Haven’t done it yet. Going for the initial interview on Tuesday, the 24th, then we’ll see after that. It’ll probably be a slow process as I’m using a the psych lab from Pepperdine University and a student shrink (who’s overseen by a licensed one) for this. Cheaper, as I’m unemployed (tho looking) and VERY low on cash right now. sigh
I’ll let you know when I get finished with the initial interview.
I was 6 or 7 when I was first diagnosed with ADD, and I recently took the test at my university so that I could get some help with it next semester. The testing consisted of memory, mathematics, writing, essay writing, looking at pictures and putting them in the proper order of events, reading, and that block test like the one that Bill Murray gave the kid in The Royal Tenenbaums.
I was diagnosed when I was 20 and about to flunk out of school. I was given the Stanford-Binet, the MMPI and the WAIS-R.
Now I’m on Adderall and on the Dean’s List.
[he’ll pop me in front of the computer and give me a 15 minute test to see if I can remain attentive while a bunch of lights and colors flash.]]
Now see, I would expect that someone with ADD would do BETTER on a test with outside stimulation like that. What’s hard is to concentrate with nothing else going on. People with ADD lack normal brain stimulation (which is why Ritalin and Adderal work). So usually they do better at concentrating when there is music, other people around, etc. That’s my theory, anyway. Is that what your doc said?
According to this online test I took (at the recommendation of my psych friend who specializes in this) I have inattentive ADD. So, for me, keeping focused is the problem. In my mind, I’ve labeled it the ANTI-ADD… shrug
Here’s the website
I don’t know if I concentrate much better with it, but the impact on my mood has been astounding. For that alone I won’t be giving it up any time soon. Ritalin has been hands-down the best thing for my concentration. One problem w/ Strattera is that the dosing guidelines are for children and not adjusted for adults. So I, as a 220 pound person, am constrained by the guidelines that assume I’m no more than 100 pounds. (Or something to that effect.) Which is especially annoying, since in the double-blind experiments that were published on the drug, many of the patients were taking doses well above the current recommended maximum for an adult.
I wouldn’t waste any time buying books about ADD. Find a counselor who knows her stuff about ADD and spend the extra bucks getting help dealing with it.
I strongly recommend doing some reading before going to a counselor about ADD or ADHD. It’s useful to have some background (the science, others’ experiences and perspectives) and ideas. This book was really helpful for understanding/dealing with our son:Taking Charge of ADHD by Russell Barkley. Our experiences with counselors and psychiatrists have been very inconsistent.
Can anyone reccommend a book I could give my brother?
He is a classic DAMP kid (similar to add/adhd), but is 18 now and has never been diagnosed, medicated, etc.
A book suited for young adults with coping methods and a “you can make it” message would be really good, but I haven’t seen any.
Never heard of DAMP. Check the www.chadd.org site.
I did 
someone mentioned it earlier. Their products didn’t seem like what I was looking for to be honest, but thanks!
Never been diagnosed but I’ve had my suspicions for a couple years. Especially since my daughter’s neurologist and psychiatrist suggested I have it looked into. They were asking her a bunch of questions and I realized they had all been true for me, at least until their talking descended into unintelligibility and I looked out the window for a while.
Well, my wife thinks I might be showing signs of . . . whoops, is that a pretty flower??? Hang on!!
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Seriously, I think I do have it, but I’ve never been to a shrink to have it confirmed. It doesn’t interfere with my daily life, really. I’m a good worker, although I hate school with a passion, but I’m not sure I want to go on a chemical-altering drug just so I can get a half a grade higher in class.
For now, I just take it as it comes. If it starts interfering with my ability to work or live my life, I’ll go to a psychiatrist to get it sorted out.
Actually the test is pretty dull, and it’s closer to 30 minutes. Basically, they sit you down in front of a computer screen and give you a little button clicker thingy. Then a box will appear. Depending on the rules, you’ll either click the button when the box is at the top or the bottom of the screen.
The test measures how quickly you respond, number of correct answers, etc. After about 5 minutes it gets dull. After 10 it’s excruciating.
Well, I’ve taken the first round of tests. I was given a WAIS test, which measure intelligence in adults, supposedly.
