William Knowles <erehwon@c2.org> writes:
I have a problem with people like Mike Duvos who think that folks like myself and others on this list with ADD use having ADD as a crutch for being fidgety, not getting their work done on time, or worst yet, Fired.
Welcome to ADD-Punks folks.
I wish people like Mr. Duvos could walk a mile in my shoes before making off the cuff remarks, I wish I could get jobs done on time, I wish that I could finish one project before starting three more! My office looks like someone tossed a hand grenade in it, Proposals to the left, Job quotes to the right, jobs is various states of completion, Lost jobs to my inattentivness to my clients, Lost good clients because of having ADD and not knowing it!
Sounds like my office. Of course, I usually force myself to get things done on time, and to be polite to the clients, but the hand grenade description is perfectly accurate.
One of my wishes did come true, and that was finding out that I do have ADD.
This is really a telling statement, isn't it? After all, we rarely hear people saying their greatest wish is to find out that they have liver disease, or cancer, or heart trouble. The problem here is that we live in a society that won't cut any slack for normal human diversity unless you have some sort of official disease defined by the medical profession. So there is constant pressure to "medicalize" all sorts of odd things, so that the people who exhibit certain characteristics don't get lumped in with the rest of the supposedly unproductive malcontents. When you get to the point where, all other things being equal, a diagnosis makes your life bearable again, it is time to make some serious changes in your environment.
Below is a list of famous people with Attention Deficit Disorders and/or Learning Disorders, and I'd be willing to bet that Perry Metzger either has, or knows someone with ADD.
[snip]
One can only wonder how much more great some of the people on this list would be today if they knew ADD back then.
"Albert, you're doing very well on your Ritalin. Your attendance has been perfect since you started taking it, and you've finished every task we've given you on time. I think you're ready to be promoted to SENIOR clerk-typist, with a $1 an hour raise in pay. "Keep taking the medication your doctor prescribes, and you won't have any more problems dreaming all day about non positive definite 4-manifolds and null geodesics." Right. :) -- Mike Duvos $ PGP 2.6 Public Key available $ mpd@netcom.com $ via Finger. $