Varied Gifts from ADD/ADHD

There are those who say that ADD/ADHD is not a disorder. It is merely a different way of thinking and functioning.

There is some truth to that, but there is also some truth to the fact that each of us must learn to function productively in the society we are part of. So there is a delicate balance between minimizing the problem, and calling it all bad. Somewhere in the middle there is a truth:

• People with attention deficit often have tremendous gifts - creativity, energy, and the ability to make connections between things that others miss.
  
• People with attention deficit face great challenges in learning to harness those gifts in a direction which makes them an asset, and not a liability.

With every great gift, there is an equal weakness. Attention deficit is no exception. It is just a matter of which elements you choose to encourage and feed, and how you choose to help the child know when it is appropriate to run with it.

Boundless energy is a handicap if it just leads one into trouble. A parent who can teach their child to channel it into constructive things helps the child grow in maturity and self-esteem.

Great creativity is a gift when it allows one to approach problem solving from a fresh perspective. But if it becomes an escape from having to deal with life, it becomes a stumbling block which will prevent learning and growth.

One reason our family chose not to use medication for our son is because we realized that his strengths and his weaknesses were integrally linked. We knew from what we had read that medication was more likely to interfere with that, possibly do permanent damage, than not. He is amazingly intelligent, and it seemed more reasonable to help him to learn to magnify what was good instead of just try to suppress what was bad (and lose who knew what in the process).