Thank you for educating me about this disability. I am one of the people who characterized it in with mental illness (meaning depression, personality disorders, etc.) and am grateful to have my terminology put on the right track.
What struck me the strongest in your essay is your mention of problems in the workplace. I, too, have had a lifetime disability (if undiagnosed for 50 years) that made it seem to others as if I was acting out, or deliberately self-sabotaging, or any number of other very negative things. The truth was, the harder I pushed myself, the faster I fell apart physically, and would have to take sick days to recover. I averaged about 3 years at each secretarial job I had, because of my many absences and the negative attitudes it generated with my bosses and coworkers.
And you're right, when I was finally diagnosed recently, I was finally able to overcome those negative messages, flip them all off mentally, and regain some of my lost self-respect. What a confidence builder!
I don't have much to say about ADD/ADHD myself, because I haven't had much experience with it personally. I accept what you're saying, though. The eyeglasses example was inspired, and the pie charts were very helpful.
Thanks for this.
Sorry if I sound like a dork, I had to read this in two pieces (slow reader) around a rather long day trip, so I'm tired from the trip, too.
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Date: 11 Jun 2010 11:24 pm (UTC)What struck me the strongest in your essay is your mention of problems in the workplace. I, too, have had a lifetime disability (if undiagnosed for 50 years) that made it seem to others as if I was acting out, or deliberately self-sabotaging, or any number of other very negative things. The truth was, the harder I pushed myself, the faster I fell apart physically, and would have to take sick days to recover. I averaged about 3 years at each secretarial job I had, because of my many absences and the negative attitudes it generated with my bosses and coworkers.
And you're right, when I was finally diagnosed recently, I was finally able to overcome those negative messages, flip them all off mentally, and regain some of my lost self-respect. What a confidence builder!
I don't have much to say about ADD/ADHD myself, because I haven't had much experience with it personally. I accept what you're saying, though. The eyeglasses example was inspired, and the pie charts were very helpful.
Thanks for this.
Sorry if I sound like a dork, I had to read this in two pieces (slow reader) around a rather long day trip, so I'm tired from the trip, too.