On Thu, 15 May 2008 02:07:15 -0300, Nicolas Alvarez wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> My stepson went to a school for gifted ADD and highly-distractable
>> students, many of whom were on various drugs for their conditions - and
>> while I'm no MD, it was clear to me that many of them were just very
>> active kids with parents who wanted their kids to be "less active".
>> There probably was a percentage who actually *needed* the drug, but I
>> wouldn't hesitate to say that all of them didn't need it - though I
>> certainly wouldn't be the one to decide who got it and who didn't.
> (grr, lost post half-written, no draft saved)
> 
> Kids are *always* hyperactive. And particularly annoying trying to
> always get the attention of their parents (ever seen a kid repeating
> "mommy look what I found!" until mommy looks, *literally* a hundred
> times if needed?). The problem is with parents distinguishing when it's
> normal and when it's really ADHD.

Yep.

One of the more interesting discussions I had was with one of Ken's 
friends as we were getting ready to move (closer to the school, actually) 
- Will had come over to help move things, and we got to talking about his 
ADHD.  He started describing what it was like living in his head, and how 
frustrating it made him that he couldn't focus on one thing at a time.  
That was an incredibly enlightening discussion.

> I guess my case is different because *I* notice *my* lack of attention.
> And talk to friends about "do you ever get distracted with X" to see if
> it's normal or my ADD. (*) I mean, sure, everyone gets distracted during
> a boring class at school. But I could spend several minutes during an
> exam playing around with the pen and thinking about *whatever*, without
> even "remembering" I'm at an exam. I just "wake up" and "oh yeah I'm
> halfway on an exam... where was I...". Or just anywhere else. Like
> spending an hour on the *shower*, who knows how much time actually
> washing and how much with my mind on the moon.

Well, Will also noticed his lack of attention, but he said that it took a 
significant amount of effort to focus his attention on anything.  It's 
been 7-ish years since that conversation, and unfortunately, I can't ask 
him about it again (sadly, he was killed in an ATV accident about a year 
ago).  I think for many of us, though, some of these experiences are 
fairly normal.  Mind wandering in the shower, for example - I get some of 
my best ideas in the shower because I just let my mind wander.  Even at 
work, though, I sometimes drift from thing to thing - partly because I've 
got a lot to do (yet I spend time reading/writing in newsgroups too).  I 
don't think it's ADD/ADHD or anything like that, more just how I'm wired.

> (*) at this point in writing this post, I spent like a whole hour
> reading forums, completely forgetting I had this post half-written
> behind the browser window.

BTDTGTTS. :-)

Jim

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