Originally Posted by guihong
Bumping this thread, as after nearly 50 years on the planet, I now know what is going on with me. I'm not "stupid", "unmotivated", "not applying myself", "ditzy", or especially "special education". I have ADD.
What happened was that my son can not remember the nose on his face to save his life, I haven't seen the floor of his room for a year, and he's brilliant but does his homework in a way only he understands. So, on a hunch, I took him to a child psychologist for evaluation. As she asked him questions, I found myself thinking "That was me" or "Yeah, me too". So I got myself evaluated. Now I know why I do the things I do, and why I make my life so hard. I'm not crazy or some kind of failure. The counselor pointed out that I'd finished college and a masters' degree, and raised my kids in the best way I knew. I'd coped around ADD without knowing it.
The good news for both my son and I is that the problems can be addressed, and how fortunate for my son that schools know something about this and won't lump him as "slow", "stupid", "slob". Back when I was his age, ADD was unheard of, and it was a moral failing that my desk was a mess, I forgot slips and homework, and I'd lose mittens, my jacket, library books. Now we both have a lot of work to do, but at least I can work with myself and not fight it.
A great book: The ADD-Friendly Way to Organize Your Life, by Kolberg and Nadeau. I found it today at B&N.
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