I’m 51 years old, and just finished Sari Solden’s book “Women with ADD.” As I was reading it, I kept thinking “that’s me, that’s me!” I definitely fit a majority of the symptoms related to ADD without HD. I am planning to follow up with my family practitioner, but had this question: Is it consistent with ADD/no HD to be a good listener?

A friend of mine whose mother and a brother were diagnosed with ADD told me that there was no way that it applied to me, as I’m too good of a listener. (Other people generally describe me as a good listener, also.) Thanks — I realize you may not be able to answer, but it’s always worth a shot.
JJ

DEAR JJ:

I’ve learned over the years not to rely too heavily on a particular symptom being characteristic of AD/HD in any one person. Many with AD/HD …

By Julia Riutzel – As I’m driving home I wonder whether the kitchen will be clean enough to make dinner. Some evenings I come home to a clean kitchen with dinner started and other evenings I come home to one child on the computer, another watching TV and the oldest off somewhere. All families struggle with these issues. The AD/HD family struggles more but there is a more negative impact on the family and individuals. Remember that most of the symptoms of AD/HD are present in the general population as well, but they aren’t extreme enough to significantly or so unremittingly affect daily functioning.

As a life coach and therapist, I help other families set up family structure, establish routines and develop consequences for not following through with responsibilities. As a wife and mother of persons with AD/HD, I get to struggle along with my clients in making this work …

It’s warmer again – the cool mornings yield to the sun by mid-morning. Days are longer, summer seems once again possible, and we’re headed, pell-mell, to the end of school (and its structure, so for the mothers reading this, it is already time enough to be planning for some kind of substitute to get you and your family through the weeks of unregulated time stretching before you), to tall weeds, flowers, mosquitoes, sunburn and window fans.

But as the afternoon heat gives way to chilly April evenings, time seems to back up again and we are once more dashing for the sweaters, turning the heat up (what, again?) and wondering if it’s a night for the comforter, or a light blanket. And, um, where would the “light blankets” be, anyway, at your house?

This issue of ncgiadd comes to you after some of us have filed our tax returns on …

To take good care of your child, first take good care of yourself.

If you are a mother with ADD, your first step should be to get treatment for yourself. A mother’s usual tendency is to focus on her child’s difficulties while neglecting her own. Just as the airline flight attendant instructs you to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting your child, you must first get help for your own ADD before you can effectively deal with your child’s problems.

A recent study suggests that parent training programs are not very helpful when the mother has untreated ADD, lending even more weight to the importance of treatment for women with ADD.

For more information about ADD in women, check out the following:

• Understanding Women with AD/HD by Kathleen Nadeau and Patricia Quinn
• Gender Issues and AD/HD by Patricia Quinn and Kathleen Nadeau
• Women with ADD by Sari Solden

…