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Top 10 Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
Having ADD can be the competitive edge

	Pete Quily (addcoach)

I have Attention Deficit Disorder (which I find is more of a surplus of attention, really). I coach adults with ADD, have an ADD resource website with over 100 pages of information, an ADD blog, and lead the Vancouver Adult ADD support group. So, I'm fairly familiar with ADD. I've been using Mac computers for 20 years, sold them for seven, and have spent thousands of hours on the net. So, I'm fairly familiar with the high-tech world.

I've noticed many similarities between the two worlds.

I believe there are disproportionately many with ADD who work in high-tech. Approximately five percent of the population has ADD and 85 per cent of adults with ADD don't know they have it. It seems to me that ADD and high-tech are natural fits. The constant change in the high-tech world can be stressful and troubling for some people but is often stimulating and energizing for the ADD-er. A great source of Dopamine hits. Although there are no specific statistics, a number of other ADD experts I've talked with agree with my observation.

Many only see the problems associated with ADD, and many, especially men, avoid getting a diagnosis. This avoidance is attributable to ADD's portrayal as an almost totally pathological condition, which causes it to be viewed as just a weakness.

To give some perspective and to help those in the industry recognize and develop their ADD-related strengths as well as manage their ADD challenges, I thought I'd list some advantages of having ADD in the wired world.

I also hope this might help those who may be afraid of getting diagnosed and treated (medication, coaching, therapy etc.) for ADD because of those who condemn ADD as a moral failure with claims like "there's no such thing as ADD, turn off the TV, stop eating sugar, beat your kid more often, and twirl around 3 times and tap your heels and it will go away." ADD is an inherited neurobiological condition. Every medical and psychological association has stated this. As more people see the advantages of having ADD, they will actually be more inclined to seek diagnosis and treatment. Some wrongly believe ADD is negatively related to IQ or that all ADD-ers are slow learners or below average IQ. I have it and made the dean's honors list, and many PhDs have it. MENSA has an ADD special interest group with more than 300 members. It comes down to a difference in brain wiring, and in some fields, such as high-tech, marketing, media and the arts, entrepreneurship, etc., the unique wiring of the ADD brain is a competitive advantage.

Top Ten ADD Advantages in a Hi-Tech Career

1. The Ability to Hyperfocus

This means hours of full engagement and concentration on a task, IF you find it interesting. You can get into the zone and be totally immersed in what you're doing, while the outside world disappears. When I went on the net for the first time in 1993 at an Internet cafe, I got on the machine at 8 p.m. and around 4 a.m. decided it was time to go home.

2. Rapid-fire Mind

Your brain processes information at hyperspeed. You can do things in 30 minutes on a computer that might take other people hours. The downside is if you're stuck with old hardware and not enough RAM you'll be frustrated because it can't keep up with the speed of your brain.

3. Multitasking at Will

You're able to run 14 applications at a time and effortlessly switch among them without breaking into a sweat and are able to do several projects at a time with ease.

4. High Energy Level

You're able to keep going on a project. If it's interesting, an ADD-er will be more into creative and entrepreneurial activities than clerical or repetitive ones. 14-hour days? No problem, adrenaline is my fuel source.

5. Highly Creative

You're able to think beyond the box. This comes naturally to ADD-ers, while others pay handsomely to learn this. Since you take in more information than the average person does, and you're easily distracted, you're more likely to view a problem from more angles than vanilla people (non ADD-ers) and therefore come up with more possible solutions to a problem. Need an idea generator? Find an ADD-er.

6. Quick Learner

ADD arises mainly out of boredom - you have no trouble paying attention to something if it's interesting. Most people find it difficult to do boring or repetitive things, but these can often totally shut an ADD-er down. Your rapid-fire brain + highly creative mind + the ability to hyperfocus equals fast absorption of new information. Dr. Ed Hallowell, who has ADD and has written several Delivered from Distraction : Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder, said he stopped teaching psychiatry at Harvard University because the non-ADD-er brains were just to slow. He got tired of being continually frustrated waiting for them to catch up to the ADD students.

7. Stimulus-Seeking Brain

A perfect match for the wired world: an under-stimulated brain and an over-stimulated virtual environment. Being an info junkie can be a good thing. Well, not always.

8. Constantly Scanning your Environment

This allows you to notice more and find information and resources that others miss, to see possible problems before they arise, and discern opportunities that others may not see because they have tunnel vision vs. multiplex vision. An ADD-er invented the electronic ticket.

