From: V.V.S.Ramakant
To: adhd-india@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2009 7:39:45 AM
Subject: Re: [adhd-india] FYI - AD/HD Workplace strategies
Dear All,
The information given in the mail below from Ms Pera are STRATEGIES for success with ADHD which every good book on ADHD including the "Distraction" books, namely Dr. Hallowell's 'Driven to Distraction' mentions. These are the exact things which I did an year ago - I got myself evaluated for ADHD, got a diagnosis, took my medication (Attentrol/Atomoxetine/Strattera developed by the American company Lilly), changed back to the job which exploits my innate strengths, bought good books on ADHD, a PDA, a timer and a recorder software for my mobile so I don't have to struggle to remember what is told to me on the phone.
The strengths are also mentioned on Dr. Hallowell's website -
● Creativity
● High Energy
● Intuitiveness
● Resourcefulness
● Tenacity
● Warm-heartedness
● Trusting Attitude (sometimes too much so)
● Forgiving attitude (sometimes too much so)
● Sensitivity
● Ability to take risks (sometimes too risky)
● Flexibility
● Loyalty
● Good sense of humor
I do not need any other "accomodation" from anyone including my employer. In these times when even talented people are losing their jobs how can anyone expect to stay employed because of "accomodations" by the employer unless they try the tactics of self-pity which no self-respecting person would want to do.
According to Teresa Gallagher the Accomodations which are a problem are those that label people with ADHD as disabled. In her words -
A while back I wrote a letter to CHADD asking them to post some positive information on their website, or at least link to some other websites with positive information. I never heard back from them.
On the other hand, CHADD has posted a letter by Dr. Barkley in which he describes ADD in the most negative and depressing terms possible, painting a dreary picture of a lifetime of low intelligence, poor performance, and jail time. Dr. Barkley believes that ADD itself lowers a person's intelligence and he brushes aside the fact that many ADDers are quite successful. Dr. Barkley's ideas are just that: his ideas. They are not fact and they should be balanced by information from other ADD experts, creativity and temperament researchers, psychologists and others with ADD experience. CHADD has a duty to let people know there are legitimate opposing factions within the field of ADD.
CHADD is supposed to be an advocacy group. But what CHADD seems to be advocating is not the people who are ADD, but rather the concept of ADD as an severe brain defect. If CHADD was an advocacy group for people who are ADD, then it would spread the news about ADDer's positive attributes far and wide. It would encourage teachers to recognize different temperaments and learning styles and provide creative hands-on opportunities for ADD children, push for smaller class size, advocate alternative schooling, recommend that children be given creativity and IQ tests as part of their ADD assessment, and so on.
Instead, CHADD is pushing for special accommodations by schools and employers under the Americans With Disability Act. This issue is particularly dangerous for those of us who are ADD. A backlash has already formed against ADDers because of the special accommodations which a few people have been demanding under the law. For example, prospective ADD attorneys get extra time when taking the bar exam, and employers are now afraid of having ADD employees on their payroll because the law requires them to make "reasonable accommodations". I suspect the majority of people with ADD do not want such special treatment. Moreover, it endangers the careers of ADDers, many of whom are doing just fine. It's a small world, and word of an employee's ADD condition can spread quickly within someone's field, making it hard for them to find a job. I find the law insulting, quite frankly. I don't need extra time to take a test (I have the opposite problem - I rush through tests), or any sort of special accommodations by my employer. I am not disabled, I just think differently.
Here's Ms Pera's judgement on Teresa Gallagher -
Ramakant is wrong to malign CHADD, a greatly admired and needed non-profit, on the basis of people whose own psychiatric conditions limit insight and empathy and seem to confer a strange selfishness about educating other people about legitimate treatments.
Now here's some whacky stuff on the internet from an obscure source from someone who is not even close to being called an expert -
Everyone's heard "When the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as if it were a nail." Today I viewed that metaphor from the perspective of the poor screw, who's spent his life getting pounded on the head. All around him, he sees nine out of ten people have no trouble living that life. They don't hesitate to remind him of how easy life would be if he'd just straighten out and act like them. So he tries. He submits himself to the same pounding that works for them, but he just doesn't progress the way they do. It's hard, he always seems to break something as he goes by, and it gives him SUCH a headache.
Then, one day to his surprise, something different happens. Instead of a clang on the head, there's a new sensation as something "just right" settles into his slot. Suddenly he's spinning, in a totally new way, and guess what? He's progressing like the others, it feels perfectly natural, and it doesn't hurt a bit.
This is my vision for the world we're creating for our ADD selves and kids (and their kids too). It's a world where appropriate tools and experiences are available to everyone, and nobody could care less which method you like. The style of learning and living that fits you best is no more significant than picking clothes that fit you right.
As time went by, people discovered there were situations where the young screw's kind of fastening, which they first thought was just "different," worked much better than the "normal" nails. (He came to refer to the "normals" as "hammerheads.")
That is what I want too....it should be none of any "Advocate's" business to pass a judgement on which method I choose to treat my ADHD, whether I take a stimulant or a non-stimulant, whether I meditate or take regular walks in the park, whether I take fish oil or flax seed oil, its between me and my doctor and my caregivers and NOBODY ELSE.
Well, I have spoken a lot now for the last two days including a Sunday, spending hours on the internet and getting a headache. That is not my idea of LIFE or stimulation. I bought a Meade LXD 75 telescope during Christmas for 600 Euros because I love astronomy and 2009 is being celebrated as the International Year of Astronomy by 140 nations. I still have to calibrate my telescope and here I am responding to mails of someone I don't care but do not hear from those for whom I do care.
I have a LIFE and a loving wife and am getting back to both of them.
(I have attached a picture of me with my new telescope)
Gook luck and good bye.
With best wishes,
Ramakant