I learned that I probably had an attentional disorder in my late 30s. Because of the lack of understanding of adult attentional disorders, and run ins with a couple of doctors who thought I was just trying to get a legal source of street drugs. I was finally able to find a doctor who could diagnosed adult ADHD-PI and treat me would treat me a couple of weeks after I turned 57.

All of my experiences took place before anyone knew about ADHD.

Over the last 5 years I have taught in a couple of different Junior Colleges. A lot of my students are being treated for some form of ADHD. I compare their treatment by the school system with mine and I feel very lucky to have grown up when I was just called lazy and/or stupid, or even a cheat. These students have been told their entire lives that they have a disorder. They have been told that they can not learn. They have been side lined and kept out of regular classes (in violation of Federal Law).

There is a lot of difference between being told you are lazy or stupid, when you know you are not. And, being told that you have a disorder that makes it impossible for you to learn. The difference is one of expectations. My parents, and my teachers, expected me to do well, to succeed. When I did succeed I received praise for it. The students I see were never expected to be able to learn. No one ever tried to teach them. As a result they have never developed the coping skills that I, and so many others like me, developed. They had no need to development those skills because they were never expected to function in school. Of course, no one ever tried to teach them coping skills either.

So many of these students have poor reading skills and near zero retention of what they read. I was expected to be able to read and retain what I read. I read at 1/2 to 1/3 of the normal reading speed (my wife can read a book in the time it takes me to read a chapter), but I have better than 90% retention. I was expected to be able to read and retain what I read. (My shrink says I have taught my self how to transfer information directly from short term memory to long term memory without editing it. My memory is full of all sorts of stuff that now else seems to know My students were never expected to learn to read.

I realize that I’m ranting so I’ll stop.

I do have a couple of questions that are very important to me. Can you, or anyone, recommend books on teaching techniques that work for college level students with ADHD? I’ve only been able find books aimed at grade school teachers. I need to be able to develop lesson plans that work for folks with ADHD and ordinary students.

I have one class, a game development class, in which I estimate that at least 70% of the students (in my opinion) show symptoms of ADHD. About 40% have declared that they have ADHD or ADD). Are there any references on how to manage a class room with such a high concentration of ADHD students. The trouble is that I get caught up in their behavior. It is so hard to act normal around people who talk and think like I do. When I slip it really bothers the other people in the class. They feel left out. They don’t get the puns. They can’t follow the ping pong conversations.

Last but no least… This posting is an example of a problem I have developed since starting medication for my ADHD-PI. I never used to write anything this long as an email or web posting. I could never sustain the interest, the focus, to write something this long. I have talked with my shrink about it. He thought I was talking about hyper-focus. This is not hyper-focus. As far as I can tell this is normal focus. The problem is that most of my coping skills are based on the fact that my attention will wonder every few minutes. I’m never late getting anywhere because I can count on the fact that I will check the clock every 5 minutes and I will get anxious enough to leave long before I really need to. Now, my mind doesn’t wander. I don’t check the clock every 5 minutes. I don’t feel anxious. The result is that I have trouble getting places on time for the first time since I was 19.

I talked to my doctor about this problem and he told me to read your book “Delivered from Distraction” (great book). But, it has nothing to do with this particular problem. He clearly did not understand the question. Any suggestions?

Bob

When working with challenged children I usually tune myself to hear their fear, anxiety, self – defeating thoughts. Many times I experienced that once a positive rapport is built with the child the academic performance increases too.

Your article is so inspiring and encouraging thank you for this innovative approach to embrace challenged learners.

I believe if you give children the wings to fly and they will take off.

Krista Gulliver