ADD Adults- School & Employment

There is an increasing amount of research & studies relating to adults with ADD. These studies vary in areas such as diet, emotional struggles, problems in school (college), as well as difficulty attaining a degree or Certificate, and in turn acquiring a good paying job. The latter is what I’m going to focus on here. I’ll start off by giving a brief introduction to ADD in adults, but we will keep the information relating to the rest of the article; a person’s tendencies, feelings, strengths & weaknesses, and so on. Then we will discuss how traditional teaching styles, as well as classroom & school environments can often cause major conflicts for someone with ADD. From there, we will discuss why it seems to be difficult for those of us with ADD to obtain a degree or Certification; which I believe is connected to the issues with the classroom environment, traditional teaching styles, etc. I will briefly mention statistics as to the differences in income for those with ADD & for those without; one figure will be given as to those who simply have their high school diploma, and then those who have a college degree. On a college campus, there isn’t enough emphasis, reminders, or repetition made as to services available on campus for those of us with ADD to fulfill the necessary requirements, complete it at our greatest potential, and graduate like the rest of the students. Many of us happen to find out completely by accident… or like me, when it’s too late. Finally, I will give my testimony of not only my struggles in college, but also how these struggles have led up to a major hurdle to obtaining my degree. It has also caused me to have to possibly give up on my dream.

Adults with ADD not only are faced with many battles in the workplace, school, home, and society in general, but also have internal struggles as well. Many people with ADD are faced with feelings of isolation, shame, failure, feeling “different” or as if something is wrong with us. People who live with ADD sometimes have a difficulty with time management, organization, prioritizing, and remembering short-term &/or long-term details. It is widely known, as well as misunderstood, that all ADD’ers have a problem concentrating, focusing, paying attention; but this isn’t necessarily always the case. “People who think that ADD means having a short attention span misunderstand what ADD is; people with ADD have a disregulated attention span” says Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D., a psychologist & author in Silver Spring, Maryland. Many people with ADD have an amazing ability to Hyperfocus, which can be either a good thing or bad thing. Those of us with ADD have an assortment of strengths & weaknesses; most which are individual. Among our strengths is creativity, the ability to think “outside the box”, we can be analytical, freethinkers, we have an intense ability to problem solve, we seem to lean towards unconventional processes of completing a task or communicating a thought, and even sometimes find ourselves with a strong passion/desire to educate & help others. On the other hand, our weaknesses can take on a whole different form. For example, we have a tendency to bounce between ideas/thoughts, as well as a tendency to have a variety of interests, passions & hobbies. Because of this, we can have difficulty narrowing down one career path, and are unsure of which would be best. We will sometimes feel like bouncing between a few in order to try to find what “fits” us. We are often easily distracted in most environments. This is one of the major obstacles for someone who has ADD in the traditional classroom & school environment. As I mentioned earlier, ADD’ers have an intense ability to hyperfocus; which can be either a strength or weakness. For someone who is trying to complete a task or study for a test, hyperfocus can be our best friend. On the other hand, we can get so “zoned” into what we are doing, that we can lose track of time. In turn, it can cause major problems at work, at school, at home, and in our relationships. For example, while doing research for this article, I came across a true story about a woman with ADD who was hyperfocused so strongly into what she was doing (I believe it was on her computer), that she didn’t even realize that her house was on fire until the Firefighters rushed into the home to rescue her.

The majority of us remember when we went to school that we sat in a classroom while the teacher taught usually from the front of the classroom. As we progressed on in grades, we were expected to take proper notes of the lectures, absorb the information, then recite & remember it for a test or essay. There were usually students around us shifting a lot in their seats, whispering to nearby friends, or being disruptive in other ways. For most of us, when we were in high school, our classrooms were of average number of students. Classes ran anywhere from 55-75 minutes. For most students, they were usually able to ignore the commotion & focus on the teacher & the lesson. If you’re a student with ADD, it isn’t this simple or easy. We have trouble simply keeping our focus for very long; especially if it’s something that we’re not interested in or doesn’t stimulate our curiosity. Even the slightest noise in the room can be a serious distraction while trying to pay attention to what the teacher is saying; let alone write it down enough to be able to remember it to study later. It can be something as simple as a ticking clock, a door creaking, a student moving in their seat, etc. Even though the classrooms were of average size, it was still a battle to keep from being distracted & thrown off. On top of that, someone with ADD’s attention span usually cut off long before the class has ended whether there were distractions or not. Then comes college; this is where our strengths & weaknesses are intensified, and our battles are enlarged… just like the usual size of a lecture hall. The college environment brings about the same obstacles as from high school, but then adds to it more individually responsible deadlines, larger classrooms sizes, more indirect contact with teaching staff, and less leeway in making mistakes. Also, it isn’t uncommon for a class in college to range from 90 minutes up to 2-3 hours at a time. The usual teaching style is very formatted, and instructors have a tendency to move along at what seems to be an abnormal pace. These sort of things seriously clash with our strongest weaknesses; we have short term memory, we have a hard time absorbing information the first time we hear it, let alone getting it down on paper. The length of classes can be way more than we ADD’ers can handle, and the likelihood of large student numbers in one class can be quite intimidating, overwhelming, and extremely distracting. The formatted, narrow, and traditional teaching style is very constructed, “between the lines”, and almost confining for those of ADD’ers who are often non-conventional, creative, abstract and “outside the box” thinkers. The lessons, teaching, and environment aren’t adaptable to the individual needs, abilities, and strengths/weaknesses those of us with ADD have. Even though most students seem to adapt to & handle the traditional classroom/lecture environment, it is nearly impossible for those of us with ADD to acclimate to. All this brings about failing grades & a dropping GPA; which in turn can cause a “snowball effect”. The person with ADD begins to feel like we’re failing, we’re not “cut out for college”, like there’s something wrong with us, and it can get very overwhelming & discouraging. This mixed with the lack of knowledge & reminders of services that may be available for those student s like us can bring about some very costly outcomes (literally). Some of with ADD end up dropping out of college, or have to stop attending because we’ve struggled for so long, that our GPA is below normal & we’ve run out of financial aid options. Because of this, obtaining a certificate or degree becomes out of reach for us. Unfortunately, a degree is required for a well-paying job; even just to get your foot in the door or be considered for a position in your chosen field. “Those with ADD had income approximately $10,791 lower per year among high school graduates, and about $4,334 lower for college graduates than their counterparts without ADD”, according to an article written by Michael Laskoff in the Huntington Post. This brings about even more struggles & problems for us.

