Adult ADD Strengths

Hopefully by now you’ve considered or created your New Year’s Theme. So often ADDers focus on what they did wrong, or what didn’t go well. I think that many people in society think that way but it seems that many ADDers seem to be more likely to focus on what they did wrong than what they did right.

I’m not suggesting you be stupidly optimistic and pretend you never did anything wrong, or that you shouldn’t look at your mistakes to try and learn from them.

No, not my words, on of my ADD coaching clients. One of the many benefits of being an adult ADD coach is that you get to decide who you will and won’t coach (i.e. I don’t coach rude people) and one result of that is that I coach some pretty cool, creative people.

I thought it was a brilliant idea behind the words and reframed it as “I was able to enough to figure out the smartest, easiest most efficient way to do it” or words to that effect.

Went to my first Barcamp Vancouver yesterday, and followed the 8th rule of Barcamp, by doing a presentation, Attention Surplus Condition in Technology. The competitive advantages and challenges associated with having ADHD in the tech sector.

It went pretty well despite a bit of lack of sleep (I’m not a morning person) and had to be there at 9 to pitch it after staying out at the party the night before. So the tea hadn’t kicked in by pitch time so my brain was still waking up. Fortunately Vancouver fashion photographer and blogger Kris Krug put in a good word for me.

Since we don’t have as much dopmaine floating around in our brain as non ADDers, and are consequently understimulated, ADD adults seek out jobs that will give them extra stimulation either consciously or unconsciously. If they don’t find a highly stimulating job, they risk self medicating in unhealthy ways to boost their levels of dopamine, i.e., through tobacco, alcohol, drugs, gambling, impulsive spending which all raise dopamine levels in the brain.

This high powered video gives an example of what might be the perfect job for many understimulated  ADD Adults.
Can you think of a more stimulating job for an ADD adult?

I was recently quoted in an article on adult ADD in The Telegram, Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest daily newspaper based in the capital St. John’s. The Telegram’s been around for a while, 128 years. Reporter Tara Mullowney wrote the article and I’m reproducing it in full with permission here. I don’t have any listing of ADD support groups in Newfoundland yet in my list of Canadian ADD support groups by province, (here’s my international ADD suppport group list) so if anyone knows of any there please email me with the details.

Adults deal with ADD
The Telegram (St. John’s)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Page: A1
Section: Front
Byline: Tara Mullowney
Source: The Telegram

Yahoo news item talking about CIA recruitment

“Tom McCluskey, the CIA’s chief of hiring and employee development …the CIA is after the generation that has grown up on the Web. “They were born with ear buds in their ears. They are ADD and it is contagious,” he said, referring to attention deficit disorder. “We need that kind of talent here.”

Check out the CIA personality quiz

Actually I’d agree. People with Attention Deficit Disorder thrive on stimulation and are often hyper aware of their environment, since we don’t filter info as much as other people, we actually take more info in than non adders, and notice things that others do not i.e. potential dangerous situations, people or things out of place, etc

I don’t usually put such long items by others on this blog (my own are often long enough!) but this one by Thom Hartmann, that I read a long time ago, I just came across again in doing some research for a event tomorow How Giftedness Can Cause Learning Challenges with Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide
that I’ll be a panel on. Thom’s latest book is Screwed: The Undeclared War On the Middle Class and What We Can Do About It.

Thom has written several books on ADD and other topics, and is a former psychotherapist and founder of a school for children with ADD, has his own national radio show, and has done a wide variety of other things.

I and my co speaker at the Navigating ADHD presentation for ADD Awareness day, Diane Sugars, Executive Director of the Learning Disabilities Assn of Vancouver were interviewed on CBC Radio’s Open line show BC Almanac by host Mark Forsythe on the topic of Adult ADD the day before ADD Awareness day. I’ve listened to Mark for a long time on CBC and have always enjoyed his programs. He was a good interviewer and new how to handle the callers and the guests very skillfully. If you have a chance to go on his show, I’d highly recommend it.