FOCUS+ 11/8/10 Meeting Summary

For the November FOCUS+ meeting we led off by introducing ourselves to a few new attendees and briefly discussing our personal experiences either as people with ADHD or as parents of children with ADHD (or frequently, as both). One of the common themes that emerged from our discussion was how ADHD rarely exists as a single diagnosis; most people with ADHD have additional diagnoses ranging from anxiety or depression to learning disabilities, personality disorders, etc.

We also discussed the reasons we participate in groups like FOCUS+:

1. The opportunity to discuss our experiences with other people who understand them. People without personal experience with ADHD often make the mistake of wanting to either offer us pity or to try to "fix" our situations. We certainly don't want pity and the reality is that our situations aren't "fixable" ones, but instead are situations that must be managed over time.


2. The chance to hear some success stories; one group member mentioned a daughter with ADHD who is currently attending Purdue University (not exactly an easy college to get into) while another mentioned a child with ADHD who has become a successful attorney. Other successes mentioned that were equally important, if a tad less dramatic, were stories of picking up more substitute teaching work in recent weeks following a job loss earlier in the year and having tremendous success with a "personal coach" and a very positive experience at an artist training "retreat."


3. The chance to remove some of the shame or stigma that is too often associated with ADHD.


4. The chance to use one's own experience to help someone else.


5. The chance to learn yet one more piece of information to help with finding better ways to manage ADHD.

We discussed some of the terminology surrounding ADHD:

1. ADD vs. ADHD: ADD refers to Attention Deficit Disorder, where an individual has difficulty with sustaining focus, paying attention to detail, etc.; while ADHD refers to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, where an individual has difficulty with hyperactivity -- constant fidgeting, impulsivity, etc. The DSM IV (the official book listing recognized mental diagnoses) currently recognizes three types of ADHD: ADD (difficulty with focus but not with hyperactivity), ADHD (difficulty with hyperactivity but not with focus) and Combined (difficulty with both).


2. We talked about how ADHD could be characterized in different ways:


3. A challenge or deficit -- not unlike challenges/deficits faced by people with visual impairments, mobility impairments, etc.. As with a person with impaired vision, a person with ADHD needs to find alternative ways to accomplish tasks that work around his or her impairment. A blind person might use Braille or a text-to-speech program on a computer to read; a person with ADHD might use special organizing strategies and low-distraction environments to study new material and work effectively.


4. Could ADHD be considered a "gift", like the gift of exceptional musical or artistic abilities? ADHD definitely alters how a person perceives and processes information, and in some situations that unusual perspective can be beneficial -- think of how the comedian Robin Williams does "stream-of-consciousness" ad-lib comedy on stage. But a "gift" generally implies additional abilities in one area without sacrificing abilities in other areas...ADHD definitely brings those sacrifices with it as well. So is ADHD a gift? Yes.....if you keep in mind that the God-awful, super-ugly sweater that your great aunt gave you for Christmas that you're now forced to wear to school on Monday is also a "gift".

Finally, we had two "comics" make the rounds: the first was an inspirational message about letting your inner light shine:



The second, aimed more at the sarcastic members of the group (like yours truly) was a graph representing how the urge to procrastinate ought to be vs. how it actually is:



Finally, we discussed our extra-special, super-guest-presenter for our next meeting on 12/14/10: Me. I'll be sharing some highlights from a seminar I attended in October called "The Very Best Treatment for ADHD and the Processing Disorders" that was presented by David Nowell, Ph.D.. Is this a case of me just parroting what some smart guy said? Absolutely. Is it blatant, shameless plagiarism? You betcha. But it's also really good material and I am sharing it with the author's knowledge and approval. I think you'll enjoy it. Hey, it's got a picture of a pretty girl in it as well as a drawing of Elmer Fudd. Seriously, you gonna pass on a free meeting with snacks and a PowerPoint presentation with that kind of zazz in it? See you on the 14th.



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