Can You Be Normal With AD/HD?
An Interview With a 67-Year-Old Man Diagnosed With The Disorder
Roger no longer believes that he is disabled, brain damaged or anything else that the pharmaceutical companies are selling to the public.
Minimal Brain Dysfunction.
The words were frightening, but as Roger listened anxiously to the doctor's explanation of his son's condition, concern for his child was soon joined by a nagging sense of deja vu. His oldest son's symptoms of "brain damage" were suspiciously similar to behaviors that he had always been told were "character defects" he possessed himself.
Roger had doubts that his extremely bright son had brain damage. The rather obvious fact that he shared the same symptoms with his son was too much of a coincidence.
"It just didn't fit," he says.
"Minimal Brain Dysfunction" was the 1960s term for a disorder that has been actively studied, seriously misunderstood and often misdiagnosed for over a hundred years. The condition was first noted in men returning from war after sustaining head injuries.
Consequently, when similar behaviors and learning disabilities were observed in some children, scientists made the leap that similar brain damage must be responsible.
Although Roger wasn't convinced of brain damage, being able to put a name to something that had plagued him all his life was a relief of sorts.
"I was relieved. I thought, "Gee, maybe there was a reason why I behaved the way I did." It made me feel better about myself."
Over the next forty years, the name, treatment and suspected causes for this condition have changed numerous times. Presently, the term Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is used to describe the steadily maintained 3-5 % of the population that doesn't quite fit into what is considered the "normal" parameters of behavior and learning style. The stability of the numbers, as well as the now proven hereditary component, suggest that ADD may be an adaptive trait that is present in nature because it is beneficial to the human species in some way.
Because people with ADD are visual/spatial learners as opposed to the auditory/sequential style that is almost exclusively used in school lesson plans, failure and the resulting low self esteem are constantly reinforced in the typical ADD student.
Recalling his school experiences with ADD is still painful for Roger.
" They weren't very understanding back then," he remembers. "Instead you are lazy and incorrigible and all the other bad words you can think of. They make you feel like a two headed calf so you become the class clown and that works for a while...then you start acting out."
Fueled by the dire predictions of the doctor and his own desire to help his son, Roger went back to college despite his lingering self esteem issues. He majored in psychology and soon joined the increasing ranks of ADD adults who are rejecting the medical model insisting they suffer from indefinable brain damage of some kind.
Roger believes that misinformation and an ill equipped school system are to blame for the typical self esteem issues and failure in children with ADD, rather than the condition itself. He maintains that if children are taught alternate learning skills and given the right kind of emotional support, they can be very successful.
These days Roger is enjoying his retirement and spending time with his grandchildren. He believes that having a sense of humor about his ADD helps to show his grandchildren that it's OK to be "different".
"I go through a toaster oven a month!" he laughs, "The flames coming out of it! I get distracted... leave the bread in it for like a half an hour." He slaps his forehead, grinning broadly, "Oh my God! That's right. I was making toast!"
After years of struggle and self doubt, Roger can now laugh at his own foibles instead of getting frustrated with himself.
"That's number one," He smiles. "To be happy."
He no longer worries about making mistakes or reliving the shortcomings that played endlessly in his head for years.
"I'm normal...I'm normal and I am above average intelligence," he says with a devilish twinkle in his eye. "So everybody else can just kiss my ass."
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