First Person

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TotallyADD But “In Denial”? Try Humor!

July 30, 2010 in Adult ADHD Awareness, First Person, What Does ADHD Look Like? | 6 comments

Are you living with an “in-denial” adult with ADHD? Try humor. For starters, check out this short video featuring Canadian writer/director/actor Rick Green and maybe share it with your partner. Then both of you can (I hope) have a laugh.

In case you didn’t figure it out, Rick has ADHD. And guess what? Ava Green, his wife, works with him as video story editor. And together they produced the much-acclaimed GlobalTV documentary ADD and Loving It?!, featuring Canadian actor Patrick McKenna. Here is the description from the TotallyADD website: Read the rest of this entry »

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Letters from the ADHD Roller Coaster Mailbag

July 16, 2009 in About the Book, First Person | 26 comments

Since my book was published (Is It You, Me, or Adult A.D.D.? Stopping the Roller Coaster When Someone You Love Has Attention Deficit Disorder), I have been receiving letters from readers worldwide. I have permission to share the following three.  These mens’ words might strike a chord for you.

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Hi Gina,

I am a man diagnosed with ADHD. I have accepted the diagnosis only after realizing that focusing on myself and exercise is not the only answer. True, it took me 50 years to discover this, I feel the combination of my medication, exercise, and focusing has proven to be successful. At least in my mind, less so for my wife, apparently. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Excuse me, officer, do you have ADHD?”

February 23, 2009 in First Person | 7 comments

Of course I didn’t ask him that — especially while he was writing my traffic citation. But afterwards, as we chatted and I happened to mention Adult ADHD, he assumed I could somehow tell that he has it.

Let me explain.

Neighborhood merchants have been complaining to the police department about drivers making dangerous u-turns, and the ensuing dragnet caught me. (Who knew that turning left into a diagonal parking slot constitutes a u-turn? At any rate, I’d never pulled this move before, yet parking was tight, rain was falling, and my post-surgical gimpy foot limited the distance I could walk to the bank. But alas, that’s been my lot since grade school: never getting away with a darn thing, even on the first attempt.)

The officer was cordial and professional, and I apologized for my unwitting transgression. When he handed me a warning, my gratitude prompted me to think about offering him one of my books (a case is always in the trunk). Read the rest of this entry »

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Husband to Me: “I’m glad you’re not perfect!”

January 4, 2009 in First Person | No comments

“Whoa, looks like I got a little carried away with the pitchfork,” I mutter, looking out the window to see a small fountain shooting from the soaker hose.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” says my husband with alarm in his voice, defensively peering over his impromptu shield, The New York Times.

“Relax, I just punctured the hose when I was digging out those dahlias yesterday. A piece of it was buried in the dirt, and I didn’t see it.”

“Shew!” he says, chuckling and relaxing back into the Week in Review. “I’m glad it was you who goofed up and not me.” Living for a few decades with unrecognized ADHD can make a person a bit…gunshy, always half-expecting to be reamed out for some unintentional, unforeseen consequence. Moreover, living with a domestically and logistically high-functioning mate can bring dispiriting “less-than” comparisons. Read the rest of this entry »

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