Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

As for the issue of medication, I have had several experiences with taking them.

I was first diagnosed with ADD when I was in 6th grade. The first medication that I took was called Adderall. I found that it worked phenomenally well for me. I was able to concentrate on the "important stuff" much more easily, as well as manage my time, and stay organized better. However, I was forced to discontinue taking it because it caused me to lose alot of weight. I am already very skinny (I am 17 and I weigh 100 pounds), and the appetite suppressing qualities of the medication was dangerous to me.

Since then, I have also tried taking medications such as Ritalin and Concerta. However, I found that neither of these worked as well as the Adderall had. I could hardly notice their effect. So I decided not to take any medication at all. This choice has been fine for me. But what it has meant for me is that I have had to develop alternative skills in order for me to stay on track. For example, I MAKE myself write down all of my assignments, and I MAKE myself try to budget my time and keep a clean workspace. Unless I do these things, I am truly lost.

I don't feel that taking medication "suppressed" me in any way. Even though I found that my time management and organizational skills improved, I never found myself lacking the good aspects of ADD - such as the ability to have an intense passion for the subjects that interested me. All that I found was that instead of purely focusing on the things that I loved, I was able to focus on BOTH the things that I liked and disliked, and was able to manage a balance between them better.

I am not in either camp with vouches to "medicate everyone!" or to "medicate no one!". I believe that it comes down to the individual's preference. I don't think there is any harm in experimenting with different types of medications. If the effects are not desirable, then the person can always stop. What is most important is for people to try to find the best way to deal with their ADD - whether it be through the development of techniques to deal with it, or through medication.

As I like to say, "to each, their own - whatever works best for you."

-- Jaine

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

When I mean 'Studying' it means reviewing the chapter in the book, I don't 'ace' them per se, but I get mostly all 85 or over.

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I didn't read everything, but you guys are completely out of it: ADD is a "disease" in the sense that it has a negative effect on many people's life. Being able to focus, be passionate, and all those nice things can be some of your abilities, but it won't make you have ADD. Stop talking about it as if it was something cool that everybody wants to have. Why do you think there are any medications ? Because people think its so cool that they have to get back to normal to be fair with people that weren't "blessed" by it?

Come on...

François

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I found a rather interesting book the other day that discussed the topic of ADD - Dreamers, Discoverers, and Dynamos by Lucy Jo Palladino. It’s about the Edison Trait and convergent vs. divergent thinking. In the chapter about ADD/ADHD it describes the condition as the difference between expectations of the convergent-minded society vs. the functions of the divergent-minded person.

The Edison Trait is named for Thomas Edison. He was extremely imaginative and creative but also easily distracted and disorganized. He failed out of school twice, but when home schooled by his mother in an environment that fostered development of his divergent mind he flourished.

Convergent thinking is best described as a funnel. Taking bits and pieces of information and focusing on one topic at a time to bring them together into one idea. Divergent thinking can be thought of as a tree, with ideas branching off in a seemingly random fashion.

Things that come easily for divergent thinkers…
-Thinking up wild or unusual ideas
-Standing up for, feeling strongly about, and getting involved in those ideas
-Making things up, and imagining the future
-Trying things out
-Starting new projects
Things that are more difficult….
-Focusing on someone else's ideas
-Letting go of his own ideas
-Remembering things he's been asked to do
-Practicing skills repeatedly
-Finishing things

(I think I remembered all of them)

Most classrooms accept only convergent thinking, making the school setting difficult for divergent thinkers. Convergent thinking is considered the norm, and most schools naturally assume that all minds should work the same and structure lessons accordingly.

Palladino named the divergent style of thinking the Edison Trait and identified three variation of the trait.

-Dreamers drift from place to place, on a schedule of eternal time.
-Discoverers have to find things out for themselves and do things their own way.
-Dynamos are always in motion, with a flair for surprises, power, and speed.

That's all I can remember from the book. I didn't have enough money to buy it.

I envision convergent and divergent thinking along a continuum. ADD is the extreme of divergent thinking, to the point where it’s difficult to function in a convergent-centered society, where convergent is “right” and divergent is “wrong”. ADD describes the deficits in convergent thinking without mentioning the strengths of divergent thinking.

I think FIRST (and engineering in general) is a very divergent friendly place. My favorite quote from the book is, “It’s not a problem of knowing what to do, It’s a problem of doing what you know.” That’s my problem in school.

~Allison

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

read Allisions post above - she is right on the money. The problem isnt that ADD is some disease that destroys peoples lives

the problem is that, at most, only 10% of the people in our society have brains wired this way, and the other 90% design the school programs, control businesses, and in general decide what is the 'normal' way for people to function.

To drive the point home, Edison did not flunk out of school, he only attended public school for about 6 weeks. Then sent him home with a note "Please dont bother sending Thomas to school anymore. We have concluded he is retarded and you are only wasting your time sending him here."

The man was obviously a genius, but the normal mode of public education could not accept him.

Re: Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
 

I've been encouraged to write a little of what I know so - here goes.
I've read this thread and I haven't seen some of my thoughts expressed yet.

ADD can be mild, moderate, severe:
mild would be sitting and twirling a pencil
severe would be up out of the chair walking in circles

During high stress, ADD is harder to control. During build decisions such as weight problems during crunch week or voting the human player, one can be known to make circles or to pace back and forth - it helps the person ease their own build up of tension.

It is a relatively new field of diagnosis and continues to reveal itself through study and examination. In recent years they have diagnosed 7 distinct types of ADD. I'll give 2.
The one who jiggles. Jiggles the knee under the desk or table. Or taps the pencil.
The dreamer - if you have been called a space cadet, you may be at times. Windows can create havoc in a classroom setting for that student. The slightest breeze through the leaves and all thoughts of equations vanish. Teachers have been asked to place the dreamer close to the front of the room - where the focus is zoomed in to the board and to the teacher. It is not a punishment, it is a tool for learning. A trick that can be used in large college classes as well. The fun part is, the magic of learning or processing happens during the jiggling or the dreaming - a problem is solved or an idea hatched. It probably isn't related to the math class you are in but you've just fixed your robot.

My plumber would now be diagnosed as ADHD. He is my generation and the method of insuring success in the student was physical punishment and calling him bad. So, he knew that to succeed as an adult he would have to keep his hands busy, change his daily landscape, and stay on the move. He has raised 2 children as a single parent and they are both college graduates. His proudest achievement is that he has never hit his son and that his son was diagnosed early and received help and support.

Parents my age are realizing there is more and more help out there not only for their children but also for themselves. Meditation, medication, developing skills in focusing, time management, and organization. It is never too late.

My single rant about ADD: the current use of media as stimuli. Commercials & music videos bombard our senses. Everything is instant and focus is destroyed. F.I.R.S.T. robotics is the perfect antidote for our ADD environ. It requires structure, planning, long term goals, focus, listening, teamwork, and an end product.