I think that I am getting tired of hearing ADHD described as "have trouble doing tasks that you find boring." That just isn't right. It misses somehow.
Boring: causing boredom
Boredom: the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest
Don't get me wrong. I hate being bored. It's just that this description feels like it almost is mixing up cause and effect. A better description that isn't as nice of a sound bite goes like this:
Tasks that are insufficiently rewarding or that have delayed rewards are incredibly difficult to start, stay focused on, and complete.
Rewarding: giving you a good feeling that you have done something valuable, important, etc.
See the difference? It's not that the tasks are boring; it's that they are not rewarding. Our brains are wired to receive rewards through interest; but it's the lack of rewards that is the problem. Or maybe, it's because "lack of interest" has the connotation of "doesn't care" when it truly is lack of interest. Is anyone really interested in folding laundry or filling out forms?
Interest: 5a : a feeling that accompanies or causes special attention to an object or class of objects : concern b : something that arouses such attention c : a quality in a thing arousing interest
I don't know. I don't find forms "boring." I find them fantastically and exceedingly difficult to the point that I have trouble reading and making sense of them. And while, doing the laundry is boring, that isn't why that task is difficult to finish per se. Truth is, I will start it and stop in the middle for no discernible reason and never even notice that I did so. And putting something in the mail ... well, I contend that this is a near impossible task and am amazed that anyone at all is able to do so with regularity. My sister tells me that this task is easy, but I am pretty sure that she is having a joke at my expense. I mean, really!? No one could possibly find that task easy.
Well, I've got to go. I am well-overbooked today. Wish I had time to clean up the format of this thing, but I don't. Maybe another day. Just so you know, it's driving me crazy!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
I am ADHD ....
I am ADHD. Sometimes, I think that I will develop my very own 12-step program around this statement. Between that and the Serenity Prayer, it may be enough. School has started again, and with it, so has all of the IEP madness. That's Individualized Educational Plan. It seems that education is designed to be cookie cutter unless you have a special plan to make it otherwise, and there are all sorts of hoops you have to jump through and magic phrases you have to say to make it so. Even then, the plan isn't actually a plan, nor is it really even followed. At times, I am not sure it is even looked at. All the evidence of my experience suggests that it isn't understood. Not really. Not even by the special education specialists that I've had to deal with. Now don't get me wrong. I personally know three special education specialists. I went to college with them, and they are fine women. Every interaction that I've had with them since entering this special education minefield convinces me that they care and truly understand their field. Perhaps, that is what makes this path so difficult. I can't help but project the same competence and caring to my son's teachers, and yet the results are so drastically below my lowest and most minimal expectations. Perhaps, it is because he is thrice gifted.
Thrice-gifted is what I call it. He has multiple learning disabilities in reading, writing, and spelling. You could call it dyslexia, but that term is more obscuring than it is enlightening. Folks generally jump to, "Oh, you mix up letters." Then, they think of all the mixed up message-memes they've seen on Facebook and think it is no big deal. Well, first, dyslexia is much more than jumbled letters in the word nor does it always present so. Second, the troubles presented by it can affect every aspect of the use of written language. With my son's teachers, it is all made worse by the fact that they see him as a good reader since he has very good comprehension. Again, those things aren't necessarily related and actually reflect good compensation skills more than anything else. The trick in the assessment is in the details.
Of course, he is also ADHD ... the name of the blog, you know. He presents as the combined type: day-dreamy (i.e., inattentive) and hyperactive. He has planning and organization difficulties (i.e., executive function deficits) as well as working memory problems and processing delays. The former affects every aspect of learning from solving a math problem to writing an essay, which is only made worse by the learning disability. Problems with turning in assignments and homework, keeping a notebook, and the like should be obvious, but aren't. The latter affects sequential and step-wise problem solving, following directions, recall, and recognizing and following cues. Impulsivity, hyperactivity, and attention issues don't help any of these things either. Not obvious from all of the labels I just shot out is the problem of interpretation. My boy is concrete and literal. Not sure if it is related to the LD or the ADHD or just to the brain-development stage, which is on-average three years delayed in children with ADHD, but he needs things explicitly and clearly explained, preferably with a modeled example, followed by a lead example. Of course, this is also best practices for teaching in general and for teaching ADHD children in particular. From what I can tell, such is never done. If it is, it isn't done in a way that cues my son to pay attention to it.
