Obama, the white president

[vanima]

For the record, I am ADD (attention deficit disorder) and I would personally tear the head off of anybody who dared tell me that ADD was a "fru-fru" PC excuse (yes, there are people who use it as such, but for those of us who really do have it, the last thing we want to do is make a crutch out of it - if anything, we're loath to ask for help because we're so afraid of being mocked!). ADD IS covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Do I expect this to grant me an instant Magical Job? No. But I am glad it exists so that I can (hopefully) have an easier time of getting employed despite the fact that my mentality interferes significantly with my ability to work.

I hear that all the time.. but my husband has it.. and i see first hand what ADD can do to a person..

don't get me started on the meds either... hubby refuses to take them because he can take them at 5am.. midnight comes he will lay in bed and count the dots on the ceiling because it won't let him sleep

most people don't realize how had a JOB can be when you have it...

[daleduke17]

For the record, I am ADD (attention deficit disorder) and I would personally tear the head off of anybody who dared tell me that ADD was a "fru-fru" PC excuse (yes, there are people who use it as such, but for those of us who really do have it, the last thing we want to do is make a crutch out of it - if anything, we're loath to ask for help because we're so afraid of being mocked!). ADD IS covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Do I expect this to grant me an instant Magical Job? No. But I am glad it exists so that I can (hopefully) have an easier time of getting employed despite the fact that my mentality interferes significantly with my ability to work.

Right now, the only thing I want to say is thank you for seeing where I came from with the "fru-fru PC excuse".

[AFPheonix]

I hear that all the time.. but my husband has it.. and i see first hand what ADD can do to a person..

don't get me started on the meds either... hubby refuses to take them because he can take them at 5am.. midnight comes he will lay in bed and count the dots on the ceiling because it won't let him sleep

most people don't realize how had a JOB can be when you have it...

Has he tried the non-controlled release versions? Or does he have issues with even those? Also, he might consider Strattera. It's not the same chemically as Ritalin and drugs in that class. It's actually closely related to Cymbalta which is used for depression.

[vanima]

he is a lot like me.. very gun shy when it comes to medications now

[The Shadow]

For the record, I am ADD (attention deficit disorder) and I would personally tear the head off of anybody who dared tell me that ADD was a "fru-fru" PC excuse (yes, there are people who use it as such, but for those of us who really do have it, the last thing we want to do is make a crutch out of it - if anything, we're loath to ask for help because we're so afraid of being mocked!). ADD IS covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Do I expect this to grant me an instant Magical Job? No. But I am glad it exists so that I can (hopefully) have an easier time of getting employed despite the fact that my mentality interferes significantly with my ability to work.

Speaking as someone else who is ADD (as well as LD and physically disabled) you hit the nail right on the head...thank you.

And none of the medications worked for me.

[Flyndaran]

I can sympathise for those afraid of the medication roulette.
My anxiety/phobia problems make me extra affraid whenever I, or my psychiatrist, hear of a new drug.

[Amethyst Hunter]

most people don't realize how had a JOB can be when you have it...

Oh lordy, yes. My last job was a pressure-cooker by ADD standards: cashier at a busy store. I damn near wigged out on several occasions because the stress (much of it related to nasty people) was just destroying my ability to keep a straight face and cool head; I doubt I would have lasted much longer going on like that. As it is I'm amazed that I managed to hang on as long as I did (ten months. Yes, I know how bad that looks).

At present I'm not on any medications at all, because I am also one of the 'gun-shy' when it comes to drugs. I tried Adderall for a brief several-months stint, and while it did boost my energy significantly (almost too much; on more than one occasion I felt my heart racing in a way that bothered me, and if I took any more than the 20 mgs I was originally prescribed - the doc tried upping it to 30 mgs - I got sick as a dog with nausea), the other effect wasn't worth it to me: I am a writer, and in the past two years I've managed to get my writing streak back and I am *deathly* afraid of losing it to some mind-altering substance. When I was on Adderall my mind was a complete blank!

So for the time being, I'm trying to rely more on behavior/environment modification rather than drugs - though I don't begrudge anybody who has drugs work for them; it really is an individual therapy-tailoring and what works for one person doesn't do diddly for another.

Right now, the only thing I want to say is thank you for seeing where I came from with the "fru-fru PC excuse".

Hope I didn't sound too horribly harsh to you; I wasn't necessarily directing that comment towards you. ADD is one of the few very hot-button issues for me, so I do get bristly about it sometimes.

I DO, very much, *despise* those people who claim to have ADD as an excuse for their being wankers towards other people, or those parents who won't constructively deal with little Johnny's or Susie's 'normal' childish hyperactivity and instead try to get them hooked on Ritalin as a way to handle the problem. Those kinds just make it that much harder for us real ADDers to be taken seriously by the rest of the 'normal' population and for us to take care of our problems. There's a huge difference between what's normal behavior for kids and what is genuinely listed under ADD traits. I have a nephew who's currently exhibiting some of those and while he hasn't yet been officially diagnosed with anything, I sincerely hope for his sake that he gets whatever help he needs (regardless if he actually is ADD or not) early on so that he doesn't wind up like me. I wasn't diagnosed until my late 20s because my ADD traits are very subtle and non-hyperactive (as is usually the case for ADD girls) and by then the damage was already done.

*hugs all the ADD people in the room*

[Slytovhand]

He will do his best to make sure Bin Laden is captured and killed

So, the whole concept of a 'fair trial' is out the door then?? I mean, you didn't say "He will do his best to see the real conspirators in the WTC bombings come to trial". (not that I expect that will ever happen.. but worth saying).

[daleduke17]

So, the whole concept of a 'fair trial' is out the door then?? I mean, you didn't say "He will do his best to see the real conspirators in the WTC bombings come to trial". (not that I expect that will ever happen.. but worth saying).

Didn't Bin Laden actually come out and say that he masterminded it? If so, skip the whole courtroom part of it, put him in line for "Ol' Sparky" and zap him.

3,000+ counts of murder.....yeah, I think he has more than earned the death penalty.

[Flyndaran]

Didn't Bin Laden actually come out and say that he masterminded it? If so, skip the whole courtroom part of it, put him in line for "Ol' Sparky" and zap him.

3,000+ counts of murder.....yeah, I think he has more than earned the death penalty.

Naw. We have to at least have a sham of a trial the way we did with Milosevic and Saddam Hussain, even if the actual accusations are legally without basis.
At least Osama made everything quite clear to the world at large assuming a cave dwelling insulin dependent diabetic with kidney disease is still alive after all thise time.

[Slytovhand]

As a 'conspiracy theorist' (yes, go on, flame me now...), I will just as 1 question:

What's your evidence that he did "come out and say that he masterminded it?"

No, seriously... how many on here have actually met Bin Laden? Enough to be able to judge a 'video' of one of his speeches to say that it was the same person?

I ask, because there are those people out there who have met him, and they say it's not him on the video... or the voice tapes...

But this is for a different thread (specifically), just making the point about what the US is supposed to stand for.