alien
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Post by alien on May 11, 2016 9:34:26 GMT
Hi spacemummy. I'm sorry to hear you're having such a tough time. I completely sympathise and empathise with your situation. If it helps at all, I can let you know that I've gone through the assessment process, and I did expect a diagnosis. I didn't get one. I know from talking to plenty of others in similar situations (and dyslexic and autistic people too) and thinking about my skills and abilities, my own family and reflecting on my school life and work history, it doesn't matter. I still have – for want of a better term – an ADHD brain. I did okay at school. I've done well professionally (maybe not counting the last six months or so : ) ) – You and I haven't slipped through the net. We've succeeded because we've compensated or worked round some of the things that are harder for us than for others, and also perhaps in some respects due to the idiosyncratic ways our brains work. Supporting a family, especially if it is a complicated one, puts a lot of pressure on people. I spent the three months leading up to my assessment obsessing about it. The day itself was incredibly difficult. I don't feel I was myself at all. I was super anxious. I don't think the psychiatrists really listened to the fact that I was in there with them not because my mode of thinking had changed due to my circumstances changing, but because the circumstances I was having to deal with meant my mode of thinking was becoming more and more overwhelmed. If you are assessed and you don't get a diagnosis, it doesn't mean you're stupid or lazy or wrong about this. You're not. You've obviously given it loads of thought. Not getting a diagnosis does mean you won't get any medication, or have a formal medical label to take to work. I hope that helps a little. Hang in there. I know it's hard.
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alien
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Post by alien on May 10, 2016 20:20:09 GMT
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alien
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Post by alien on May 10, 2016 13:17:52 GMT
Hi blaze. I was just wondering if your situation had moved on at all and what you've decided to do? Also wondering how old your child(ren) are/is? My daughter's almost eight and has been having a right old time of it since preschool. We ideally just want a nice inclusive, proactive school, but everything's a fight. She does have an EHCP (great fun securing that was!) but it feels like it's made limited difference beyond having the school accept what we say at face value. (She is also a frequent school refuser.) Better go. Have another meeting at the school in half an hour.
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alien
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Post by alien on May 10, 2016 13:06:38 GMT
I agree with a lot of that Babble, but I'd say 'allistic' (non-autistic) brains are hardwired for social interaction. It's those who are less socially intuitive who have to work harder at it and process social interactions consciously. Or maybe it's a simple case of there's too much going on at one time in NT brains to always deal with the social stuff. I don't feel the need to consciously process someone else's social actions, but I do often have to remind myself to pay attention to them in group situations. As has been mentioned, if it's one-to-one, then it's much more straightforward. Maybe this is more of an introvert/extrovert question too – in a (mostly not very good) book I read recently (when thinking about introversion/extraversion), Quiet by Susan Cain, she points to quite a bit of information about how introverts are so busy fretting about what's meant and how situations can be read, that they're much more comfortable and suited to one-on-one in-depth, intellectual conversation, whereas extraverts favour a 'isn't the weather iffy?; did you see the game?; nice dress, where's it from?' level of conversation that means it's easier to focus on multiple social happenings concurrently. As I say, it wasn't a great book, but perhaps this is mostly in the context of that 'room full of strangers' example you give?
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alien
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Post by alien on May 10, 2016 12:42:03 GMT
PS Update on my 16Personalities test – it was turbulent/assertive I was mis-remembering. I'm INFP-A (Although I agree with – was it ananse ? – about the misnomer of assertive. As evidenced above, I'm not in the least assertive. Calm or settled would have made more sense as terms to me. Although after the challenges of the last 12 months that A/T dial might have moved a bit closer/across to the T.)
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alien
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Post by alien on May 10, 2016 12:37:31 GMT
What she said. : ) Although I often just don't bother going to the trouble of explaining that I have an answer due to the expectation of having to be able to explain it. That hanging around waiting for others to catch up can be very frustrating. I'm so anxious of coming across as if I'm patronising or have a superiority complex, I think oftentimes I over-compensate. I can be over-apologetic even for a non-alpha male Englishman. Regarding gender expectations, I haven't seen the new Grayson Perry programme yet, but the premise sounds interesting.
