Expert: Christine D. DeLoatch, MA CCC-SLP - 2/14/2006

Question
hello!

i am a freshmen at college who got diagnosed about a month ago with ADD. i am still learning a great deal with this disorder since i never knew what ADD when i was diagnosed. anyway - with all the research i have been doing and trying to rediscover why i am the way i am, there are still a few simple question i have:

- can ADD looks like a learning disability, because i originally went in to get tested for a LD and then it turned out i've had ADD all my life?

-i understand that ADD can greatly affect someone's IQ testing [although i got a score of 130, i found it extremely difficult concentrate, and my sub score with short term memory ended up being 80]. i find it ridiculously easy to understand concepts, but what is hard for me is buckling down to remember them as everything else with ADD that is involved [such as attention span and impulsiveness] - so will psychotherapy help me in the 'structure' area since my medication can only help me so far? i find the material very easy in college, while it seems everyone else i know has a very difficult time, but i can never prove that i understand this. will psychotherapy help in this area that 'normal' people are good at?

-also, i can learn and understand language. . . yet i made the mistake of taking spanish back in high school and, again, i foolishly am taking it in college [language is required]. spanish is THE class i hate with the most profuse passion, and no matter what i do i can not get myself to get my work done since i have SO much other struggles to worry about [I could start to take german, since it is an interest, yet it would be too late before I apply for my major]. i read somewhere that some colleges let people with ADD/LD forgo the language requirement if the work load becomes too stressful for them; after all, i want to start psychotherapy, i have many important other classes i must worry about, and i am also involved with other activities, like aerobics to help my ADD, while juggling work and writing on the side since i do creative writing and read leisurely to relax. i realize that growing up with ADD, not feeling like i fit in when i was little, i never learned social skills and any forms of structures like 'normal' little children.

-also, though i don't feel very smart, i just wonder if ADD affects how fast and quick i can learn things? i mean i am a very quick learner at times, but when it comes to things such as reading or sometimes with math i can learn it, but sometimes i need to get a little extra help from the teacher. i would like to believe that i am smart, but i don't know how much gifted people, with ADD/LD or not, need a little extra help after certain class to get things to wholly click [but i also wonder if since my memory is so horrible it really destroys the potential on how quick things can always click for me unless when i am in a hyper focused state.]

i am sorry if this is a little long, and in fact i was going to ask something else. . . but i forgot what it was. lol. i am asking these questions because my disability coordinator is gone for the week - so i feel a little lost at the moment.

thank you SO much for taking the time to read this, and i hope you have a wonderful day - god bless! :)

sincerely,
theresa

Answer
Dear Theresa,

Thanks for asking me your questions.

The first answer is yes, but more importantly ADD can co-exist with Learning Disabilites.  You may find a lot of similarities with Non-verbal learning disability.

Pyschotherapy will most likely help you understand you better and develop some preventative measures for stressful times and coping strategies.  It can also help you determine the root of some problems.

Organizing and concentrating require a different skill-  self-monitoring and self-regulation.  These are issues I continue to struggle with also.  I read a lot of books, do a lot of trial strategies.  I am improving, however not as quickly as others around me would like, I fear.

Sometimes schools will waive the 2nd language requirement.  All you can do is ask and it helps if you have a counselor or psychotherapist make that a recommendation in writing.  

At times I too don't feel smart.  It is hard when others don't know the advantage they have because their mind organizes better.  We are usually divergent thinkers.  We see all the possibilites.  It can take longer for us to arrive at the conclusion others think is the only logical conclusion.  

Being divergent thinkers makes us wonderful poets and writers.  It also makes life effortful.  We have to process information 2 and 3 times sometimes - but with things of high interest we get those instantly.  High interest = rapid fire neurons.  Low interest = brain drain.  All the energy moves from the frontal lobes (consentration station) to other areas or just decreases overall activity.  That doesn't make for an easy meal without the tools to consume it.  

Exercise does help - they keep telling me.  When I do it I like it, but talking myself into the routine & keeping the routine brings back into play distractibility and the need for novel (new) stimulation.

I suggest prayer as the cornerstone of you - we don't have to be strong when we have God. (We just have to be patient.)

God Bless You, too.  Sorry, I didn't respond on day 1.  Time is not one of my gifts, I do hope that encouragement is.   

Christine

P.S.  There's  a great book called, So you mean I'm not lazy, stupid or crazy by Kate Kelly and another woman I believe.  Also, there's a book called Women with ADD by Sari Solden.  Both are excellent.  They would be great for an ADDer and budding therapist.  Caio.