One solution to this round-peg/square-hole problem is for people to abandon their efforts to force themselves into society’s neat little niches and instead embrace their differences...
Although I suffered from ADHD all of my life, I was never diagnosed until I was forty years old.
I had an older sister, by 11 mos, Karen . They used to say ( my parents )
“Karen is the student, Pat is a cheerleader”.
Their pride was clearly on the side of the ‘student, ‘with a grudging tolerance of the ‘ cheerleader’.
I did well with subjects in school that I liked and understood.
Social Studies, History , English , Art and some Sciences. As for Math , I enjoyed a dismal relationship.
I took algebra 3 times and was able to pass it , just on the third time . I never understood it until I went to Nursing school and it was applied to calculating
Pharmacy doses.
In that capacity, I got it.
I was a senior in HS and I was placed in a sophomore Geometry class following my mess with Algebra.
Unfortunately it was my next younger sisters class , Ellen.
To say she was not really excited to have me in her class was an understatement.
My habit when in a situation that I struggled with in school was to ‘ act out’.
It seems that my comedic endeavors embarrassed Ellen .
In January of that year , the teacher , a very gentle nun, Sister Stella Maris, called me to her side and suggested I really didn’t need Geometry
For graduation credits.
She thought it might be best for me to leave the class and allow my sister
less “ concern “ about my presence.
I got it . I exited the class.
This allowed me an extra Study Hall , where I could read whatever book I was currently reading , and no one knew it wasn’t study material.
Toward the end of the semester it became clear to me that I’d skipped too many Religion classes and that I needed those credits to graduate. I had a friend, Martha in a similar position. We went to see Sister Ann Catherine, and discussed the possibility of our ‘ vocation’ into the convent.
As hoped for she passed us with full credit in Religion.
Soon after High School, I was married with two children . ( Another chapter, for another time. )
I went to work for an Insurance Company.
I was to be a ‘ Field Service worker’.
There was a question about being appointed to work with the Toronto Office. I of course offered that I d taken four years of French in H S .
And offered that I was sure I could speak and service French Speaking individuals in those agencies.
Most spoke English , but on occasion I would receive correspondence from some of the French speaking people. All of the correspondence that came into us, was tagged with a date and time .
If it was something I understood I knew I could get to it soon. But a habit that did not serve me well, was to tag them and put them in a special pile of documents to be worked on.
The truth is I eventually was confronted by my supervisor who wanted to see these documents. The truth was uncovered . I didn’t want to appear to be incompetent so I buried them .
Needless to say , I was relieved of my duties , and my employment soon after.
The good that came from this was that I as a condition of unemployment could go back to school .
So I went to Nursing School . Where I actually did well with, including the revelations about math .
The situations and turns of events were a source of fairly constant chaos in my life.
I was in my twenties in Nursing School. I graduated on time in a few years and got a great job on Pediatrics at a local Hospital. I loved the job , did well.
But it was another 15 years before I was evaluated for ADHD .
That’s a whole other story .
I’ve gone on too long .
My confidence in general about my abilities I always questioned.
It is much better now because I’ve learned the truth . I’m different in many ways than my sisters and others .
And I’ve had a much easier time since learning about this’ disorder’ I appreciate all the information from Thom on this subject. I look forward to it every week.
Yup. I grew up in a Navy town. I had exposure to the breadth and variety of styles of food, customs, languages, dress, and family tradition from around the world. Since then I've determined to always have that enrichment suffused in my short lifetime.
So it goes with the diversity of thought processes. Everybody in the world is the best in the world at SOMETHING. Why would we deny a chance at excellence.
I loved this article.
Although I suffered from ADHD all of my life, I was never diagnosed until I was forty years old.
I had an older sister, by 11 mos, Karen . They used to say ( my parents )
“Karen is the student, Pat is a cheerleader”.
Their pride was clearly on the side of the ‘student, ‘with a grudging tolerance of the ‘ cheerleader’.
I did well with subjects in school that I liked and understood.
Social Studies, History , English , Art and some Sciences. As for Math , I enjoyed a dismal relationship.
I took algebra 3 times and was able to pass it , just on the third time . I never understood it until I went to Nursing school and it was applied to calculating
Pharmacy doses.
In that capacity, I got it.
I was a senior in HS and I was placed in a sophomore Geometry class following my mess with Algebra.
Unfortunately it was my next younger sisters class , Ellen.
To say she was not really excited to have me in her class was an understatement.
My habit when in a situation that I struggled with in school was to ‘ act out’.
It seems that my comedic endeavors embarrassed Ellen .
In January of that year , the teacher , a very gentle nun, Sister Stella Maris, called me to her side and suggested I really didn’t need Geometry
For graduation credits.
She thought it might be best for me to leave the class and allow my sister
less “ concern “ about my presence.
I got it . I exited the class.
This allowed me an extra Study Hall , where I could read whatever book I was currently reading , and no one knew it wasn’t study material.
Toward the end of the semester it became clear to me that I’d skipped too many Religion classes and that I needed those credits to graduate. I had a friend, Martha in a similar position. We went to see Sister Ann Catherine, and discussed the possibility of our ‘ vocation’ into the convent.
As hoped for she passed us with full credit in Religion.
Soon after High School, I was married with two children . ( Another chapter, for another time. )
I went to work for an Insurance Company.
I was to be a ‘ Field Service worker’.
There was a question about being appointed to work with the Toronto Office. I of course offered that I d taken four years of French in H S .
And offered that I was sure I could speak and service French Speaking individuals in those agencies.
Most spoke English , but on occasion I would receive correspondence from some of the French speaking people. All of the correspondence that came into us, was tagged with a date and time .
If it was something I understood I knew I could get to it soon. But a habit that did not serve me well, was to tag them and put them in a special pile of documents to be worked on.
The truth is I eventually was confronted by my supervisor who wanted to see these documents. The truth was uncovered . I didn’t want to appear to be incompetent so I buried them .
Needless to say , I was relieved of my duties , and my employment soon after.
The good that came from this was that I as a condition of unemployment could go back to school .
So I went to Nursing School . Where I actually did well with, including the revelations about math .
The situations and turns of events were a source of fairly constant chaos in my life.
I was in my twenties in Nursing School. I graduated on time in a few years and got a great job on Pediatrics at a local Hospital. I loved the job , did well.
But it was another 15 years before I was evaluated for ADHD .
That’s a whole other story .
I’ve gone on too long .
My confidence in general about my abilities I always questioned.
It is much better now because I’ve learned the truth . I’m different in many ways than my sisters and others .
And I’ve had a much easier time since learning about this’ disorder’ I appreciate all the information from Thom on this subject. I look forward to it every week.
Yup. I grew up in a Navy town. I had exposure to the breadth and variety of styles of food, customs, languages, dress, and family tradition from around the world. Since then I've determined to always have that enrichment suffused in my short lifetime.
So it goes with the diversity of thought processes. Everybody in the world is the best in the world at SOMETHING. Why would we deny a chance at excellence.