ADD issues: "Can't focus, but not distracted" (my response)
http://connect.additudemag.com/groups/topic/3458/
Those who have said you were daydreaming, are right. Through listening to the presentation team after my daughter’s AD(H)D evaluation, I have come to understand that ADD brains are often functionally asleep-their brain waves are literally the same as when they are asleep, although their eyes are wide open.
This happens when we aren’t engaged with, interested in, and/or motivated by the material. Lecture situations are often a perfect storm of the worst possible situations for ADDers: boring, monotone, supposed to be still and quiet, lots of tiny distractions. And they’re LINEAR: once you’ve lost track, it’s often excruciatingly difficult to get BACK on track.
This is the origin of many ADDers hyperactivity and/or fidgeting, as well. It’s a way of trying, desperately, to keep the brain AWAKE! Unfortunately, most of these “techniques” are frowned upon in our society as “annoying.”
My husband made a gadget for our daughter, however, that’s been remarkably effective at keeping her brain awake. It involves a recording from a brain-wave generator machine, rendered into an mp3, and played back through one of those mini-player-headphone sets with nothing else on it (we have all this outlined in her IEP!). The recording plays a set of tones meant to “entrain” beta-waves in the brain of the person listening. The effect is to reduce the sense of unease or “yuck” that comes along with the ADD brain being “bored.” It doesn’t change ANYTHING else. That alone, however, is enough to allow my kid to focus better. It isn’t perfect, and it works best in combination with her meds. But it really is pretty amazing how well it works-when she remembers to use it!
I keep trying to get my (ADD) husband to figure out how to market this, because it could be so helpful to so many! Easier said than done, as you might imagine. I don’t know if you’ve tried other fidget things-knitting, a squeeze ball-but that’s another way to try to get your brain to stay awake. Standing or pacing might also help, if it’s not too distracting to others.
Good luck!
Those who have said you were daydreaming, are right. Through listening to the presentation team after my daughter’s AD(H)D evaluation, I have come to understand that ADD brains are often functionally asleep-their brain waves are literally the same as when they are asleep, although their eyes are wide open.
This happens when we aren’t engaged with, interested in, and/or motivated by the material. Lecture situations are often a perfect storm of the worst possible situations for ADDers: boring, monotone, supposed to be still and quiet, lots of tiny distractions. And they’re LINEAR: once you’ve lost track, it’s often excruciatingly difficult to get BACK on track.
This is the origin of many ADDers hyperactivity and/or fidgeting, as well. It’s a way of trying, desperately, to keep the brain AWAKE! Unfortunately, most of these “techniques” are frowned upon in our society as “annoying.”
My husband made a gadget for our daughter, however, that’s been remarkably effective at keeping her brain awake. It involves a recording from a brain-wave generator machine, rendered into an mp3, and played back through one of those mini-player-headphone sets with nothing else on it (we have all this outlined in her IEP!). The recording plays a set of tones meant to “entrain” beta-waves in the brain of the person listening. The effect is to reduce the sense of unease or “yuck” that comes along with the ADD brain being “bored.” It doesn’t change ANYTHING else. That alone, however, is enough to allow my kid to focus better. It isn’t perfect, and it works best in combination with her meds. But it really is pretty amazing how well it works-when she remembers to use it!
I keep trying to get my (ADD) husband to figure out how to market this, because it could be so helpful to so many! Easier said than done, as you might imagine. I don’t know if you’ve tried other fidget things-knitting, a squeeze ball-but that’s another way to try to get your brain to stay awake. Standing or pacing might also help, if it’s not too distracting to others.
Good luck!