ADD - Who Said You Have A "Disorder"?

When I hear the label "attention deficit disorder" being applied, I get a little miffed. It makes us ADD people seem like there's something wrong with us. Could it be that we just don't easily fit into a linear world? I mean, because the majority of people on earth are linear thinkers, does that make us disabled? I say, "No!" We're just different.

The first thing that people tell us is that we're distracted. We don't pay attention. That couldn't be farther from reality. We're actually paying attention to everything, not just one thing. We're hunters in a farmer world. We hear every twig that snaps in the forest, and notice small changes happening all the time. That makes us great problem solvers. We can be detectives, analysts, and do any kind of job that requires noticing small things.

We're results oriented, too. Yes, some would call us impatient, but we're really just anxious to get to the results. We want to see a plan in action, and we want to see that plan fulfilled. We don't like waiting to analyze every angle, or to make sure the timing is right. We just want to jump on whatever the situation is and get it moving forward.

ADD people aren't great at following directions, though. We don't see one way to get things done, and we can't follow directions because to us, they may seem like the wrong way to go about doing something. If it's something we particularly enjoy, our ADD hyperfocus will kick in and we'll just streak to the target. When left to our own way of doing things, we often get things done much faster.

Yes, it means we sometimes act before thinking, but doesn't that make us risk takers? We aren't conce
ed with danger when we see a goal, we just go for it. Realize something--that makes you a hero. Your impulsivity can be construed as courage, too.

We just aren't good at sit still and pay attention activities, like reading. We aren't great at translating words into concepts sometimes, but we are great visual thinkers. We may see something in our heads that mere words can't begin to describe. Could it be that we're just visionaries, and not plodders?

So many of the ADD "issues" can be seen in a positive light, so never think of yourself as disabled. You just need some space to do things in your own way. So, if you're not fitting in because you're the square peg, find a place with square holes. You're pretty ADD awesome!