ESL teacher with Adult ADD (and parent of an ADD child): resources; experiences; concerns; and thoughts.

My experiences being an Adult with ADD, parenting a child with ADD, teaching, and dealing with students who are ADD, their teachers and parents.

My Personal Take on being ADD

ADD is an explanation of all the

messed up things I do and did. 

 Forgetting things:

  • Promises
  • Appointments
  • Birthdays
  • Bills
  • Obligations
  • All the unfinished projects

Impulsiveness

  • Saying
  • Doing
  • Buying
  • Eating

Distractedness

  • Inability to follow conversations
  • Inability to read some things
  • ‘multi-tasking’

Organization

  • Messes, piles
  • Loosing things
  • Being overwhelmed by the details.
  • inability to organize and keep clean my house.

It is justification

I have had serious bouts of self hatred where I have prayed for God to take me because I am sub standard.  I am lazy, a slacker, have no self-control.  I can’t do the simple things other people can.  No matter how hard I try.

I can’t keep a clean house, organize my things, be responsible etc.

I have felt out of control; barely holding on; afraid my life would come crashing down at any minute.  Almost paranoid.  Waiting fro the other shoe to drop because I am incompetent – an imposter who will be found out at any moment.

It is a boost in  self-esteem.

In school – all those painful nights my dad tried to help me with math facts.  Not being able to organize my ideas into a paper or project – waiting until the night before to start anything because it was too overwhelming.  Trying to read Ben -Hur in one weekend and my parents having to read to me because I couldn’t read anymore.  Being in remedial English in HS and college because I couldn’t organize a paper.All those report cards and teacher comments saying I didn’t work to my potential; I was bright but didn’t work hard enough; I didn’t take my school work seriously etc.

Teachers yelling at me because I got Bs and Cs in class and scored 95-98 on the state exams.

Now - when the boss calls me to his office – I am sure on of my little forgetful, unorganized, incompetent screw-ups has caught up to me and I will get in trouble- or worse – fired. 

I’ve dropped one of those balls.

I’m constantly trying to think of those things I’ve forgotten because I’ll be in big trouble when someone finds out!

Even when I have a plan and write my lists out on paper – I forget something.

Example - As a soccer coach I was mortified every week because I was always missing something: schedules, important papers, my son’s equipment, water, etc.

I would plan; list; check – but I would always be missing something.  I would chalk it up to being a working mom with 3 kids and having to keep track of it all – and being lazy and stupid.

It is freedom.

I AM NOT!

            I am not lazy!

            I am not stupid!

            I am not an imposter!

            I am not incompetent!

I now have a new focus.  I no longer focus on the awful things I do but the good things I am and do.

            I am intelligent.

            I am creative.

            I am intuitive.

            I am caring.

            I am different.

           I am working on the competency thing ;>]

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