Grar! No support on the Mom front

[beandelphiki]

I've long thought of my days in terms of whether they were "good" or "bad" - the value designations muchly depending on how much I've gotten done, and how much I've forgotten.

I thought this weekend was a "good" weekend. It twicked me! It's not. I forgot an important deadline again! *sigh*



I showed The List to my mom. She was not quick to agree I have a problem of any kind.

She was impressed with the length of The List (this is after I took several items off), and clearly agrees that I procrastinate too much. She also was perplexed that I have to re-read anything ("Really?"), which is understandable, give how far above grade level I always read as a kid, and how well I've always done in English. I mentioned falling asleep all the time after my calculus course, and she made the leap herself - "You think it was the mental effort?" - but she was sketchy on that one.

And she was impressed for some reason by the fact that "poor handwriting" and "deciding to only print" are (minor) signs of ADD (in conjunction with many other things). Maybe because it was a "real" symptom, something she can believe I can't help?

To the rest, she said:

"Those are just signs of a right-brained person."

"But Mom," I argued, "we decided a long time ago that I'm not right-brained!" (We decided I'm whole-brain dominant, as far as that goes.)

"Oh, that's right, we did." She was silent for a second. "Dan. Really. These are just personality traits!"

I stayed quiet for a while. I didn't know what else to say. I wish I could organize my SPOKEN thoughts as well as I can written, but I can't. I couldn't find a way to explain why I feel this is different - the words "comprehensive, global pattern" didn't occur to me then. I wish they had.

Feeling reluctant to leave until I got my point across, I just sat there. Finally, I repeated some "ADD humor" I ran across in adults_add about money management - "ADD people have two types of money - I have money, or I don't have money. One dollar is the same as a thousand - I have money!"

She laughed, so I continued to relate little anecdotes on the topic. Then she shook her head and said, "But that's life skills. Whoever said that must have been quite young, and hadn't developed any financial skills yet."

I gave up in frustration.

And now I wonder why she found the joke funny! She obviously didn't "get" it, so what did she find funny about it?

Comments

[griffen.livejournal.com]

How many kids with ADD does it take to change a lightbulb?
...
...
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Let's go ride bikes!

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

*snicker*

I'm reading "The ADDed Dimension" right now. (It's split up into little bits that are only a page in length, so I chucked everything else aside in favour of it.) It's got some great quotes in it, my favourite so far being:

I'm in a phone booth at the corner of Walk and Don't Walk.

I think even my mom would understand why that was hilarious in relation to me. :P

[griffen.livejournal.com]

*grin* Got a link for me? Love to share it with Danny.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Here.

[macai.livejournal.com]

I asked my father, who is a neurologist, about the most noticeable sypmtoms of minor non-hyperactive ADD. He specifically mentioned some of the items on your list. Hope that helps you!

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)