I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD-PI (wiki), the PI standing for Predominantly Inattentive. The description certainly sounds like me, and I have hopes for improvement. But I’m wondering why I’ve never heard of this before? It sounds like something that would have gotten around in a big way.
Anyway, I’ve got my fingers crossed. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Good luck! 
Yes, ADHD has two subtypes, hyperactive and inattentive. The hyperactive subtype gets all the attention (no pun intended) for obvious reasons - those kids are the ones that are bouncing around, unable to sit still, impulsively blurting out answers or interrupting conversations or whatever. The inattentive subtype are the dreamers in the back row, unable to follow directions or pay attention but not making a spectacle.
Frequently they get labeled lazy or stupid, not with a disorder. My stepfather has this subtype and wasn’t diagnosed until he was an adult, and honestly thought he was mentally retarded most of his life in spite of becoming a successful attorney.
Thanks. I really don’t know how much to get my hopes up.
Kolga, did your stepfather see much improvement once he was diagnosed? Do you know what treatment he had?
He did see some improvement - he was prescribed Ritalin which he took some days, and not on other days, depending (I’m not sure on what, since I wasn’t living there at the time). These days, a cup of caffeinated coffee seems to do the same trick for him (although it drives my mother bonkers, since it ramps up his physical energy to an annoying level 
).
The biggest issue for him, though, was finally, FINALLY, realizing that he wasn’t mentally retarded, and that there were things he could do to change his behavior and environment to help himself. For example, his law office was in an old house that he owned, and he had his working office set up in the large front room that also housed his collection of code books (all those civil and criminal codes that lawyers keep). He realized that the amount of visual “clutter” in that room was not helpful for his particular subtype, so he moved his working office back into a back room, painted it a quiet color, and had almost nothing on the walls. His productivity improved immensely, as did his patience and mood.
He read a lot of books about adult ADD to help him understand himself better - I’m pretty sure one of them was the “Driven to Distraction” book that is highly recommended.
No only have I read that book, but I’ve walked by the author’s house a bunch of times.
An ex has ADD. She’s anything but hyper. She acted pretty absent mindedly when she was on her meds, but she was a complete mess without them.
I’ve always thought my coworker might have something like this. She has hyperfocus but no hyperactivity - she’s always late out to the desk, doesn’t notice when a patron is standing right in front of her, etc.
Sometimes the ‘hyperactive’ part can be a little more subtle, especially in adults. For instance, general low-level fidgeting – for example finger-drumming or foot tapping–is sometimes an indication.
Or constantly clicking on the computer screen and highlighting text, like I do all the time.
The library has that. I’ve sent in a hold. Cool.
This is my mom.
She’s very intelligent but spent a lot of her life thinking she was stupid (her mother didn’t help her there). She wasn’t diagnosed with ADD until her mid-40s. She’s not focused by any stretch of the imagination but she’s nothing like she used to be.
I believe she’s still taking Ritalin every day, as she has since the beginning. I can’t imagine how she’d be now without it. I don’t think she has early onset dementia (she’s only 60) but damn her retention skills are crap and have had me worried a few times.
A big help for her was finding out that she wasn’t stupid and that she really did have a medical condition. She’s been in therapy for years and her attention issues were and still are a major topic for discussion.
She always tells me how smart I am because I’m getting all A’s in college. What she seems to forget (big shock) is that she majored in the same thing (liberal arts) at the same school and a lot of what I’m doing, she did too - and graduated with a 3.96 GPA.
Oh, god, my boyfriend (diagnosed ADD) does that. Drives me up a wall.
How funny, I am diagnosed with ADD and I too highlight as I read, but I never associated the two. If I don’t highlight as I read I tend to lose my place. I can see how they could be related now that I think about it.
I’m pretty sure I don’t have ADD, and I… uh… ooh, pretty!
Where was I?
Oh yeah, I do that too.
Ten years ago I only heard about ADD. I didn’t become aware of ADHD until a couple of years later, and that version seems to have replaced ADD almost completely.
The descriptions I hear about the differences in how it usually manifests in girls and in boys (with the boys tending to be bouncy, as boys in general will be, and the girls being in a cloud that the teacher may easily miss, and think “gee she’s such a well-behaved little girl but she just doesn’t seem to be good at this subject”) seem to me, IANAP or a D, to sort of fall into two different boxes, which from what I’ve been reading and hearing on this subject since the time when ADD was getting relabeled as ADHD have had me a bit confused on why would both behaviors get scrunched into the same box. I’ve known more than one guy whose behavior would have fit more neatly into the “cloud” box than the “willyoustopmovingforoneminute” box, too.
So using my extremely scientific definitions, you’re a cloud person, not a spring person.
When I was diagnosed with ADD in my early 30’s (about 10 years ago), my doctor explained that in adults, it’s usually ADD and in kids it’s usually ADHD.
I took Ritalin in law school and at work for a few years. In school it was exactly what I needed to be able to conduct focused study for hours at a time. At work I found it less useful and occasionally an actual impediment to a productive work day.
I haven’t taken it in years because I’ve managed to accommodate my lack of distraction in other ways. But I wouldn’t have been able to get through law school and the bar exam without it.
The problem is there was a change in the Diagnostic Manual in how the disorder was named. For a while there, it was ADD. Then it changed to ADHD. Then they added the subtypes. I preferred ADD, because “hyperactivity” was not part of the name, but I’ll go with the flow so long as medical authorities take me seriously.
I’m ADHD PI as well, but if I haven’t taken my medication, I tend to have a nervous jitter of some sort - finger drumming, pencil twirling, pen clicking. Drove people crazy. I finally figured out to just jiggle my knee, making sure my leg wasn’t up against a table or a desk. It’s silent, it’s out of sight, and no one knows I’m doing it.
Often times, if I have a student who is providing ambient percussion, I’ll suggest that approach. They usually look at me like I’m crazy, and then try it, and are converted.
I’m ADD or ADHD/PI. I’ve known about this for years, but just got diagnosed last year.
Maybe we should form an SDMB/ADHD support group?
I’d like that. Assuming I can keep up with it.
Does anyone else have mondo daydreams going? Like, some of my daydream characters have grown grandkids. Just about any repetative task ends up with some sort of internal story going along with it.