In no way am I saying that those of us with ADD shouldn’t attend college, shouldn’t go after a degree or a great career. I’m just pointing out the many hurdles that we ADD’ers have to face just trying to complete what many consider just part of the journey towards graduation. Amidst many of the articles I came across on this subject, there were many recommendations made not only for the student, but also ideas we could suggest to our instructors & schools. There are many strengths of ADD’ers that can be a real asset to us as students; our love for learning, our passion to research & find out all we can about the things we love & are interested in, & in turn some of the self-education we’ve received, our ability to hyperfocus, our creativity, some of our personal experiences, etc. These things need to be taken into account by those in the position to teach us, tutor us, counsel us, guide us, and those who hold our degrees in their hands. ADD’ers who are students can get into the habit of ‘information repetition’, where we come across certain information repeatedly; this might actually cause it to stick with us better in our memories. We could also find a counselor on campus or a mentor who won’t try to harbor or define who we are & what makes us unique, nor our way of doing things; someone we could learn from, grow from, and in turn be able to achieve the greatness that we ADD’ers have within us. I believe if we are given the right tools, help & mentoring, and resources, we could achieve great things, succeed beyond limitations, and become a great asset not only to our families, but also to our career field & society as a whole.

Now you’re probably wondering why I have put all this together, right? It’s quite simple. I am a single mom with ADD who up until a year ago, was attending college to be one the first in my family to receive a Bachelor’s degree, and I was only 25 credits away. Although I was able to barely attain my Associates degree in December 2007, achieving my Bachelor’s degree has brought about quite a few dilemmas. I can remember even throughout my middle & high school years, I never got very good grades. When it came time to study for tests, I couldn’t focus or even remember the material, and my notes were below standard. I got a lot of grief & insults from my family as if I was just stupid, or I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish anything great. So when I got into college, I was so beyond determined to not only prove them wrong, but to show myself & my children what I was truly made of. I just had no idea how difficult that would be, and how a good majority of it was out of my control. As I had mentioned earlier about ADD’ers ability to hyperfocus, some of the subjects I often engulfed myself in were African & African-American Studies, Psychology/Sociology, & Criminal Justice/Law. I also found myself drawn to the ‘world” of interior decorating & writing; which ironically allowed me to be creative, abstract, and explore my skills & abilities in these areas. At UW-Milwaukee I took a variety of classes in the area of Psychology, and fell in love with it. I actually considered pursuing a Master’s in it; my focus would be ADD/ADHD. I had studied Black History since I was very young, so learning more was like icing on the cake. Due to time limits with regards to financial aid, I ended up switching my degree from Social Work to Criminal Justice, and only had 25 credits left to graduate before the rug was pulled out from under me & my dreams crashed all around me. I was also informed towards the end that because of an incident that happened in 2002, I wouldn’t be able to become gainfully employed in the Criminal Justice career field. To make matters worse, I don’t remember being informed of, nor reminded of time limits for undergraduate students when it came to financial aid, nor information as to the available services & help for students with issues such as mine. Although I had been briefly diagnosed in 2005, I went ahead was extensively evaluated at UW-Milwaukee in the Psychology department in 2011. After the results were compiled, they were sent to the Student Accessibility Center & I was assigned a case worker, if you can call it that, who was to put together a package of options I had from the recommendations made in the Evaluation results… unfortunately, it came too late. As I was putting together my resources to help me complete my degree, and I started to rebuild excitement & determination to fulfill my lifelong dream after all this had seemed to steal it from me, I found out from the Financial Aid office that I had ran out of loan eligibility, and that my Pell Grant was about to run out. Because I had struggled so long & so much, my GPA was too low to even think of applying for any Scholarships. I was told that appealing the decision wouldn’t help the matter. So now here I stand… a passionate, creative, determined & motivated woman with tons of knowledge & experience who happens to have ADD. It just so happens that I’m only 25 credits away from a degree I can’t use because of my past, and get unless I come up with the money to pay for on my own. Ironically, becoming & staying gainfully employed in a job is hard enough for us, let alone a well-paying job is even more difficult for us than most. So knowing all this, how do I accomplish finishing my degree under these circumstances? And even if I put in my resume that I was attending UW-Milwaukee in the field of Criminal Justice, it doesn’t matter unless I actually gradated WITH the degree. Most careers in this field & other closely related require at least a Bachelor’s to start. This all has brought about a ‘cocktail’ of emotions & feelings; discouragement, frustration, doubt, fear, regret, pain, etc. I wish every day I could find a way to, in spite of my ADD & all that comes with it, be able to turn things around & complete my degree. Not only would this mean the world to me, but by children have been the ones along with me on this journey & who have sacrificed many evenings & weekends in order for their mother to study, and I know it would mean a lot to them as well. Even though I have ADD, even though I had many battles and struggled to make it through school, I know if given the opportunity, I could graduate & do great things in my life. This would be a great way to show that even though we have ADD, it doesn’t have to stop us from fulfilling our dreams, achieving great things, and becoming all that we were meant to be.