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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2012 6:01:18 GMT
Does anyone else follow Edward Hallowell ('Driven to Distraction') on Facebook? 'Dr. Hallowell' is quite prolific poster, and while some of what he says is a bit too cheesy for my tastes, he does remind me of important thoughts often enough for me to find him worthwhile. I quite like his posts popping up in my feed most days.
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Post by claudhopper on Jun 27, 2012 21:37:40 GMT
No. I just wikied him. He wrote 'driven to distraction' which looks old from 1994 though. Got a link?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2012 22:20:06 GMT
Driven to Distraction is still an excellent read - Hallowell really understands ADHDers, relatively easy if you have it yourself.
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Post by cleverliteral on Aug 9, 2012 21:40:53 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2012 22:26:35 GMT
As I said - he has it himself and was diagnosed before writing the first book.
I've also seen him give a lecture to a room of professionals and ADHDers
He knows his stuff.
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Post by nemo on Aug 11, 2012 0:28:18 GMT
I find his books very helpful.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2012 9:01:19 GMT
Removed -- accidentally posted while I was working on the draft. Darned mobile client!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2012 9:28:14 GMT
I think Hallowell's quotation about ADHD being a set of traits isn't necessarily denying the impact of ADHD nor do I think the intended audience is likely neurotypical people. I think the intended audience is people with ADHD and he's proposing a way of looking at ADHD that is more helpful and productive. What you call things and how you think about them affects how you feel about them. If you constantly frame ADHD as a disorder, a disability, something that ruins your life, or in other predominantly negative ways, you disempower, depress, and demotivate yourself. Here's a longer quotation about it from his website (bold is my emphasis, drawing attention to visualization words): He probably liked the term "minimal brain dysfunction" even less. I know I wasn't thrilled about that one! The key point is that terms like disability, disorder, or dysfunction are negatively charged. It's much healthier to take a more balanced view of it as a set of strengths and weaknesses. You can acknowledge the weaknesses -- everyone has weaknesses after all. But you need to acknowledge and build on the strengths it gives you too. If you don't know what those strengths are, you'd be better served by spending your time thinking hard about it rather than disparaging others who have managed to get well beyond feeling bitter/twisted or sorry for themselves. The forum can probably help. I'll bet we have a thread somewhere about positive things ADHD brings us. If not, we should start one and share our strengths and positive stories. Sorry for hijacking your thread, Shiny. I've just seen this bitter tripe pop up too often recently and it's chapping my goat.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2012 9:48:34 GMT
I see what you mean. Poor goat. I have to agree with what you said. I was just about to write a similar (but less detailed) reply, you have saved me the trouble John
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Post by cleverliteral on Aug 12, 2012 19:39:05 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2012 20:12:53 GMT
What are your strengths if I may ask?
I know mine tend to be centred around long term information retention, and quick thinking/mental arithmatic. I know that without ADHD I would not have the ability to intensly focus on these things, and quickly make links, look at small changes etc.
This was an asset for many many years before I even considered I had ADHD.
Meds help me in other ways. Generally making me a bit less likely to lose my temper so quickly, lessening my anxiety, allowing me to socialise a little easier, and helping a little with focus on uninteresting tasks.
Just because you feel a certain way, does not mean we all do. I would struggle without meds to be honest, but not for the reasons you are citing.
John
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Post by cleverliteral on Aug 13, 2012 0:22:41 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2012 1:44:55 GMT
I like music a lot too. I have very little creativity, so would struggle at composition, but can recite lyrics from 30 years ago, even if I only heard the music once (in some cases), not always 100% accurately though, due to mishearing some of it - but it is something that annoys me when I am feeling low, that I can remember such trivial nonsense from years ago (maybe the script from an advert I heard once, when a word someone says triggers it to go off in my head), but I forget what I switched the computer on for, or what I got up for, or where I was driving to etc all the time. I find it interesting that you can't recite lyrics, as it differs from my experience. Is this all lyrics, newly learned, ones you have known for a long time, or a mix of the two? Reciting lyrics should be from long term memory, as short term memory tends to get transferred to long term after a few minutes at most. The more times it comes into the short term memory (in theory) the better chance of succesfull transfer to long term. I sing a lot (usually to myself in the car), maybe that helps me with the transfer to long term memory. I still wonder why I find it easy to store some data long term, while other data just goes in one ear and out of the other. I could never remember peoples names when I first met them. Now I use a method of word association with someone I already know with the same name, or try to picture a famous person with the same name. It helps me a lot. (though some people would be mortified to know what I see in my head when I remember their names ) I would also like to stress that I still don't like socialising, even whilst on meds. Too many people are arseholes, I try to choose my friends carefully, but I am clearly not a good judge of character in that respect, as I end up getting used, or hurt by most of them (the ones reading this post are ok though, as they are "special" ) I also never said it was difficult to consider I have ADHD - I just did not know anything about it previously, and was so wrapped up in my own selfish world, I did not see that I had a problem - it was everyone else with the problem. I did not display classic hyperactivity as I was growing up, and I understood ADHD to be naughty kids running around etc. Again you are making your post into some kind of "my ADHD is worse than yours" I struggle greatly with distraction, and innatentiveness - but how could I put that down to ADHD, when ADHD (in my mind) was naughtly kids running around? As soon as I was given the facts on ADHD, then I knew I had found what was really different about me all these years. John
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Post by cleverliteral on Aug 13, 2012 2:42:34 GMT
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Post by cdsinuk on Aug 13, 2012 12:34:31 GMT
i cant remeber lyrics either, but one thing i can do remember music notes, i can break down any music by intruments into each individual set of notes, i mean i hear everything, even things other people cant hear in songs, ? but i cant read music, i cant even seem to learn it, but give me a keyboard and a song and ill give you each intruments rythm note for note, im a bit of a Mike Oldfield, i play a little keyboard, drums guitar etc, but cant seem to learn choard shapes or guitar tabs, i cant remember them, its weired,
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2012 20:30:38 GMT
Cleverlit, have you ever been assessed for ASD?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2012 0:43:17 GMT
i cant remeber lyrics either, but one thing i can do remember music notes, i can break down any music by intruments into each individual set of notes, i mean i hear everything, even things other people cant hear in songs, ? but i cant read music, i cant even seem to learn it, but give me a keyboard and a song and ill give you each intruments rythm note for note, im a bit of a Mike Oldfield, i play a little keyboard, drums guitar etc, but cant seem to learn choard shapes or guitar tabs, i cant remember them, its weired, It's interesting you should say that. Back in the days when we all talked into mobile brick phones, my friends would get me to custom make simple ringtones for them. I knew near enough the notes to program in after listening to the sample of music I had to transfer. I also cannot read music, and have had several failed attempts at learning to play instruments. No coordination! John
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2012 23:00:28 GMT
My (probably ASD) nephew can do the same. So could Mozart.
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gift
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Post by gift on May 10, 2014 10:13:34 GMT
Yes, I follow Dr Hallowell on Facebook and am a big fan of his approach. I was fortunate to meet him personally and he is just as thoughtful and engaging in person. I also had the pleasure of meeting his wife who is also incredibly impressive - she is a Licensed Social Worker - and very interesting to talk with about having an ADHD husband and raising two kids with ADHD. Both are very practical and genuine. He also had a great conversation with my pre-teen son and was not at all patronising...again, he was practical and encouraging.
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