Lastly, my son is gifted. He's in Honors classes this year. I am hoping it will spark more of his interest with just enough adrenaline to keep him moving. The adrenaline spark is an important one to keep those of us with ADHD moving. Apparently, it has to do with too few dopamine and some other receptors I can't recall the name of now as well as fewer pathways, or some such neurological science. At any rate, it requires more to arouse the ADHD brain and the reward pathways don't work as well. Adrenaline helps, this much I know. There's nothing like a looming deadline or a challenge to spark interest.
Of course, all this makes my son present as the poster-child for the gifted ADHD male student. He's well behaved, well spoken, and smart. He doesn't turn in any of his work and, therefore, must be lazy. "If only he would try harder." He's trying harder. We are all trying harder. Now, could you please just help me and help him know what his assignments are, when the are due, and what the instructions are to complete it? I'll make sure he gets it done and it gets to school. If you could also help him to remember to turn it in, I'd appreciate it. I cannot divine the information. I've tried and my divination powers are all tapped out.
Sigh ... He's turned in no work for his Social Studies class, yet, and no answer to the note I sent to school. So much for "faded support to help him with organization." Hah! Do they not cover any of this in teaching school?
Wish me luck. I may need it.
Thrice-gifted is what I call it. He has multiple learning disabilities in reading, writing, and spelling. You could call it dyslexia, but that term is more obscuring than it is enlightening. Folks generally jump to, "Oh, you mix up letters." Then, they think of all the mixed up message-memes they've seen on Facebook and think it is no big deal. Well, first, dyslexia is much more than jumbled letters in the word nor does it always present so. Second, the troubles presented by it can affect every aspect of the use of written language. With my son's teachers, it is all made worse by the fact that they see him as a good reader since he has very good comprehension. Again, those things aren't necessarily related and actually reflect good compensation skills more than anything else. The trick in the assessment is in the details.
Of course, he is also ADHD ... the name of the blog, you know. He presents as the combined type: day-dreamy (i.e., inattentive) and hyperactive. He has planning and organization difficulties (i.e., executive function deficits) as well as working memory problems and processing delays. The former affects every aspect of learning from solving a math problem to writing an essay, which is only made worse by the learning disability. Problems with turning in assignments and homework, keeping a notebook, and the like should be obvious, but aren't. The latter affects sequential and step-wise problem solving, following directions, recall, and recognizing and following cues. Impulsivity, hyperactivity, and attention issues don't help any of these things either. Not obvious from all of the labels I just shot out is the problem of interpretation. My boy is concrete and literal. Not sure if it is related to the LD or the ADHD or just to the brain-development stage, which is on-average three years delayed in children with ADHD, but he needs things explicitly and clearly explained, preferably with a modeled example, followed by a lead example. Of course, this is also best practices for teaching in general and for teaching ADHD children in particular. From what I can tell, such is never done. If it is, it isn't done in a way that cues my son to pay attention to it.
Lastly, my son is gifted. He's in Honors classes this year. I am hoping it will spark more of his interest with just enough adrenaline to keep him moving. The adrenaline spark is an important one to keep those of us with ADHD moving. Apparently, it has to do with too few dopamine and some other receptors I can't recall the name of now as well as fewer pathways, or some such neurological science. At any rate, it requires more to arouse the ADHD brain and the reward pathways don't work as well. Adrenaline helps, this much I know. There's nothing like a looming deadline or a challenge to spark interest.
Of course, all this makes my son present as the poster-child for the gifted ADHD male student. He's well behaved, well spoken, and smart. He doesn't turn in any of his work and, therefore, must be lazy. "If only he would try harder." He's trying harder. We are all trying harder. Now, could you please just help me and help him know what his assignments are, when the are due, and what the instructions are to complete it? I'll make sure he gets it done and it gets to school. If you could also help him to remember to turn it in, I'd appreciate it. I cannot divine the information. I've tried and my divination powers are all tapped out.
Sigh ... He's turned in no work for his Social Studies class, yet, and no answer to the note I sent to school. So much for "faded support to help him with organization." Hah! Do they not cover any of this in teaching school?
Wish me luck. I may need it.
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