Only child syndrome: Pfui.
I have to 2nd getting an adhd eval by a specialist who's used to dealing with it, as an adhd-c mum (dx'd over 20 years) to an adhd-c kiddo. TEACHERS, and people familiar only with adhd-h (hyperactive physical), which includes a LOT of school psychologists who usually focus in either developmental psych, or childhood trauma, mostly don't have a clue in the WORLD as to what an adhd-i actually looks like or presents as (inattentive... the H part is hyperactive mental which looks to the outside world like *constant* daydreaming or being off in their own world.) 4 things "ping" my adhd-radar. Being physically gifted, or constant daydreamers, or "does not consistently complete or turn in homework", or interrupting excitedly with something that SEEMS totally unrelated to what's being talked about
((But you can follow their train of though by jumping two or three lillypads off in a tangent... ex while looking a a pyramid my son jumped into a conversation wanting to know why the pitcher's mound wasn't centered in baseball. Asking him to take me on his train of thought. They base of the pyramid made him think of a baseball diamond, but in order to really match, the pitcher's mound should be at the apex, aka dead center, but instead is closer to the batter. He was wondering if baseball was cheating by not following the same geometiric rules, or if pitchers just weren't strong enough. He was LISTENING, and LOOKING at they pyramid, but it got him thinking about something totally different. He was making connections, just not the obvious ones. This was an easy 2-step jump... but some go further. Like if baseball had reminded him of his friend who fell on his bum, which would remind him of how baboons have wild colored bums, which would prompt a question about baboons)).
But seriously, the number of people in the psych FIELD who don't know that (just like how bipolar people have both manic and depressive), adhd'ers have BOTH dispersed focus and hyperfocus. Because adhd isn't their specialty. Meaning anything boring it almost impossible to pay attention to, but if something is interesting we can and will be hyperfocused on it for HOURS. To the point of not even knowing you need to pee until too, or almost too late. Much less being aware of anything else going on around you. Most adults at some point look up and realize the time has gotten away from them. Adhd adults will sometimes surface and realize they've lost a whole day, or that it's almost dawn. Adhd kids in hyperfocus are the notorious at having difficulty with transitions. Because one really does have to "surface", get your bearings, and hopefully have a few minutes to reorient themselves before plunging into something else.
There are 3 types of adhd... h, i, & c. I'm combined, as is my son (so we do both the hyperactive mental and hyperactive physical. It's the hardest to spot for people who aren't in the field... but inattentive is the one that doesn't usually get diagnosed until 5th/6th grade.
ADHD is an AMAZING series of gifts. For example, the i & c people (with hyperactive mental) tend to be able to think, concurrently, of 5 or 6 things at the same time. Makes it VERY difficult to listen to instructions when you're young... because while you're being told a list of something boring 1/5th of your mind is examining the colors in the room and how they shift with the shadows, another 1/5th is creating an imaginary game, another 1/5th is remembering something exciting from earlier, etc. BUT it's an amazing mental gift that turns people (who have a hard time listening to 3 directions in a row as kids) into amaaaaaazing scientists, diagnosticians, artists, writers, psychologists, what have you... people who are able to hold several DISPARATE thoughts concurrently, and synthesize them into a meaningful whole. In medicine it's taking several seeming totally unrelated symptoms and *poof* the most likey answer pops into their head (like rainman for numbers), or the come up with the off the wall question which ties all the symptoms together into things that DO make sense together. In writers, these are the folks that never have to plot anything out, because it's all in their minds... in scientists it's the ones who make crazy leaps of intuition, and come up with something new. Anyhow... like I said... a PAIN for kids who are being told to do simple things, but a stellar gift for adults.
<laughing> And yeah... the step by step GPS thing is actually a coping mechanism we have here in the house. My son's "chores" are written down and include things like wakeup, pee, brush teeth, wash face, get breakfast... THAT detailed. Not because he can't remember to do them, but because if something "interesting" distracts him... BASICS don't happen unless they've been ground into a "pattern" that he doesn't have to think about.
Anyhow... just something to think about/ check out.
www.additudemag.com is a stellar resource.
