Read You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid or Crazy?!: The Classic Self-Help Book for Adults With Attention Deficit Disorder for Free Online Page A
Authors: Kate Kelly, Peggy Ramundo
self-acceptance and forgiveness. Every person with a disabilityhas to make the best of the cards he’s been dealt.
How Common Is ADD?
How many of us are there? Is ADD common? We have to say, somewhat apologetically, that we don’t have the answer to these questions! But here are some guesstimates .
The prevalence figures reported in professional literature vary widely from 1 to 20 percent of the population. Studies that include individuals without hyperactivity cite 20 percent prevalence. The estimate acceptedby many professionals is a conservative 3 to 5 percent. Your question “But why?” may be on the tip of your tongue. Why is there so little consensus?
First, there is a lack of agreement about symptoms. Some research studies include individuals without hyperactivity and some don’t. Second, most research has focused on children and hasn’t included adolescent and adult subjects. The lack of consensusabout diagnostic criteria and a somewhat limited number of studies with ADD adults has resulted in statistics that vary from study to study.
“ADD Is a Childhood Disorder
That Occurs Primarily in Boys”
We hate to break this news to the old-school of thought experts, but authors Kelly and Ramundo are ADDers who are neither boys nor children! The assumption that many more boys than girls have ADDis being challenged as increasing numbers of adult women are newly diagnosed. Historically, six times more boys than girls have been diagnosed with the disorder. The ratio approaches one to one if ADD without hyperactivity is included. These statistics suggest that the learning and adjustment problems of many ADD girls are too subtle to be identified. This apparent underidentification of girls andnon-hyperactive boys is a serious problem. These children—and adults—have special needs that are too often overlooked.
We have considered several questions that don’t have easy answers. Although most of us are uncomfortable with ambiguity, we need to focus our attention on those issues that do have answers:
“How has this disorder had an impact on my life?”
“How do my differences play out in my daily life?”
“How can I help myself?”
In the next two chapters, we’ll look at the impact ADD has had on our lives and at the ways each of us is uniquely different from our non-ADD peers. We’ll devote the remainder of the book to the third question and share lots of suggestions for managing symptoms and discovering your ADDed Dimension.
Chapter 2
How Are We Different?
I f you have ADD, your disorder makes you different. There’s no doubt about it. You come into the world with differences that are part of the wiring of your brain. Not only are you different from others who don’t have ADD, you are also different from others who do.
Different Doesn’t Mean Defective
Yes, each of us is different, but different doesn’t equal defective.It’s foolish to ignore our differences or pretend they don’t exist. It’s equally foolish to focus exclusively on the debit side of those differences. Although our lives would probably be easier without ADD, they wouldn’t be more valuable.
In the first chapter we examined the three broad categories of ADD symptoms. Now we’ll enlarge the discussion to consider the impact these symptoms have onyour daily life. You’ll learn about your disabilities. You’ll also learn about your abilities—abilities that are sometimes hidden by the challenges you face as a result of your particular ADD symptoms.
So How Do the Differences Affect ADD Adults?
Although we talk of ADD as a distinct disorder, it makes more sense to think of it as a syndrome: a group of symptoms thattend to occur together. Theconcept of a syndrome seems an appropriate way of thinking about a central nervous system that doesn’t work quite right. As previously noted, while researchers disagree about the specific origins of ADD, most agree that the regulatory function of the CNS is somehow erratic and
How Common Is ADD?
How many of us are there? Is ADD common? We have to say, somewhat apologetically, that we don’t have the answer to these questions! But here are some guesstimates .
The prevalence figures reported in professional literature vary widely from 1 to 20 percent of the population. Studies that include individuals without hyperactivity cite 20 percent prevalence. The estimate acceptedby many professionals is a conservative 3 to 5 percent. Your question “But why?” may be on the tip of your tongue. Why is there so little consensus?
First, there is a lack of agreement about symptoms. Some research studies include individuals without hyperactivity and some don’t. Second, most research has focused on children and hasn’t included adolescent and adult subjects. The lack of consensusabout diagnostic criteria and a somewhat limited number of studies with ADD adults has resulted in statistics that vary from study to study.
“ADD Is a Childhood Disorder
That Occurs Primarily in Boys”
We hate to break this news to the old-school of thought experts, but authors Kelly and Ramundo are ADDers who are neither boys nor children! The assumption that many more boys than girls have ADDis being challenged as increasing numbers of adult women are newly diagnosed. Historically, six times more boys than girls have been diagnosed with the disorder. The ratio approaches one to one if ADD without hyperactivity is included. These statistics suggest that the learning and adjustment problems of many ADD girls are too subtle to be identified. This apparent underidentification of girls andnon-hyperactive boys is a serious problem. These children—and adults—have special needs that are too often overlooked.
We have considered several questions that don’t have easy answers. Although most of us are uncomfortable with ambiguity, we need to focus our attention on those issues that do have answers:
“How has this disorder had an impact on my life?”
“How do my differences play out in my daily life?”
“How can I help myself?”
In the next two chapters, we’ll look at the impact ADD has had on our lives and at the ways each of us is uniquely different from our non-ADD peers. We’ll devote the remainder of the book to the third question and share lots of suggestions for managing symptoms and discovering your ADDed Dimension.
Chapter 2
How Are We Different?
I f you have ADD, your disorder makes you different. There’s no doubt about it. You come into the world with differences that are part of the wiring of your brain. Not only are you different from others who don’t have ADD, you are also different from others who do.
Different Doesn’t Mean Defective
Yes, each of us is different, but different doesn’t equal defective.It’s foolish to ignore our differences or pretend they don’t exist. It’s equally foolish to focus exclusively on the debit side of those differences. Although our lives would probably be easier without ADD, they wouldn’t be more valuable.
In the first chapter we examined the three broad categories of ADD symptoms. Now we’ll enlarge the discussion to consider the impact these symptoms have onyour daily life. You’ll learn about your disabilities. You’ll also learn about your abilities—abilities that are sometimes hidden by the challenges you face as a result of your particular ADD symptoms.
So How Do the Differences Affect ADD Adults?
Although we talk of ADD as a distinct disorder, it makes more sense to think of it as a syndrome: a group of symptoms thattend to occur together. Theconcept of a syndrome seems an appropriate way of thinking about a central nervous system that doesn’t work quite right. As previously noted, while researchers disagree about the specific origins of ADD, most agree that the regulatory function of the CNS is somehow erratic and
Similar Books
Kit Cavendish-Private Nurse
Margaret Malcolm
The Survival Kit
Donna Freitas
The Windrose Chronicles 3 - Dog Wizard
Barbara Hambly
LOWCOUNTRY BOOK CLUB
Susan M. Boyer
Love Me Tender
Susan Fox
Watcher's Web
Patty Jansen
The Other Anzacs
Peter Rees
Borrowed Wife
Patrícia Wilson
Shadow Puppets
Orson Scott Card
All That Was Happy
M.M. Wilshire