the rate we absorb it!

Can you add and other high achieving ADHD'ers to the list?

[John]

Sept 3, 2008 12:44:24 GMT -5 lcdc1 said:

Can you add and other high achieving ADHD'ers to the list?

Nikola Tesla

Inventions = Short list

1. Alternate Current (AC)
2. First remote control (toy) boat in 1899
3. Wireless light bulb (I'm not kidding)
5. Radio, as substituted by the Supreme Court in 1943.
5. Remote controlled torpedo (1914)

www.pbs.org/tesla/ins/index.html -

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla


Tesla spent 98% of his time inventing but about 0.003% of his time trying to make any money from them.
Edison his arch nemesis, was about the opposite, but Tesla could never figure it out.

He died a virtual pauper at age 86 in 1943.

[lcdc1]

Wow, that is pretty cool John! I learned something here today!

OK Myth 2 - Children who are given special accomodations in school because of ADHD have an unfair advantage!

FACT - The federal individuals with disabilities act (IDEA) requires that public schools address the special needs of all children with disablities, including children with ADHD. Special accomodations, such as extra time on tests, level the playing field. This makes it more likely that kids with ADHD can learn as successfully as their classmates.

I am sure most of you with kids already knew this one! If your kids have ADHD, you may be dealing with accomodations already as I am with my oldest who is 14! Sometimes ADHD is accompanied by an LD too, so you have to make sure each issue is addressed with proper accomodations and there are great ideas in the parent and school section!

[jj]

Sept 3, 2008 12:44:24 GMT -5 lcdc1 said:

AND of course LCdc(haha, just had to throw that in there to see if you are paying attention!)

I was paying attention! Caught it.

Good stuff LC.

[lcdc1]

Cool, glad you like it! No one caught the fact that I mispelled a word in the title either? ;D

OK MYTH 3 - Children with ADHD eventually outgrow this condition.

FACT - More than 70% of the individuals who have ADHD in childhood, continue to have it in adolescence and up to 50% will continue into adulthood. Although it has been estimated that 6% of the adult population has ADHD, the majority of these adults remain undiagnosed, and only 1 in 4 seeks treatment. Yet, without help, adults are highly vulnerable to depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. They often experience career difficutlies, legal and financial problems, and troubled personal relationships!

This is interesting to me and I wish I had known some of these facts a long time ago as a young adult! I was and still am, the poster adult for all that! ARGHHHHH! I am sure some of you adults with ADHD can relate to some of this or all of it.

[charliegirl]

Lc, I admit I didn't notice you misspelled a word in the title. I had to go look.

I did catch that you put your name in as one of the high achievers with ADHD. Actually, when you consider what a demanding job you have and how you excel at it, I think you do belong on that list. It didn't come easy for you but you worked to get there and aren't stuck in a job you hate because you settled. That is very inspiring.

[unicorn]

I love ADDitude. I read it cover to cover when it comes.

Of course you belong on that list! All of us and our children that have ADHD belong on that list. All high achievers!!! ;D

[misty]

I caught the misspelled word in the title, LC, but I was too nice to point it out. ;D

I agree you belong on that list....>I could never ever do what you do. I think Henry Winkler is ADHD, isn't he? Or dyslexic or something like that. Also Terry Bradshaw, Robin Williams, Greg Louganis, & Magic Johnson.

[lcdc1]

Yes, misty you are too nice! Ok next item!

MYTH 4 - ADHD affects only boys.
FACT - Wow, that amazes me when I hear that myth. Oh, back on track. Girls are just as likely to have ADHD. Gender does not make a difference in symptoms caused by the disorder. But, because the myth persists, boys are more likely to be diagnosed than girls.

That is so strange to me? Maybe that is why little girls are sometimes labeled tomboys? That was what I was called as a kid, along with not so nice other labels!

There are a couple more to add later.