The most important part of being successful in dealing with any ADD/ADHD person is to develop a real "feel" for the disorder. Ask yourself, "What’s it like to have ADD?" Most of all, remember that it is a neuro-biological condition (an imbalance in brain chemistry) that feels like………………

Continuous, or, on-and-off involuntary physical restlessness

Attention is involuntarily and frequently distracted

The harder you try - to think, remember, get going - the worse it gets

Emotions, both positive & negative, get out-of-control often

Your sense of time, timing, the passage of time, the future are distorted

It is exceedingly difficult to wait

Your mind wanders-off or tunes-out frequently

Feelings of overwhelm (mental & emotional) happen often

Losing, misplacing and forgetting things is a big problem

You can’t recall things you just learned or things you know that you know

Feeling mentally "blank" happens at the darndest times

Others say you are sloppy or disorganized, even though you try hard not to be

Things just seem to "slip" out of your mouth before you realize it

Stopping to think something through before acting is not one of your strengths

Often feeling very tired, sometimes for no apparent reason

You often think of yourself as "different", not fitting in, the "odd-one-out"

Facing consequences is very, very difficult; you’ll do almost anything to avoid it

Your "body-clock" seem off; up till late; not a morning-person

Others often see you as immature, annoying, too-loud

Now here’s the DILEMMA:

You’re bright and intelligent.

You don’t do these things, above, ALL-THE-TIME, just often.

This makes no sense to some people.

So, they figure you do what you do ON PURPOSE.

They’ll say that you "chose" to act the way you do.

And the WORST part of all:

Those same people then treat you as if you’re a "bad" person. They avoid you. They label you (lazy, irresponsible, unmotivated). If that person happens to be an educator, physician, or other professional, they’ll find more sophisticated labels (unteachable, untreatable, manipulative, just to mention a few).

This is why we say that ADD/ADHD is a "hidden" disorder. We look like we’re "OK". We seem "capable". We really want to do well. But our symptoms get in the way of daily functioning.