I’ve never felt so mentally fatigued afterwards! whew
I was given the usual puzzles and “put these pictures together so it forms a coherent story” stuff and asked all sorts of weird things like, “why do we have a trial-by-jury system?” and “what’s the speed of light” and “who wrote ‘Faust’?”
My next set of tests is due on Wed. the 9th. I’ll let you all know how it goes.
I had to do that test with the little boxes as well, was actually kind of an interesting break in the usual therapy sessions my parents took me to as a kid. Ended up getting prescribed Adderall, not that I take it nowadays anyway. Creeps me out how different I am when I take the little pill compared to my normal self. 
On a related note, has anyone else ever heard of the Drake Institute*? My parents took me to it sometime during sixth or seventh grade, due to my ADHD (HUGE emphasis on the Hyper part of it, I’d be talking during class all time and got into fights a lot), and they did some interesting stuff.
I had to go to the clinic once a week, where they’d hook me up to a bunch of computers and place me in front of a monitor. The monitor would show a display of my brain waves, and a little jet that followed one of them along. I’d then start controlling my breathing and focusing really hard on something in the room. It could be a lightswitch, one of the pictures on the walls, the “On” button for the monitor, anything.
After a bit of focusing I’d reach a state where I almost had tunnel vision. It’d be like staring through one of those toilet-paper tubes centered on the item I was concentrating on. I’d still be able to see/hear/whatever everything else, but it’d just seem to start mattering less. Kind of like ‘the zone’ trance thingy you get when you really get into a game.
Anyway, when I uberfocussed, the little jet would dip below a bar drawn on the screen, and a tone would come on. The idea was to keep the little plane underneath the line for as long as possible.
Whatever it did, it was affective. I came out of the treatment utterly passive and shy. Solved my problems with being disruptive in class, though. :dubious:
Yes, I’ve been diagnosed as ADD. I just get bored easily. Sometimes I’ll be reading a page, and switch to reading it from the bottom up and then switch back to the top just to break the monotony.
I can’t focus on more than, at most, two things at one time. If I’m doing something, don’t talk to me, because I’ll either have to continue what I’m doing and ignore you or speak to you and stop what I’m doing. That’s why I don’t take notes in class – I can just remember the entire lecture more easily than desperately trying to scribble down some barely legible notes while keeping up with what the teacher is saying. People think I’m bizarre because I’ll sit in class with a blank page before me, not a word written on it, then come in the next day and ace the test.
My doctors put me on all kinds of medicine when I was a kid, but I had some bad reactions to some of it (one pill made me break out in this rash – not very pleasant). I’m now medicine-free and doing all right.
My mother was diagnosed at age 50.
Imagine going through life being extremely intelligent but constantly being told you’re lazy/stupid/nuts/etc.
To report back…
I’ve gotten the test results and they show it, pretty clearly, I have AD/HD. My IQ scores are way up there but my performance scores are not… sigh
So, I’m entering treatment. I’ve already contacted the learning disability center on campus and am enrolled in their program. I get extra time and special conditions for testing. I also need to get into some psychotherapy and a medical doctor for some drug treatment, too.
Thanks again everyone for your suggestions and recommendations.
Am I too late to throw in my two cents?
I was diagnosed at 31, and had a complete emotional breakdown on my way out of the doctor’s office. For the first time ever, I had some tools to help! I was not lazy or stupid! My ADD is severe enough that I have injured myself through lack of attention - we’re not talking run-of-the-mill “I wasn’t watching where I was going and I tripped” injuries, we’re talking about things like forgetting I had a hot pot in my hand and pouring boiling water on myself. I have wet my pants because I got into the bathroom, grabbed a magazine and forgot I came in to pee.
For me, it’s good old-fashioned Ritalin, but I would strongly advise anyone dealing with this to stick with the psychotherapy as well, ESPECIALLY if you’re coming in to this diagnosis later in life. You have to remember that you’ve spent a lifetime compensating for this, whether it was deliberate or not, and probably developed some less than positive behaviors as a result. The meds help your brain, but the therapy helps you function better.
Best of luck to you!