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March 9, 2004
Copyright © 2004 by Bill Dueease
Approximately four to six percent of the American population
is believed to have ADD. ADD stands for “Attention Deficit Disorder.”
My belief is that ADD is misnamed. Instead, it should be named . People with AEA/ADD have certain
mental and physical characteristics that give them distinct advantages.
These same characteristics also present several drawbacks. I believe
the condition was named by focusing on the drawbacks and completely
overlooks the advantages. AEA/ADD people are not normal. They cannot
be controlled. Thus, they must have a "Disorder." "Disorder"
being defined by The American Heritage Dictionary as a "disturbance
of the normal physical or mental health."
People with AEA/ADD are very special. When people with AEA/ADD understand
their advantages and utilizes them, and understand the drawbacks and
overcome them, they can perform remarkable things. Albert Einstein,
Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln were believed to have AEA/ADD. John McEnroe,
Terry Bradshaw, and Mohammed Ali are also believed to have it. They
were and are all special people because they have AEA/ADD.
People with AEA/ADD do not have the filters normal people have that
restrict the volume and capacity of the brain to receive input from
the five basic senses. Smell, Sight, Touch, Hearing, and Taste. AEA/ADD
people hear, taste, smell, feel, and see things that normal people do
not. It can be said that they do not have an attention deficit. Instead,
their attention is expanded because they are far more attuned to their
surroundings, because they receive much more information through the
five senses. As an example, I understand that a normal person can hear
sounds between 20 and 20,000 Hz. An AEA/ADD person might hear sounds
between 10 and 30,000 Hz. This relative difference is true for the other
four senses as well. They also have more difficulty blocking out input
from the five senses. For example, blocking out noises that normal people
can ignore is harder to do.
In addition the brains of AEA/ADD people operate much faster than those
of normal people, estimates range from two to three times faster. For
one thing their brains have to operate faster to process all of the
additional input they are receiving from the five senses. In fact, their
brains seek constant input. The energy levels of AEA/ADD people are
also much higher and they last longer. They have proven to be very intelligent
and their brains are almost always on full throttle. In fact, I believe
the brains of AEA/ADD people are wired differently. The common types
of drugs given to AEA/ADD people to slow their brains down are amphetamines.
Yet, they are nicknamed “Speed” because they increase the
brain activity of others.
AEA/ADD people operate in a mindset that is outside the world of normal
people. Consequently, they frequently think out of the box. AEA/ADD
people see more of the world and are able to process the additional
information to see the truth in things that normal people frequently
miss. They are very creative and constantly take themselves, their thoughts,
and their ideas places that normal people rarely know exist. AEA/ADD
people want to be trailblazers and most often are. They are very adept
at reading other people, especially in one on one personal interactions.
AEA/ADD people can recognize, understand and organize extremely complex
ideas, concepts, and processes. They have an extremely sensitive, very
acute and very accurate sixth sense. Their hunches and intuition are
remarkable, almost scary at times. They have boundless energy. They
have the unusual ability to hyper focus, and do so for long periods
of time. They can direct their entire mind and body on complex, yet
specific activities and get into zones of concentration that are very
remarkable. This hyper focus produces spectacular achievements. They
can think extremely fast on their feet and react faster than most people.
In summary, AEA/ADD people are blessed with the ability to receive additional
information through their senses, they are able to process all of this
additional information and reach accurate conclusions very quickly,
and they have the ability, energy, focus, and motivation to go places
and create things that normal people are most likely not aware of.
In the eyes of normal people, AEA/ADD people have the following impediments
that provided the basis to call it a "Disorder." AEA/ADD people
cannot be controlled. They have difficulty sitting still. They are frequently
disruptive. AEA/ADD people appear to be disorganized (invariably messy).
They are easily distracted, (because they react to sensory information
not perceived by others). They appear to have difficulty focusing on
anything for very long. But they also get into zones where it is difficult
to interrupt them. They frequently forget to complete things (like completing
paperwork), or forget about important dates and events (like meetings).
They can have brilliant ideas but often forget about them later. They
can be difficult to talk to, because they frequently interrupt normal
people and sometimes even finish their sentences, and they regularly
bounce around from subject to subject. They can be fidgety and impatient,
especially in confined meetings (like school classes). They appear to
be very impulsive and frequently do or say things that are out of the
norm. They frequently address the truth in things, and appear to have
fewer social graces. They are frequently stubborn and challenge information
presented by others, and are far more often than not right. They tend
to get bored easily. They normally do not do the same repetitive things
well. They seek challenges and change. They have difficulty turning
their brains off, or slowing them down.
Yet, when two AEA/ADD people meet and interact, fewer, of the above
drawbacks occur. That's because these drawbacks frequently bother only
normal people. Thus, some of the drawbacks represent the uncomfortable
ways normal people (only) react to the behaviors of people with AEA/ADD.
Two AEA/ADD people will have similar energy levels, think at the same
speed, focus at the same levels, are tuned into similar input from their
expanded senses, and process the information at the same speed. Watching
two AEA/ADD people talk about matters they both enjoy can be a trip.
They are much more in tune with each other and communicate with much
less difficulty. Bouncing from subject to subject, fidgetiness, impatience,
boredom, lack of social graces and impulsiveness become much less of
an issue between to people with AEA/ADD.
However, there are some drawbacks that AEA/ADD people need to overcome
to live a more effective and enjoyable life. These drawbacks include
the tendency to forgetfulness, the tendency to be over impulsive, and
the tendency to be impatient in communicating with normal people. There
are solutions to all of these drawbacks.
One solution to the drawbacks that affect normal people and unfortunately
the most common are drugs. Yet, in truth ADD people really do not need
to be fixed. Some doctors want to drug AEA/ADD people to be normal.
What a shame. These drugs slow the brains of AEA/ADD people down and
reduce their tendencies to be over impulsive. It also reduces their
tendency to be fidgety, squashes their energy levels and tendency to
be distracted. All in the interest of making AEA/ADD people act normal.
They now appear to be easier to control. But these drugs, as you can
see, also greatly diminish the blessings of AEA/ADD, and many times
reduce them to be so normal that they loose control over their own minds
and turn into less than alive people. The jury is still out on drugs
and it is my opinion that they are overused as a quick fix to correct
a "Disorder" that really does not exist. What a price to pay
to drug someone to sit still.
There are other ways to overcome these drawbacks, without using drugs.
These include the full understanding of the behavioral differences of
being AEA/ADD, and adjusting behavioral practices to control these issues
at a very practical and desirable level.
As an example, let's discuss a solution to the forgetfulness drawbacks.
AEA/ADD people need to create a "to do" list that they have
by their side at all times, and constantly monitor and review. Whenever
they come up with an idea or agree to do something (without a time limit)
they must immediately write the key words to each matter on the to do
list. The to do list becomes their memory for action items. In addition,
they want to have a calendar with them at all times that they also review
frequently. Whenever they decide to do something that is time dependent,
like meet someone for lunch, remember a birthday (AEA/ADD people are
notorious for forgetting birthdays and anniversaries) or turn in a report,
they need to put it on the calendar.
There are other behavioral solutions to virtually all of the "drawbacks"
that do not include drugs and that allow AEA/ADD people to gain control
over their brains and maximize the unique blessings they were given.
If you have AEA/ADD, Welcome Aboard! I am blessed with AEA/ADD and enjoy
every minute of it. I have not nor will I ever use drugs to correct
any aspect of AEA/ADD. I have been blessed with a number of people who
have coached me to overcome the drawbacks and to accentuate my unique
gifts. You can too!
We welcome your opinions and comments.
Bill Dueease
Editor
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