The ADD Mythology (Part 2)
Notes to the Reader:
- This blog post was written by Betsy Davenport.
- Betsy detests the term “ADDer,” but she couldn’t come up with anything else. As Editor-in-Chief and blog owner, I’ve decided to use the term “ADDer.”
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Myth No. 2: ADDers are Smarter than Non-ADDers
Now down the pike comes another set of rumors, like an encyclopedia salesman who, during the Depression, was instructed to “Sell them a set if it’s their last nickel.” This set is just as inaccurate, more insidious because some people with ADD – who can least afford them — are lining up to buy them, themselves. Shockingly, people with AD/HD have even created some of these falsehoods.
“People with ADD are smarter.” “People with ADD are so much more gregarious and sociable than other people.” “People with ADD can multitask better.” “People with ADD are so much funnier and more creative.” “People with ADD have to take medications, just to get on in a world where the so-called ‘normal’ people have ridiculous hoops for us to jump through.” “People with ADD aren’t inappropriate; everyone else is uptight.” “People with ADD can think at the speed of light and no one can keep up.” “People with ADD can’t be bothered with the details because we are thinking about much more important things.”
First, I should tell you, I think myths are lovely. Myths are filled with hopes and yearnings and they reflect our faces back to us, more beautiful than we are really. Myths have been around since anyone can remember, and though we enjoy the notion of the Greek gods, and of Athena springing fully clothed from the head of Zeus, her father, we chortle disparagingly over the primitive belief that spawned that image.
Now, if it is a comfort to some to believe myths, and if they do no harm to anyone, I have no objections. But there is nothing amusing about standing in your kitchen, tears streaming down your face, having forgotten what you were about to do, and knowing time is elapsing at the usual rate – that is, too fast. It is not “multitasking” to start and leave off — without returning to finish or clean up – four or five different jobs in the same morning; it’s a mess. So far, though the request has gone out repeatedly, none of our respected researchers has asserted that people whose brains lack the usual chemistry and even structure are, by definition and as a group, more intelligent than the rest of the population. Smart people hang out with smart people; AD/HD can occlude high intelligence and high intelligence can mask AD/HD, as the intelligence compensates for a compromised cognitive system. People of average wattage make up the bulk of the population; they have less “extra” wattage with which to compensate, and may be simply considered below average, “behavior disordered,” relegated to the fringe; who is noticing – and seeing — them?
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