9. Great in a Crisis

In a high-energy, intense situation, with lots of chaos and change? Sign me up - I thrive on stimulation, change, and chaos. We can create order from chaos effortlessly. We can also create such an environment as well, if needed.

10. Risk Taker

Impulsivity means you're more willing to take risks and have a bias for action, acting now while the opportunity is hot instead of getting into analysis paralysis. Many entrepreneurs have ADD, e.g., Paul Orfalea, who founded Kinko's, JetBlue Founder and CEO David Neeleman, who attributes his creativity to ADD. Both are billionaires. Imagine how successful a high-tech CEO would be if they didn't take many risks.

These are just a start of the advantages of ADD - for more go to the list of 151 positive characteristics of people with ADD at my ADD Resource website.

This is not to say there are no disadvantages or real problems associated with ADD in a high-tech career. There most certainly are, and if you don't learn to manage them they can cause a great deal of trouble and grief to you and those around you, but that's another article.

This has appeared on my ADD website http://www.addcoach4u.com and my ADD Blog http://www.adultaddstrengths.com.

2006-02-18 18:29

�2006 OhmyNews

in the Independence, MO area. The city governments have passed laws banning pit bulls and last week something like 100+ pitbulls were picked up by animal control or dropped off at the city pound and all were destroyed.

Personally, I think the owners of these animals should be held just as accountable as the dog. Well, I guess maybe putting the owner to sleep is a bit extreme.

You said: "I know the definition of an addict, and I, in no way, resemble or exhibit an addicts behavior."

I question whether you do know the definition of addictive behavior. Going away by yourself in a hotel room without telling anyone where you are in order to withdraw from opiates is not what most people would do if they do not have something to hide. Being a pain patient does not exclude one from becoming addicted.

The case I referred to was settled perhaps 2 years ago. In that case, the grandmother already had custody (not adopted) of the older 2 siblings by filing in court herself. In the case of the youngest child, he was premature, in a different county, and as the bio already had a history of not being able to take care of her children, the child was taken to the foster home the day he was released from the hospital. This grandmother is a kindergarten teacher and grandfather has classification clearance in the Air Force. Even though the grandmother had the older 2, they did not give her the opportunity to have the 3rd child. She hired lawyers and finally did everything herself by terminating parental rights (bios don't like having to pay child support to the grandparents!) and then was able to adopt the 3rd child.

The act gives the state 24 months (period) to close a case on children in state care. If the bio is not agreeable to giving custody to relatives, the case can remain open and the bio has the opportunity to go to drug rehabilitation, parenting classes, get a stable job and prove they can independently provide for themselves BUT while those children are in foster care, the clock is ticking. Some bios don't want to do all those things or cannot in that time frame. If the state realizes the bios are going to make the time frame, and no relatives are involved, then yes, the child can be adopted by the foster care. The case workers are overworked and under a lot of pressure to get cases closed so the state gets a good Federal score and gets bonus money...so yes, there are cases when it is easier to adopt the child to a foster parent than to relatives...then relatives have a fight they should not have to be fighting.

I knew when my GD was born that someday this was going to happen and I put myself in a position to be available and willing to take her. I listen to her night terrors. She asks why mommy doesn't call - I tell her mommy has to take a test (drugs) and then mommy can visit again. It can be maddening because now I have to supervise the bios visiting the child. No overnight visits. Some states require background checks on other people who may care for the child. Can't place her on my insurance as she is not adopted. I got state benefits and part of that means I have to take my own daughter to court to get child support (bio dud has his own court case). Some states make relatives become foster parents to keep their own grandchildren. I'm single so now I work 2 jobs. The state closed my case as it became a private petition. But whatever I go through, what she gives me is priceless.

How bad is that?! I've eaten leftover frosting after the container was opened so it "wouldn't go to waste," but I still have the cake mix to make cupcakes and am too much of a tightwad deep down to waste it like that...and I'm just not in the mood to bake nuthin' today.

So I ate a couple of teaspoons of straight-up honey and called it good. Grocery run...gotta make one!

Have you tried to delete program under safe mode? That is your best option right now.

Also, when you said you accessed task manager and you have 37 running, do you mean processes running? Because if you will under task manager, you have "applications, processes, performance, users, etc."

Let me know. I will be in and out of this site, so it may take me a bit to get back to you.

Shut down the computer. As soon as you turn it back on, begin pressing the F8 key repeatedly. You should come to a black and white screen with an option of starting in safe mode. Arrow down to this option and press 'Enter'. The computer will then start in safe mode. Try it from there. Hope this helps.