English
252
Instructor: Ms.Young-Manning
Dealing with ADD
My ADD problem (Attention Deficit Disorder) all started in first grade when my teacher was shaking me in the hallway. I hadn’t been listening to her, nor was I focused in class. She told me to meet her in the hallway. I remember her putting her hands on my shoulders and shaking me back and forth. One of my friends saw what happened to me, and she told her mom. As you can imagine, her mom told my parents, and they were furious. My parents went right to the principal. She suggested that I might have ADD and to get tested for it. She also said that my teacher would be punished for what she did.
Once I went to my doctor, she referred me to a psychiatrist. The diagnosis was I did have ADD. I remember being a young girl and having a hard time swallowing the pills. I hated it. Being on the medication that I was on, I had to go see my psychiatrist four to five times a year. He wanted to know how the medicine made me feel and how I was doing in school, and he talked to me about different kinds of medication. In the beginning I went through several different medications. They all felt the same to me.
I didn’t like being on the medicines because I was a whole different person while on them. I was quiet, shy, tired, didn’t eat, and just not my normal self. Once the medicine wore off for the day, I would eat like no other. Something about the medicine made me not want to eat. Another thing is I didn’t want to talk to anybody or do anything. I felt like a zombie.
Since I was on the medication, I was part of the RSP program (Resource Specialist Program) all throughout my schooling. Even today I’m in the DSP&S program, that’s the Disabled Students & Services Program in college. Sometimes during elementary and middle school, I took a test in another classroom because it would help me stay focused on the test better. The classroom that I was in was very quiet, not a lot of people. I would have someone to help me if I needed it and no windows to get distracted. I used this service when I was mostly in elementary school and middle school. I got embarrassed in high school because I felt like the other students were making fun of me even though they probably weren’t. I didn’t like being asked where I was going or where I was during the test. As a result I learned how to focus on tests, so I wouldn’t have to go to another room.
In middle school and high school, my mom made me responsible for taking my medicine on my own. Sometimes I would forget, and the nurse would have some for me in her office. We had given her some just in case for times like these. Occasionally when I forgot to take my medicine and would go to the nurse for some, she would be out too. On days like these I would get “talked to” because I was either talking too much, not paying attention, or being too loud. The teachers would always notice when I didn’t take my medication. The first thing they would ask me when they noticed was “Have you taken your medication yet/today?”
Once senior year came around, I learned how to focus without taking the medicines. I stopped taking them and only would if I had a test to take. I feel better not being on the medicine anymore. I do have to admit that the medicine did help me once it came to school. I was able to focus better and not get distracted. I’m glad I learned how to control it. I feel more like myself and not so sluggish. I don’t let ADD define me anymore.