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alien
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Post by alien on May 9, 2016 21:07:01 GMT
INFP here. I did the MB quite some time back and can't remember what the percentages refer to. Also can't remember the terms but was something like more on the settled rather than unsettled side of the scales. And yes, heavily intuitive/creative, clubby. I wonder how much some of these traits are reflective of ADHD or of ADHD people who pass their time away on messageboards. : ) PS marionk Nothing generally happens in meetings aside from posturing and people pretending to look interested in things they have little interest in (maybe that's just me). I envy your lack of being in them! : )
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 28, 2016 7:38:26 GMT
Just looked at my qb test results sheet - 99 percentile for inattention and activity, 92 for impulsivity. Seems an odd way to gauge impulsivity. 49.6 per cent 'omission error'.
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 28, 2016 6:54:48 GMT
I did a very similar test when I was assessed and scored incredibly 'badly'. I think part of it was how wound up I felt on the day (going into the test after a two hour interview and being told it was 25 minutes long). I asked the psychs what the average score was and they avoided answering for some reason. I was a bit shocked when the author of this poece said she got a perfect score but haven't checked to see if the test runs for the same duration. Conditions were also in an unfamilar environment and at one point they played a white noise recording so that's different too.
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 18, 2016 10:45:12 GMT
I've just spotted, there's also a conversation thread attached to the article that I'm going to respond to. Aeon has lots of psychologists and psychiatrists that read it, so I see this as a good place for those with ADHD to stand up and be heard, and be able to argue our corner. The question it asks is 'Are the creative gifts that can be bestowed by ADHD worth the life impairments?' and the thread can be found here: aeon.co/conversations/are-the-creative-gifts-that-can-be-bestowed-by-adhd-worth-the-life-impairments
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 18, 2016 10:28:43 GMT
Just published on Aeon Magazine is a great feature about French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau and the parallels journalist Richard Orange sees in his own ADHD – the article (for me at least) gives such a great description of what it's like to live with an ADHD mind: aeon.co/essays/was-rousseau-s-restless-genius-a-symptom-of-adhdShame about the headline.
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 16, 2016 9:20:36 GMT
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 10, 2016 17:41:08 GMT
It all makes total sense. The only part that's different for me is I don't feel bombarded by external stimuli unless I'm stressed. But if I do notice something, especially aural, like a conversation going on, or birdsong or a clock ticking, I then find it hard to block it out. I'm usually too busy inside my head to notice. (Not great for things like crossing roads and whatnot. )
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 8, 2016 13:41:49 GMT
Babble I want all that.on a t-shirt. Exactly the same here but my partner just doesn't ever seem to regsiter my explanation. clubby Thank you. That stuff about prospectice memory is very helpful. That's the crux of my initial question - does building this event-based memory up due to shortfall wtih time-based (prospective) memory in part explain some of the creative thinking skills often found in ADHD types?
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 6, 2016 13:38:59 GMT
Do you know I don't think I explained what I meant very well – rather than visual memory I think I meant something more like 'memory of association'. It's why I gave the examples. (My actual visual memory is pretty flimsy and is coupled up with short-sightedness.) So I might see something that reminds me of something I was supposed to do – like seeing a cat on television might remind me to feed the cat, and then remembering to feed the cat might remind me that there was something else I was supposed to remember and I can then riffle through the memory banks to see if I can pin it down (not always possible). If that makes sense. Very mysterious marionk – are you not going to share that skill with us?
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 6, 2016 12:11:54 GMT
Thanks, everyone.
The definition I was going with is the cultural one really – are you someone who goes out and does stuff and likes being around lots of people, or someone more at home with intellectual pursuits – not necessarily solitary, but with a small group of intimates. Make sense?
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 5, 2016 13:22:20 GMT
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 5, 2016 12:20:19 GMT
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 5, 2016 12:19:24 GMT
Here's a poll, maybe, if posting this works.
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 5, 2016 6:52:42 GMT
Good idea. I didn't know that option was there. I'll give it a go.
