Q: Are there any studies that show a positive side to ADD?

A: No. Most ADD people are extremely intelligent. That said, there are no studies regarding ADD’s positive potential significance. If there were studies that showed a need for ADD in the gene pool, then the results would have a catastrophic economic effect on the power of the pharmaceutical industry - so I don’t see the pharmaceutical industry backing this research. The ADD community at large has much to loose by normalizing ADD because many people worked very hard to have ADD deemed a disability by Congress in order to receive federal benefits.

Positive clinical findings regarding ADD’s relevance to society would unravel their efforts -- so I don’t see the ADD community getting up and yelling “We’re normal!” any too soon either. The medical and insurance industries make a fortune off of diagnosing and treating ADD - why should they be interested in normalization? In short, keeping ADD an unqualified disability is of tremendous financial importance to just about everyone.

In the process, we are missing the opportunity to study why such a small segment of the “defective” population has such a high percentage of accomplishment and success throughout history. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much to convince the ADD’er that he is defective. If nothing else, our true disability is that we have a genetic predisposition towards giving in to social pressure. We need ADD research that encompasses all the evidence with an open mind and without conflict of interest. Therefore, it is not surprising that ADD is the most commonly misdiagnosed disorder in the world today.

Q: Why wasn’t ADD an issue in school when our parents were kids?

A: ADD has always been an issue in school; however it wasn’t recognized as a specific condition with predictable symptoms until about thirty years ago. ADD has always presented problems, but in the past, people with ADD either studied a narrow group of subjects or flunked out of school.

Our ADD predecessors had a better time of it in school because the entire education system was better connected with the real world; there were fewer subjects to master. ADD was not studied in the past because a child could devote his entire life to one of two subjects. Perhaps today, no one is left to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (metaphorically) because individualism and apprenticeship are no longer as valued in our society. We are moving into a “do-it-faster/cheaper” world and further away from craftsmanship, an ADD hallmark.

Q: What is the root of today’s ADD hysteria?

A: The root of today's ADD hysteria can be attributed to the importance placed on university entrance exams. In the 1960s, everyone was told that they must go to college, so they did. Colleges have now become overbooked, so they filter out anyone who can’t handle an eclectic style of learning by administering broad-spectrum exams. The lower schools respond to the universities’ demands by increasing the homework load; it’s the only method of teaching eclectic subjects in-depth.

The problem is that individuals with ADD learn by absorbing one topic thoroughly before moving on to the next, and our schools today instruct students in the exact opposite manner. Eclecticism is desirable for college entrance exams only because it’s easy to test and has been an efficient method of rejecting students who are competing for the same spot in the classroom. In the meantime, people with ADD don’t function well in an eclectic environment and are left behind.

Thankfully, there is an emerging movement to re-evaluate the testing system. It's slowly dawning on higher education that what they really want are students who want to specialize, probably what ADD was genetically designed to aid with in the first place.

If Michelangelo was a child growing up today, time would not permit him to develop his talent – his homework load would see to that. If we want to fully understand why ADD is an issue in today’s educational system, then we must first ask the most important question of all. Is it in our ADD childrens’ best interest to invest their time developing their special talents as much as possible? Or is it better to dilute their special abilities and force them to be like everyone else? In other words, is well-rounded education really a camel designed by committee in an attempt to create a horse?

The more you encourage the development of your ADD child’s true talents, the happier and more successful he will be in life. That is the answer to the question above. This may even cause us parents to take a pause and contemplate the truly unthinkable - the possibility that some of our ADD children may prosper way beyond anyone’s expectations if allowed to follow a viable life pursuit without the benefit of college!

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