Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder--The Myth.
We have been taught that A.D.H.D. is a disorder. That A.D.H.D. is a deficit. We've been lied to. First let me say that I'm loaded with it. I'm 39 and was on Ritlin when I was young and hated it and finally refused to take it any longer. I've lived with A.D.H.D. my whole life. My parents thought something was wrong with me. They took me to a shrink, to get me "fixed." The shrink put me on Ritlin. I hated being drugged out on Ritlin and liked being "hyper." I knew nothing about A.D.H.D. except I had it and my parents wished I didn't have it. I felt as though something was wrong with me which my parents didn't like about me. It was my whole personality that they didn't like. My parents had a plane crash into their house in 1964 and their 9 year old son and 11 year old daughter were killed. I was adopted at age 3 in 1966. My mother was a valium addict (although very discretly) so a hyperactive son drove her crazy. She would "drug" me so she could "handle" me in her "mellow" state of mind. My parents really didn't like "me" unless I was drugged.
I have a mildly A.D.H.D. son who is 8 years old. My wife and I attended a seminar on A.D.H.D. which changed my life.
The seminar was by Steven Plog. Their were 100 adults and some children in the audience when Steven walked through the room and introduced himself and asked each person why they were there. Each parent mournfully said they had a child diagnosed with A.D.H.D. Each child responded that they had A.D.H.D. as if it were the plague.
Steven then said " thats great" give me a high five, I'm A.D.H.D. too. The childen smiled. the adults looked at him funny.
Steven then went to the front of the room and began his presentation. He explained what the effects of A.D.H.D. were.
First he explained that A.D.H.D. kids have alot of energy, that they were "QUICK" and then explained that A.D.H.D. kids were almost always highly intellegent or "SMART."
He put the two words together and uses the desciption "QUICK-SMART" KIDS instead of A.D.H.D. as if it were a disease. He then explained that the A.D.H.D. kids had advantages that "normal" kids don't have. "Quick Smart" Kids can comprehend 450 words a minute while "normal" kids can only understand 200 words a minute. Quick smart kids have multiple thought capabilities, the ability to think on multiple levels at the same instant. They can look out a window and watch a man mow the lawn, listen to the teacher, think about lunch, notice the kid sharpening his pencil all at once. Quick Smart kids are running a double the speed of normal kids. In all areas, thought, physical activity, everything. Therefore they get BORED easily because everybody thats "normal" seems slow to them. They hear a teacher talking like Charlie Browns teacher "wha whan whan wha!" so they "click on mental HBO" to amuse their bored silly high reving mind. They bounce their feet to amuse their bored high reving body. Their easily bored, not dumb. Its not their fault that everybody else is slow and boring. Their not sick or deficited, their different, their "QUICK SMART." Most famous people are A.D.H.D. and have learned how to use it to excel at something. Ever see an A.D.H.D. kid play a video game? Deficit my eye. They are brillient at things that interest them. They get bored with things that don't interest them.
Their is nothing wrong with a Quick Smart kid, the problem is with people that don't have it or understand it. Our brains work differently, not wrongly. Instead of drugging our kids to be like us we should be seeking to understand the world from their prespective. Hey teacher, if you have A.D.H.D. kids in your class liven up. If Tommy is staring out the window, liven things up. Get up and go stand in front of the window. Keep things interesting, allow for movement. Quick Smart kids require movement. Our bodies have lots of energy. Steven told teachers to get a chest high table and put it in the back of the room. If kids needed to move around they could go and stand at the table and sort of lay on it and do their work being able to move and burn some energy as they pace or shuffle their feet or what ever it is they need to do and not distract the "normal" slower paced kids.
Quick Smart (A.D.H.D.) kids crave movement and fast paced thoughts. Teacher pick up speed when talking, change your volume, your job is to teach All the children, not just the slower ones, and drug the quick ones.
Their is Nothing wrong with me, I can process 450 words a minute, with all the details clear in my mind. I have energy, I have multiple thought capabilities. I love these things that others see as a disease, or disorder, or deficit.
Steven plog was able to reveal to me that I'm different in a positive way. Now we need to learn how to harness the blessing of Quick Smart and put it to positive use.
Don't focus on your childs weaknesses more than you focus on their stengths. Build on the stengths, a child who hates math won't be an accountant, they will find something they excel at and hire an accountant. Jim Carey didn't let A.D.H.D. stop him but found a way to use it. Your Quick Smart kid is just that, quick-smart and stop thinking negatively about it. Half way through Stevens presentation he said that when he first introduced himself everybody seemed ashamed to admit their child was A.D.H.D. He then put his hand over his heart and said "mom, dad, is that what you think of me? that something is wrong with me? Ouch!" Every kid stared at their parents with a "ya mom and dad, why do you act like theres something wrong with me, don't you know I'm Quick Smart! Steven said "I love my A.D.H.D. I don't want to be drugged to be slow and dull, I love being me.
Make sure you focus on your childs stengths the A's over ride the D's. Einstein failed 8th grade math, why? because he couldn't show his work. He didn't think about math like the teachers did, he didn't need to do long division, he could do it in his head and gave the right answers but because he didn't think the same as his "slow" teachers and couldn't show them how he was able to compute the answers they failed him.
I have lots to say on this subject but I'll pause for responces. I can think about things other than prophecy after all... hehe

Steven Plogs web sites:
http://www.resultsproject.net/ If you have an A.D.H.D. child you owe it to them to check out Steven's web site, it will change your life and your childs.
Paul2