Mar 26, 2012
A new species: the ADD/ADHD geek
A new species: the ADD/ADHD geek
If ordinary geeks are a subset of the human species, ADD and ADHD geek are a unique - perhaps even new - species of human, entirely. Do you envy your non-ADD/ADHD geek friends who just love their smartphone with its stock ROM? Does your jaw hit the floor when you watch (with a combination of awe and disgust) a friend who's able to dash off a Google search, find whatever he's looking for, and then simply close the lid of his laptop?? Does it unnerve you when someone's type with the slow intensity of a hypnotist instead of rage and fury of a rock star?
But of course.
While our "regular" geek friends seem to have it all together, we ADD geeks are on a never-ending quest to find the perfect app or gadget that will, once and for all, organize us so that we can get on with the business of life. And we spend hours - days - pursuing this golden fleece. We download new ROMs and apps for our smartphones, troll the web in search of new cloud apps that promise Einsteinium synchronicity. We seek solace in the ubiquity of possibility but are all too often left in a world of chaotic imperfections. To say that we're tinkerers, troubleshooters, and we're always in search of the next best thing is the understatement of everything.
And yet, as painfully as it complicates our lives, I, for one, wouldn't want to be rid of it. It gives me an edge (when I'm not stumbling over my own feet because I'm so damn tired!) that others don't have. People who know me treat me differently than they do most "others." I'm not coming from my ego when I say this stuff; I'm just citing my experiences.
So the issue is, as I see it, not how to find new ways of fitting in with the "normals," but ADD/ADHD -ers to help instruct the normals on how to deal with us. And this is what my series, A new species: the ADD/ADHD geek hopes to bring. So, if you're "one of us," please please! comment with your own stories ADD/ADHD, your awesome stories, and how-to's so that I can include them in upcoming articles.
And, if you'd like to have your very own column on this blog, hit me up. Okay, so before I go, just remember that if you're struggling with ADD/ADHD, those days are over!! (or ovah!! as we say here in Boston) We're awesome, we can't spell, and the world will learn to love us. Without us, humans would still be wondering why their knuckles are all cut up!
