[senco-forum] ADD/ADHD ?difference

I was under the impression that ADD/ADHD were different disorders, one quite

Hi Kitty - Yes, you can have ADD without the hyperactivity.

I thought you might find it helpful to know what it feels like 'from
the inside'.

At age 11. my son described his ADD as experiencing his brain in two
halves - with a party going on in the right side (all sorts of
interesting thoughts, ideas and images) and a lineup of soldiers
acting as sentries on the left hand side.  They were in charge of his
connection with the outside world, paying attention to what was going
on in the classroom.  Problem was, these soldiers kept being attracted
by the party and, gradually, one by one they would get caught up in
the fun and games and slide off to the right until the last one was
hanging on by a thread.

He had most difficulty in classes where teachers spent classtime 'just
talking'.  I'm guessing that if teachers do enough to keep interest
stimulated (without overstimulating), attention will come back to the
outside world and connect again.  TV and computers tend keep the
attention connected with the outside world because there is constant
interaction AND because we actually don't notice if they have
disconnected for a while!!

I saw him struggle physically in his attempts to keep his attention
connected for more than two minutes if he had to 'listen and look' (ie
passively).

He did find it difficult not to fidget and twitch and fiddle and was
often in pain if he did not - but he did not have the impulsivity to
be diagnosed with the hyperactive element as he didn't go running
round the classroom or act inappropriately in the context of a
classroom setup (other than gazing out of the window, missing what was
being said and feeling physically wretched!). The quieter it was, the
more agonising it became.

The 'right' environment (stimulating 'enough' without overstimulating;
supportive atmosphere to reduce fear and stress) and a few worksheets
(to fill in the blanks and set out the work/activity required so it
can be referred to during the course of the lesson) can make all the
difference.

Good article here : http://www.adders.org/research31.htm

HTH! :-)

On 16/05/07, Kitty McKenzie <kittymck at googlemail.com> wrote:
> I was under the impression that ADD/ADHD were different disorders, one quite
> passive and one hyperactive. I was looking up ADD on the Internet today as I
> have a child who is not particularly hyperactive (quite laid back really)
> but has very poor concentration/attention. However all the sites seemed to
> lump the two together as the same condition.
>
> Can anyone steer me in the right direction to find more info.
>
> Thanks
> Kitty
>