From: hendricks@cdrom.enet.dec.com (Holly Hendricks)
Newsgroups: misc.kids,misc.education,k12.chat.teacher,sci.med,chi.general
Subject: Re: Attention Deficit Disorder Resources
Date: 1 Oct 92 18:47:04 GMT
Article-I.D.: nntpd.1992Oct1.184704.9370
Reply-To: hendricks@cdrom.enet.dec.com
Organization: DEC



>	"ADD" is a falacy.  The majority if not all kids/people
>	with this type of behaviour/attention "disorder" is due
>	to allergic/sensitivity reactions to various foods and
>	things in their environment.
>
>
>	Prescribing something like Ritalin for "ADD", is like
>	taking "downers" to counteract the "uppers" you just took.
 
>       Alan Yasutovich

Wow!  Those are strong words!  I wish ADD was a falacy. It may have
causes and contributing factors that we don't yet understand, 
but the experience of having the cluster of behaviors known as 
ADD (or in my case ADD/H, with hyperactivity) was a very real 
and very painful experience for me that I still have to manage
every day of my life to be a productive professional person.

Lots of my teachers, and my father, felt as you do -- "just punish
her for being lazy until she performs.  Knock that attitude problem
out of her.  Don't let her tell you what she needs; tell her what
she is expected to do."

I won't argue that ADD is misused as a label way too often.
It's an easy thing to label a kid who is uncooperative, hard to
teach, and not responding well to everything teachers try.

I won't argue that drugs are misused way too often as an
attempt to fix the wrong problem.  In my case, the drugs
helped me sit still for half an hour at a time rather than
5 minutes at a time in elementary school.  They may have
harmed me in some way that I don't know.  I didn't have any
say in whether I took them or not, but I probably would have
been expelled without them.  It seems like the lesser of two
evils, in retrospect.

For me ADD was having a very high IQ and being a very poor performer
in school.  I was not good at memorizing, and I had a lot of problems
with auditory perception.  I could read way beyond grade level, but
could not comprehend simple math very well.  I couldn't sit still
(and still cannot very well) and have had to learn to manage a very
short attention span and a jittery body that interferes with
concentration.

Your points about food are well taken; I have done much better
with my own ADD symptoms since I eliminated sugar from my diet 4
years ago at age 36.  But this only helped; I still have to
manage the underlying problems.  I still have to make sure that
I don't let myself get put in situations where I have no control
over my information processing.

(For example, I would be a disaster on a jury if I was not allowed
to take notes.  All the information would be "in one ear and out
the other".  I process auditory information by writing as I listen
and reading what I write.  If I get called to be on a jury, I
will be as assertive as possible about my special needs, and get
medical support if necessary to either have the props I need
(being able to write) or to be excused.)

Before I knew anything about ADD, I decided to find out how I
learned best since I clearly had numerous problems learning and
processing information.  I was frustrated that homework took me 
hours longer than kids that weren't "supposed to be as smart".  
As I gradually acquired more freedom to learn the way I wanted 
to throughout secondary school and college, I learned a lot 
about my own learning.  

I learned how to supplement auditory situations with visuals.  I
learned how to make my own "teaching aids" that were customized
for my learning disability.  I learned to avoid working in most small
groups whenever possible.  I learned to use color and make myself
sketchbooks and textbooks to supplement published texts.  I learned
how to set up a class schedule that works best for my relatively short
attention span.

Because motivation was never my problem, I believe that ADD is real, 
and I don't believe that it's hopeless at all.  I believe that 
the person who has it can learn a great deal about managing it IF they
are motivated to do some extra work, and can learn to become a strong
performer in one's chosen field.  I believe that people with
ADD can go on and do graduate work very successfully, as I have.

I also believe that people with ADD may not be the most flexible
or versatile people on the team, and that is an important factor as
well.  I have had to educate all my managers that there are areas
in which I simply cannot be flexible, or my learning disability
will be running my life again.

Holly
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   Holly Hendricks
   Digital Equipment Corporation, Nashua NH 
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Newsgroups: misc.kids