Drawing Attention to A Public Deficit Sociological Self-Reflections on Growing Up with ADD

INTRODUCTION I must have been about the age of seven (around 1995) when I was home from school one day, watching the Geraldo Rivera Show. Now I don't remember why I was home, or even why I was watching a day-time talk show at the age of seven, but I do remember the topic. That day's show was centered around the controversial topic of the time, ADD, and I remember calling my mother scared about what the guests were saying as I had just recently been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. This would be my first recollection of the largely negative opinion of ADD that would soon begin to shape how I interpreted my everyday life. While I may have come a long way from my perception of the diagnosis from the age of seven, it still is a factor of my life as well as the daily lives of millions of others who share my diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder, more recently referred to as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Now as a graduate student studying sociology, I am more aware than ever of my diagnosis, and far more intuitive as to how it has affected my socialization, a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position (Appelrouth and Edles 2008). I am also aware of how on the macro level the societal opinion of a positive ADD diagnosis can affect either positively or negatively one's willingness to disclose or admit their diagnosis, and how it continues to shape and affect people's lives throughout adulthood. II. ADD AS A PERSONAL TROUBLE As a child I remember being hard to handle, hyper, and prone to temper tantrum, but aren't all children? Many people jump to the conclusion that because their child is difficult he or she must have ADD, drawing conclusions merely from their lifeworld rather than actual and careful examination of concrete circumstances surrounding each case. According to Appelrouth and Edles (2008), lifeworld "refers to the world of existing assumptions as they are experienced and made meaningful in consciousness" (2008: 539). People have overlooked several of the key factors contributing to ADD and merely focused on what mass media has given them as a basis for their assumptions. The real and medical definition of the symptoms involved in the diagnosis of ADD, or ADHD, is far lengthier and involves an array of different test for diagnosis. In the lifeworld there are two separate spheres both the public sphere and private sphere. The public sphere consists of the media and open spaces, like schools where "actors engage in a struggle over influences, that is, over the ability to shape public opinion in order to catapult an issue into official, institutionalized political bodies" (Appelrouth and Edles 2008:725). It is in the public sphere that we can see how these lifeworld meanings arise and become stereotypes or simple generalized beliefs. The private sphere of the lifeworld, in contrast, consists of the family. Here, the relationships are much more intimate. So, my ADD diagnosis was also placed in the context of my family's knowledge of and attitudes toward me as a person. In the book You mean I'm not Lazy, Stupid Or Crazy?!, Kaye Kelly and Peggy Ramundo, portray a scene of a difficult child in a grocery store throwing oranges, while the other shoppers stare disapprovingly on the mother trying to discipline her child as best as she could--which inevitably leads to a tantrum on the part of the child (1993:29). I can personally see being that child, and my mother gasping for some sort of explanation. Kelly and Ramundo write, "Many of us have countless childhood memories of similar scenes. We were reacting predictably to the ADD wiring in our brains while our parents were trying to do the best they could in a tough situation" (1993:29). The essential part of the quote to notice is the reference to the brain. Many people have a general education on ADD and believe it is simply the inability to focus; so, they assume anyone may have it. …