By the time I started sophmore year, I began to realize something; While I may have physically been in class, my mind was a thousand miles away. One minute I was thinking about summer break, the next second I would be peering out the window at the parking-lot. It wasn’t that I was trying to day dream, but instead that I absolutely COULD NOT do anything but. While other kids were able to multi-task (socializing while doing in-class work) I could not. In fact, when others were talking, moving, or even simply sneezing, I found myself getting further frusterated. This is when the out bursts began. I couldn’t get anything done, my mind was always on sensory overload and above all else, I was pissed; genuinly and entirely PISSED. Not because I was an angry kid, but instead because I didn’t know any other way to cope with and organize everything that was going through my head.

It followed me home too. My room was never clean. I would start and then five minutes later be bouncing off the walls. I would have outbursts at the kitchen table because thats where I did my homework. Even though it was away from the TV and other noise pollutants, there was always something to distract me. The dripping faucet. Foot steps up-stairs. The dog outside. You name it, if it made noise, moved, was brightly colored… you get the idea, if IT was there, I knew…and I’ll be God damned if it didn’t distract me.

I tried…for three years in highschool. My parents seeked guidance. I saw shrinks and went through therapy. They were at their wit’s end, I was borderline about to fail out of school. I felt like a failure, I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but suddenly I WASNT “normal”. They took me to a doctor and we pled our case. Without hesitation, he knew. I was ADHD, I DEFINED it.

You see people, I didn’t choose to be this way. I tried coping but couldn’t. I have since been on the medication for over 5 years and I wouldnt have it any other way. Things that used to take days to complete now take hours. I have that ability to do what “normal” people do; concentrate.

So, keep this all in mind. There are people out there that undoubtedly need this. Granted, there are also people who abuse it. It’s not the easy way out, in fact it was quite a difficult journey. It’s the help I needed. Without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I graduate from college in December of next year.

Thats all.

Sorry I know it’s long, I ramble when my medicine hasn’t kicked in yet.

The adderalls and strateras are simply too easy to get a hold of, too easy to abuse and society should not be resorting to medicating its children.

Neither of my kids could stand “Sesame Street” — my daughter said that it made her head hurt. She loved “Mr. Rogers” and “Barney”, though, and it dawned on me that on those two shows, there was usually only one or two cameras, and the information was presented in a calm story format that required a child to pay attention and follow, instead of the nerve-jangling bam-bam-bam of “Sesame Street.” Interestingly enough, the rise in ADD diagnoses seems to track pretty well with the introduction of “Sesame Street”. I also read an interesting article a few years ago about the low incidence of ADD in kids whose families were very strict with TV viewing — less than three hours a week.

And yes, I do think you can teach a child to concentrate. It starts very, very young, when you want a child to focus on a particular task, remove all distractions, make the task interesting, and praise them for staying on task. It’s hard for parents to do, because so many parents are pulled in so many directions between work and home. But the older kids get, the harder it gets, because if they are accustomed to the adrenalin rush they get from getting things in short spurts, such as TV, movies, etc., it’s a really, really hard addiction to break.

I heard several years ago that these meds were being used by college students to help them concentrate. My teenager told my hubby that she wanted to take one during exams for her AP classes so she could concentrate. She thought it was funny, we didn’t and had a long discussion as to why. Needless to say, they’re with me just in case. She’s a bit of an overachiever.