Driven to Distraction #2

With Attention Deficit Disorder being very common for many children as certain aspects in which the way the act can be hints to if they have ADD, parents have to take the extra step to find out if their children really have it. Obviously some cases are much more severe than others and are easier to detect, but some people may not want to get tested for it because they may think they don't have it. The most evident area to find whether kids make a stronger case to having a diagnosis of ADD is through schoolwork. This was found in my personal experiences with my test scores where my parents had to question some things about me and this was an eye opener as Edward Hallowell relayed to in this book when he said, "The most reliable diagnostic tool is the individuals history as elicited from the child, parents, and, very importantly from teacher reports" (42). School can be a great indicator as the teachers are able to notice trends in their students to areas they struggle and where they do well, evidently giving clues to a possible learning disability. The biggest issue with this is the amount of people that are undiagnosed. It can have a negative effect on their lifestyle as Hallowell said, "There are a great many adults out there in the world with undiagnosed ADD who think of themselves in all sorts of unnecessary negative terms. They may have fast-track hyper kinetic personalities, be impatient, restless, impulsive, often intuitive and creative but unable to follow through, frequently unable to linger long enough to develop a stable intimate relationship" (52). There are social and personal problems that can affect these adults in a negative manner and prevent them from being able to act on the same level as others. I guess I can say there are some positives as well with a broadened imagination as these individuals will be more creative. I am not sure to what extent it has on them, but this could be either a good or bad thing for some people. Overall it is a major problem that so many people are still undiagnosed today because there are so many negative impacts it can have of their lifestyles and they should to their best to make a change by getting tested.