Thursday, February 13, 2014

5 Things You Maybe Didn't Know About ADD (or just me)

Loyal followers, bear with me as I cover some old tracks for all the strangers out there. Strangers, I used to be a school teacher. I went to college, got a Master's Degree, sat in faculty meetings, all that. Then I quit. Why? It's complicated. Actually, it's not; I have ADHD (as mentioned in the last post), I thought I could lick it, but I don't think I ever will. That's why. I had a story to share that sorta made my principal look dense, but I've decided to forgo that story because in the end, I'm man enough to admit that I wasn't doing a good job, at least not in a way that mattered to many people.

Before we move on, however, I need expose the core of this matter a little further, because it gets at what I'm doing here in the first place. So without further delay, here are 5 things you maybe didn't know:


  1. ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) also known as ADD (at least it used to be, maybe not anymore?) is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. That's the big one from back in 1990 that says stuff like, places need to be wheelchair accessible and all that. I don't think most people people with ADHD consider themselves disabled by any means, but there it is.
  2. ADHD is genetic and must be diagnosed in your childhood (or retroactively diagnosed I suppose) for it to "count". In other words, if you were a normal kid and now you just forget stuff all the time, you're a screw up. If you were an ADD kid and now you forget stuff all the time, you're like 80% of the other ADD kids who carry the exact same symptoms -with greater, adult consequences- with them throughout their entire lives.
  3. ADHD isn't a blanket label for "spazzy", hyperactive kids with 4 second attention spans. See, there's something in your noggin called a prefrontal cortex, it's the part in charge of "executive function", or figuring out what you're going to do and doing it. In the ADD brain, the prefrontal cortex is constantly searching for stimulation, like a squirrel looking for a nut. Your squirrel probably finds a few nuts, lines them up and spends its day eating them. My squirrel needs a trainer, it's called Adderall.
  4. Over 50% of adults with ADHD also suffer from anxiety, depression and sleeping disorders. That whole squirrel looking for a nut thing? Maybe the squirrel in my brain isn't Spazzy McGee looking for his nuts. Maybe he's a diligent worker, trying really hard to find just one flippin' nut, all day, every day, but he rarely finds one. My squirrel is smart, hardworking, focused, but he can't show it because there just aren't many nuts in his forest. That's how I feel sometimes. Highly capable, but unlikely to succeed. Kinda frustrating, sad at times, but I'm really not a pessimist; I just get the blues sometimes.
  5. 60% of adults with ADHD claim it has led to the loss of a job at some point, while over a third claim to have had more than 4 jobs in ten years. For some it gets even worse. Adults with ADHD often have difficulty following instructions, getting things done on time and getting along with others; which difficulties often exacerbate issues in work, social and marital relationships.
Too much doom and gloom? I agree. I'm sharing all this because I think it might help you understand me, or maybe someone else you know who could use a little understanding. I also want to share that I just don't care too much about what other people think or say. I love doing things differently, I just about live for it. In the case of this blog, this business, whatever it is, it's different. It's me.

---totally shifting gears below---

I haven't shown this yet, have I? I built this little garden shed as a donation item for a fundraiser auction in Lexington a few months ago. The people who bought it run a bed and breakfast outside of Lexington, they put it in the center of their box garden. It took 5 or 6 dudes to lift the thing up over the fence to get it into position.


This box lock came straight off a bedroom door of an old house in Buena Vista that's going to be torn down.

The hinges came off of an old barn door that I picked up somewhere.


All the siding is hand-split white oak. This is the way they used to do clapboard siding. The word clapboard actually comes from the old German word klapphoult, where klappen means to split and holt means wood.

I built the whole top section as a single unit that could be lifted off and on, which made it a lot easier when it came time to lift the whole thing over the fence at the B&B.
Here's a live action shot. Brinn was over there on some business. You can see how quick the cedar shakes start to fade in the sun.
I do have another barn video ready at this very moment, but I think it would be a little much to just add it on. Tomorrow should be a chilled out snowday, so I will try to do a back to back post for you.

-F.W.

PS, look to the right, up at the top there. Type in your email address to follow me. I will make it worth your time, which shouldn't be hard because it only takes like, 8 seconds.

1 comment:

  1. 2 things about ADHD
    1. It can come from a brain injury due top lack of oxygen. Like for instance a mother having a placenta preview.

    2. You can be diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and the new DSM 5 has diagnostic criteria for adults. A lot of people flew under the radar, because they had the Inattentive variety.

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