What is ADD Really?

The journey leads next to discovery. I needed to know what this ADD thing is and what I could do to help my son. What was he going through? When was he capable of doing things and when will he need help? How can I tell the difference between him not being able to achieve and just not wanting to cooperate or participate? Are meds necessary? Can diet and environment affect him? What are some alternative interventions that can help him return his attention to the task on hand? What kind of tools can help? What are behavior mods? Where can I find them? Which ones really work? Who can I talk to about all this? and on and on and on. Just as I get one question answered, ten more pop up. I was sinking fast. This was not going to be easy and all my wonderful HELPFUL friends and relatives were going to have to shut up and keep their opinions to themselves for awhile. Spanking, time outs, no TV, etc. . . did not work. I needed something and we were ALL clueless, except I was the only one who knew it.
My son was getting kicked out of class around 3 times per week and I had to come get him. How could I work? Wasn't school supposed to be able to deal with him? Isn't there more than just my son with ADD in this school? Does everybody who has a child with ADD have to leave work early to deal with their child? More questions and nobody had answers, that is until I found books on the subject. Even the psychologist that we got referred to just sat and talked with my son. That was it. I never got any info or feedback. I was just supposed to understand he was getting help. What kind of help and when it would become apparent was irrelevent I guess. The books helped, and soon the authors would do speaking tours and I got to go to a seminar conducted by a nationally renowned expert. This class by Dr. Barkley was fantastic. It really opened up my eyes as to what my son was going through. He mentioned a group called CHADD and said they had local branches and they could help answer questions.
What was profoundly insightful about the seminar was he actually made us all have ADD for a moment so we could REALLY understand what our children were going through and see the difference between having a disability and being intelligent. You CAN have both, as Alpha Delta Delta's do. Next- becoming ADD.