Reply to Do you have experience with ADHD-1 (inattentive)?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My very bright 16-year-old clearly has inattentive ADD, but she's untreated.  She spends hours every night on HW (and in the shower!) but she and my DH (who takes meds for his ADD) and I have agreed to keep an eye on things but not seek treatment at this point.  She is comfortable with her pace, though it means she gets less sleep than her peers.  She can perform well on tests (hyperfocused) and benefits from her high IQ.  It is a struggle, but as long as she continues to do well and feel capable, we're keeping an eye on her.[/quote]

This was me as a teenager, back in the day before anyone knew what ADD was (at least outside of the big cities).  I rocked standardized tests.  What really helped me with homework was music or TV on.  I know it runs counter to what everyone says about screen time, but unless there was something else going on, I would just blank out and end up staring at the stage or writing Tolkien fan fiction in my head or something and then realize it was 11 p.m. and my homework was not done.  TV or music kept one track of my brain occupied so the other track could do homework.  Music worked better for language arts type homework, while TV was better for math.  (Of course, that was also in the days when TV was just whatever happened to be on, so half the time it wasn't like the shows were all that riveting.  It might be harder now that you can actually pick something good to watch.)  I don't think my parents even realized I did my homework in front of the guest room TV every night.  To this day, I cannot drive without music on, as I get 100% distracted unless there is something to distract me 25%, if that makes sense.  My other trick was taking copious notes, that I would then annotate during class discussion.  It forced me to stay focused.  (And everyone wanted to borrow them to study for tests!).[/quote]

OMG, I know I'm bumping an old thread, but I was looking through stuff on ADD-inattentive and bright kids (because we may have one of those) and found this.  THIS IS ME.  Not literally, but PP, you just described me exactly.  And I was on the very high end of the bell curve of academic success (Ivy, law school, blah blah blah).  But I always had to have something on to -- just as you said -- keep one track of my mind entertained so it wouldn't interfere with the track of my mind that was supposed to be doing my schoolwork.
I wonder if there's a name for whatever that is?  Is it ADD-inattentive?  Or something else?
Anyway, I wish we knew each other.   I don't know anyone else like that.[/quote]

I'm a third (also high achieving). I just think I process things faster than others around me and need extra stimuli to fill the gaps.

It drives DH bonkers when I'm doing two things at once. [/quote]

I'm in this club as well.  Never officially diagnosed, but would be utterly unsurprised to learn I have adult ADD, almost sure of it.  And basically can't work without some kind of mental distraction.  Very occasionally I have a particularly thorny problem I'm working out where I will want quiet, but in general I require music / external stimuli to be able to focus.  And I never have learned to pay attention in a lecture format.  I am almost completely incapable of learning via that medium.  Online video training drives me bonkers - I want to read it while listening to music.  Trying to force myself to pay attention to a video training takes up so much brain power I still struggle to learn from it.   
[/quote]

Add another diagnosed as an adult - Ivy undergrad, law school, blah, blah.  I had to have music and/or tv on plus other coping skills like picking at my cuticles, scalp, doodling, etc.  No matter what anyone says, the human brain is NOT designed to do 5 things at the same time and do them well.  There are many many studies that say this.  Being on medication gets rid of all these NEGATIVE coping mechanisms.  It was a relief to be finally on Ritalin.[/quote]

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