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| Yes | 71% | 192 votes | Total: 272 votes | |
| No | 29% | 80 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesI went to do the laundry and wound up mowing the yard. I have Attention Deficit Dis, oh look a squirrel! That's exactly what it's like for an adult living with ADD. To ask if it's annoying is a bit redundant. You are unable to complete a thought. You pick up a book to read and can't seem to make it through one sentence without being distracted by a bird or a plane that happened by your window. One of the top annoying offenders for Adult ADD is creating more work for yourself than is actually necessary.
For instance: You start to pay the bills, putting checks over here and stubs over there. No, wait. Let me write the totals down on another sheet of paper so I don't forget what I did. I'll put them over here in my Dayplanner. Better put it on a sticky note too. Bananas. I need to pick some up before we. Hang on. Where'd that dadgum pencil go? Honey?! Will you help me find my pencil?! I've got to get those dishes out of the dishwasher before supper, otherwise we'll have another plate pile-up and I just, oh look. There's my pencil. Now what was I doing?
While it all sounds rather humorous from a neutral point of view, it is extraordinarily frustrating for the adult suffering. If left untreated, it is not uncommon to see drug and alcohol abuse along with a chaotic, self-destructive lifestyle due to severe frustration and an ever-growing lack of self-worth.
Often, those suffering have no idea that all of their confusion actually has a name and is treatable. We've all seen "that guy". The one who runs around like a chicken with his head cut off. Papers everywhere, can't make it to a meeting on time to save his life. You ask him for a file and he begins tearing up drawers and lifting up piles of papers, peering underneath, all the while muttering under his breath, "I had it right here. Hang on. It's here somewhere."
There's a real good chance "that guy" is an adult with ADD; however, he doesn't know it and you probably don't either. He just looks like a guy who really needs to pull it together with a quickness.
Thankfully there are a variety of medications used to treat Adult ADD with amazing results. With the right combination of medication, a monstrous sized sense of humor, and behavior therapy, an adult living with ADD is able to go about his life in a more organized and stress-free manner. Your friends and family will thank you. Repeatedly.
Learn more about this author, April Trice.
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No
Should we classify all disabilities or abilities outside the norm as annoying? Should we be annoyed that people in wheelchairs are allowed to park closer to the store than the rest of us? Should we be annoyed that Braille decorates most public signs and ATM's? Of course not. Why then would someone be annoyed that accommodations can and should be made for those of us with ADD?
After all, you are asking us to live in a world we do not fit into. You are asking us to conform to a set of standards that are alien to us. Is it so wrong of us to ask for a little consideration and patience when attempting to deal with your world? Don't get me wrong, you've created a society that runs pretty efficiently. Without the order you've created, certainly life would be difficult.
However, consider for a moment the gifts that those with ADD bring into your life. Your wife may always be late for every function, but doesn't she perhaps make up for it in providing thought provoking conversation, or humorous hijinks? Your sister may always be hitting you up for cash because the electricity got turned off again, but isn't she the first one to offer the shirt off her back when you need it, or lend a compassionate ear, and intuitive and insightful advice? Your mom may always be getting lost, but wasn't that a great park/beach/playgroun d/restaurant/shop/et c. that you all found on one of her "adventures"? Your employee may fail to follow directions as you've outlined them, but isn't the final product even better, more creative and more well rounded than what would otherwise have resulted?
For every negative, or "annoying" aspect of ADD, there are easily at least 5 fabulous characteristics that make up for it. Please remember that people with ADD do not want to annoy you. We don't intend to cause you inconvenience.
How very different life would be without the talents and creativity of people like Michelangelo, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein. People were annoyed by them as well. Michelangelo failed to complete more projects than he completed. Thomas Edison would work extremely long hours in his shop to the annoyance of his family. Albert Einstein was a slob. I could cite several more examples of incredibly talented, brilliant people who changed our world, the list goes on and on. The point is that even these greats had annoying traits, but in the end, no one cares because the results of their brilliance far outweighed any petty issues associated with their ADD.
Rather than getting annoyed with your ADD associate, why not help him/her with the tasks and situations that are daunting, freeing them up to succeed in the areas that they are most attuned for?
Learn more about this author, Annie McFadden.
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