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 4, 2016 12:59:18 GMT
Just a quick poll out of interest: Any validity in the suggestion that those with ADHD (PI) are more likely to be introverts whilst those with ADHD (hyperactivity/impulsivity) are more likely to be extroverts?
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alien
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Post by alien on Apr 4, 2016 12:55:37 GMT
Thanks for the responses. clubby – What you say is really interesting. Sounds almost like all the bits you have going on in between are very powerful.
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alien
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Post by alien on Mar 30, 2016 12:55:56 GMT
I had another related question but have forgotten what it was.
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alien
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Post by alien on Mar 29, 2016 16:09:12 GMT
Just to add, gc7, from experience relating to my daughter's assessment/treatment under CAMHS, we went through the complaint route and it caused us sooooo much added distress. I'm not saying to not do it, as maybe we did have a bit of an effect, but I had much more success detailing my family's experiences to our MP (this is autism not ADHD-related), and feel, in concert with the NAS, we made a real impact. I suppose what I'm saying is that if you have the will and the fire, that was where we found most success, and the ongoing relationship is hopefully going to be useful moving on too. (We've split all ties with CAMHS, although maintain a relationship with our local Trust's developmental paediatrics.) I'm in Surrey, and my experience of the ASD/ADHD clinic is that they're completely over-stretched, under-resourced and cant offer anything in the way of support aside from medication. One of the psychiatrists, who I chatted to in the waiting room, also told me he thought the next five years would see services cut further. That could have been a simple case of professional pessimism though.
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alien
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Post by alien on Mar 29, 2016 14:25:08 GMT
Oh, agreed vagueandrandom – I'm very much a word thinker. I just wonder if those connections 'muscles' (not the visual ones) also come into play when getting creative.
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alien
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Post by alien on Mar 29, 2016 11:25:44 GMT
But i digress – it was that point about actively making connections in order to circumvent (or as an alternative to) working memory acting as a catalyst in the development of creative thinking skills. It's just a recent musing, not a firm belief or anything. I'm just interested in other people's experiences.
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alien
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Post by alien on Mar 29, 2016 11:21:52 GMT
Thanks. I've seen some of the other stuff around on it too. I'm the same with the note-taking – with the act of writing down being an aiding memory. I find I can't spontaneously remember short-term things, but can will myself to remember things by taking the time out to think about them. I definitely don't have that environmental awareness. (I'm short-sighted, but don't think that's a factor really – more a case of just not really looking.)
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alien
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Post by alien on Mar 29, 2016 10:27:39 GMT
Having realised in recent months how massively I rely on my visual memory to link me to non-routine mundane tasks, I wonder if this compensation – this subconscious practising of the skill of association so frequently to attempt to compensate for poor short-term memory – is part of the reason for one of the strengths associated with ADHD – that of creative thinking.
What do people think? Do you rely on your visual memory to remember stuff? (e.g., I won't remember something like taking the washing out of the machine if i don't do it when it beeps, but if I saw a picture of a washing machine in a magazine it might prompt me to remember I have got washing in the machine that needs emptying.)
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alien
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Post by alien on Mar 29, 2016 9:11:42 GMT
Sorry about the typos. Blummin' phone doesn't know how to deal with apostrophes. : )
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alien
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Post by alien on Mar 29, 2016 9:10:37 GMT
Hi gc7 - just to say another one here with similar experience to you. I saw two and a half (one was a trainee) psychiatrists who focused on my doing well at school and okay at work, despite scoring very highly on all tests. They sent me away probably with the the same advice as if i'd had a diagnosis as I know I don'the what meds. Read ADHD self-help boOKs (I already had (and suggested counselling. Said they'do write to my GP to look into that but of course almost six months later and no word. You know what though -I'm okay with it now. (If I was after medication i'd feel at a loss.) Reading everyone else'so experienceS on here has been of far greater use. I'very also come to understand some of my own coping mechanisms and worked out why i've been comfortable in some jobs and not others. All very helpful. Regardless of what many on here may think at times about their own self worth and importance, the people who post on here regularly are making such a valuable contribution on the lives of others they should feel very proud.
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