Author Archives: MzEllen

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A while ago I did a research paper on "Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder" and did a Yahoo! search (yes, that long ago) for "adult ADD".  My search results were an entire page o:

  • ADD ADULT sounds to your web page!
  • ADULT images ADD to your hits!

and so forth.

I learned that even if one is NOT "the H" (hyperactive), it's a good thing to add it to the search string.

I got my "official" diagnosis when my son was in third grade.  I took Ritalin for a while and the folks I worked with at the time could tell when I didn't "take my meds".

When I went to talk to the psychologist, I took my elementary school report cards...if "ADHD" had been around then, I think I would have been a good example.  The problem is, many girls are "missed" because "ADHD" tends to manifest along gender lines.

Girls tend to be "space cadets" and boys tend to be the "wild child".  So boys get drugged and girls get passed over.

My personal belief is that ADHD is not a "disorder", it is a personality type.  Distractable?  YES!  a mental disorder?  No.

Here is a link to a paper I wrote to explore the "disorder vs personality type" idea.

How does this personality type manifest in me?

  • easily distractable.  I use a kitchen timer for almost everything!
  • "Leaps" in logic - how do I get from one place to another?  I just do...and although sometimes others fail to see the connection, most often I can explain it.
  • difficulty tracking conversations.  Especially on blogs - if there are more than 3 or 4 people on the "other side" (no matter what the topic is), I try to be very careful when replying, since I will most likely lose the train of the conversation.
  • Not seeing "personal".  Somebody will accuse me of "getting personal" and I will sit back and truly not know where or how.
  • Taking things personally - this I am getting better at.  Some people's issues are just their issues and have little or nothing to do with me personally.  Sometimes they do, most times they don't.

ADHD can be a fascinating thing to look at.  As with many people with ADHD(ADD) my IQ is high.  As with many people with ADHD/ADD, the common sense factor is sometimes low.

The more I work with people with special needs, the more this issue comes into play.   Shoot...the more I work with people, the more this issue comes into play.  Strategies, tricks to play on myself, ideas to stay focused.  All of these get attention.

And the classroom view of little boys...a whole different topic.

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But, he said, because of Clinton's campaign, "My daughters and all your daughters will know there's no barrier to who they are. ... They will take for granted women can do anything that the boys can do, and do it better, and do it in heels. I still don't know how she does it in heels." SacBee.com

Did you catch that?

Girls will take it for granted that they can do anything that the boys can do, and do it better.  Hardly the words of "equality".

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This is from one of my favorite "mom-blogs".
Reflections of a Former Feminist:

As a Christian-come-lately, I spent my life before Christ having it my way. During the 70’s Second Wave of feminism, I studied the gospels according to deBeauvoir, Freidan, Millett, and Firestone; together they formed a New Testament to the Old Testament of the First Wave feminists who’d won us the vote, but it seemed not much else.

Humility and contriteness of spirit stood diametrically opposed to the Women’s Movement logo – the fist inside the woman symbol. Helen Reddy’s anthem captured the take-no-prisoners approach of the 70’s feminists:

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

As a philosophy major then, I created my own one-woman women studies department, wrapping any course I happened to be taking – existentialism, Hegelian logic, Dewey and the Amercian experience – around my core passion: to see women delivered from the condition the Rolling Stones described as “Under My Thumb” into absolute freedom and a level playing field with men.

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A woman of my age, a single mom...it is usually assumed that I'm divorced.

Why do I simply say "single"?  The answer is complicated, and yet simple.

Since being single, I have discovered being one of the "second class citizens" of the church.  And even among that class, there are some that are lower than others.

I choose to let others assume a "divorce" because in doing that I have gained such humility and understanding for those who are not accepted because of their divorce.

I am not a member of the "I've lived a better life than you" club, nor am I assumed to be.

I am reminded every time somebody "assumes" before they act that I also should not assume before I act.  Many times I fail.

I wrote about a couple of my experiences (one woman scolded me for not sending my kids to see their dad..."their dad is in heaven with Jesus...I would do hard time for sending them there...")

I have been ignored by a particular woman at work who thought I was divorced...until somebody told her otherwise.

Being divorced is not a sin.  Sometimes the reason for the divorce is, but that is not to be assumed.  Grace asks us to assume otherwise.   My silence of the issue of my own singleness reminded me of that grace.

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From "Howdie's Theories":

Some people believe that intelligence is innate. You are either gifted or you aren’t. Smart is a property of who you are. Others believe intelligence is malleable.

The first crowd is scared of tasks that cause hard work because expending effort implies you are dumb. If your intelligence is innate, and you want to be intelligent, then you will tempted to be defensive about the state of your intelligence. Not only will you tend to avoid tasks from which you could learn (because the effort expended might make you look/feel dumb) but you may also handicap yourself from success by purposely not putting forth all of your effort. If you tried and failed, but didn’t really care, then you cannot be faulted for being dumb.

I've always thought of it like this:

"Intelligence" is what you have; "smarts" is how you use it.

A person can have a very high IQ, score high in standardized tests, but have so little skill at applying that brain power that he/she ends up being not-very-smart.

on the other hand...

A person can have a very average IQ, hate standardized testing, but have so much "common sense" that she/he grows to be  one of the wisest people around.

It's not what you've got...it's how you use it.

This being Independence Day...

The British military was the pride of the king.  One of the most feared on earth.  Well trained, well supplied...and up against the colonies.

Admittedly they were far from home...but they were fighting a "home-grown" militia.

The minute-men.

Well-trained and skilled members of the military up against farmers who would grab their hunting rifles in a minutes notice.

The "red-coats", using time-honored military "intelligence"

The "militia", using ad-hoc "sneaky" techniques.

It's not what you've got, it's how you use it.
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