When you are NEW to ADD
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 4 Comments
From the Brain-Transplant Series
ADD Information you NEED to know!
from the ADD Poster Girl: Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, MCC, SCAC
Whad’ya mean NEW to ADD?
GOOD question!
Here are some possible answers:
- Diagnosed [dx'd] in the last three months
- Dx’d in the last YEAR, but still struggling and don’t really understand WHY
- Dx’d EVER, but suspect you are still “under-functioning” and don’t know what else to do
- Your CHILD fits in either of the three categories above
- You SUSPECT ADD – in yourself or a loved one – and are wondering if you need to explore diagnosis – no matter HOW you feel about the meds issue
NEW means new to ANY of “The ADD Basics” – no matter WHO you are or how long you’ve been working with ADD in any fashion (even as a professional, by the way).
- I’ll bet you a year of free coaching that, even if you THINK you know
ADD fairly well already, what you don’t know still will surprise you –
and could change your life.
- Some day I hope to have time to add a few quizzes, but for now . . .
what’s the harm in checking them out just to see if you already
know everything you think you’ll find there?
- They will be a great review, if nothing else!
There ain’t no IS about ADD™
If ADD-seasoning is any part of your mix, below are some links to information you NEED to know if you are going thrive with ADD. This information explores some of the many, many flavors of ADD, and some of the primary implications that follow from there — the brain-based reasons behind ADD struggles.
Click the links in the articles themselves for more information — check the sidebar to your right to find out how links on this site.
START HERE, for background:
To help you find a great ADD doc and receive the very BEST care possible
- Top Ten Questions to find a G-R-E-A-T ADD Doc
- The Top Ten Questions on ADD Meds
- The Top Ten Stupid Comments from ADD Docs
ADD-101: The ADD Overview series
- ADD Overview 101
- ADD Overview II: Identifying Traits
- ADD Overview III: Associated Features
- ADD Overview IV: Hyperarousal
- ADD Overview V: Red Flag Warnings
Other Related Articles
A bit of ADD perspective 
(nobody NEEDs this info – but you might relate!)
About Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, MCC, SCAC
x (leaving my mark to let you know I have read this)
good job!
Great post, MGH. To me, it smells like the first few weeks/months of OFI coach training to make sure we coaches in training back in the 90′s first had a good foundation of what ADD “is”and “isn’t”. I wish everyone affected by ADD could have a “mind meld” of this information. I’m sending the link to some of my clients. I teach them this, but this is more comprehensive and easier than reinventing (re-teaching) the wheel you’ve already done so well.
Glen Hogard dot com
Thank you, Glen. That you’d send your clients here for info is like winning an Academy Award for ME – since you are one of my biggest “success stories” (lol – you’d think I’d birthed and raised you, right? – but I couldn’t be prouder if I had!)
I know JUST what you mean about the mind-meld thing. I always think about whatever that “helmet” thing was in Natalie Wood’s last movie (Brainstorm?) I always wish I could put it on, read what I read NOW, make the connections to what I’ve already read, seemingly in a flash, then hand the helmet to someone else and they would relive MY mind-trip without having to layer the stuff IN the old s-l-o-w way,
I want EVERYONE to know what I know (*especially* the people who are actually treating ADD!) – but laying in that first layer is s-o-o-o-o painful – those first links. We freak out at the first word we don’t understand and run screaming and kicking!
We HATE to learn, despite what people always say — we like to KNOW! Adult learners, especially, DESPISE “not already knowing” – we love our expertise and aren’t used to feeling like we’re back in grade school!!
ME TOO, btw - I had to learn this once too, reading the darned journals for info because that was (pretty much!) all there WAS re: ADD when I was first dx’d — and I was a MESS! Deepening knowledge is fun – but building that early neural-net – NO WAY!
Even Francena from ACT-1 – with a Ph.D. and ground-breaking research re: birth-order behind her, admitted (later
) how much she and Sarah used to complain to each other, *positive* that they had reached their “idiot wall” — and look what SHE did with the stuff before she died! (hmmmm – maybe I should requre everyone to have a dedicated complaint recipient before they can sign up?)
I don’t know if YOU recall all the nonsense I had to put up with for the first months of *every* class at OFI – but *I* sure do! (SInce you did the Dean of Students thing after graduation, you might remember it from the classes that followed you, if not your own.) All the “You’re not doing it right” stuff (in essence) – because if you WERE, I’d understand this ALREADY!
Then, like a miracle, the light-bulbs started going off and everybody was [seemingly] suddenly gettin’ it and having a ball with the info – leaps and bounds and links and aha!s (and SUPER fun “neurotransmitters in the hallway” demos on talent nite at ADDA
AND JUST LOOK AT YOU NOW!
It’s painful getting the background IN to begin with — but it saves SO much pain for the rest of your life to KNOW this stuff.
Thanks for the acknowledgment.
xx,
mgh