Drug Free Alternative Treatments,Therapies for ADHD

It's ADHD that is considered a psychiatric disorder that needs to be medicated. However, discoveries of the novelty seeking-gene DRD4 7R gene and how it's found to be an advantageous gene dated back between 10,000 to 40,000 years ago that helped humans thrive and survive in huntering-gathering societies contradicts ADHD being a disorder that needs to be medicated. They have a different way of learning that is a mismatch for mainstream teaching environment. They are much better off in schools that have multisensory teaching methods and not just auditory sequential teaching methods. I already posted things and made my points about that.

There are many ways to address ADHD, and that includes things like better nutrition(making sure getting enough vitamins/minderals,cutting down on sugar/junkfoods),dealing with food sensitivities/allergies,the use of cod liver/fish oil for Omega 3 fatty acid intake,the use of flaxseed oil for Omega 3 fatty acid intake, biofeedback/neurofeedback therapy,meditation,behavior modification. Their ADHD can be channeled into certain activities like artistic/creative outlets and physical outlets such as sports,working out. Herbs like Ginkgo Biloba,Chamomile.


I have a book called MEDICAL ASTROLOGY Healing for the 21st Century
Marcia Stark listed treatments for ADHD

1. Avoid any chemical additives in foods,pesticide sprayed vegetables and fruits,sugar and sweeteners. Avoid hot spicy foods that tend to aggravate liver heat.
2. Avoid fluorescent lighting and household chemicals used for cleaning.
3. Eat a balanced diet with emphasis on whole grains for B complex vitamins, and dark green vegetables for their natural chlorophyll,which is the magnesium ion.
4. Use chelation therapy to get rid of heavy metals such as mercury,cadmium,lead,and aluminum
5. Ozone treatments are very helpful for clearing the liver and getting rid of toxic material.
6. Supplementation with important minerals and nutritional factors is very important. In research with ADD Children, deficiencies in the essential fatty acids and in zinc were common.
7. accupuncture and magnet therapy are helpful. Certain acupuncture points work to calm the spirit,as do magnets applied to the inside of the elbow and the inside of the wrists.
8. Finding the homeopathic constitutional remedy is very important.
9. Color therapy has worked well to relax the nervous system. Sound therapy has worked very well to balance the spirit and supply tones that may be missing from the individual's range.


SUPPLEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADHD

GLA is one of the EFA's (essential fatty acids) which is found in evening primrose oil,borage oil and black currant seed oil.

EPA and DHA are the Omega 3 long chain fatty acids that are found in fish oils. They are particularly helpful for those with allergies and chemical sensitivities.

Zinc helps the body in cases of chemical detoxification. It is very important for the immune system and regulates the function of the white blood cells.

Magnesium a key mineral for the nervous system and helps in the assimilation of calcium as well. It can be supplemented through liquid chlorophyll, as well as through capsules.

Manganese helps the nervous system and also helps in blood sugar disorders.

B Complex Vitamins are important for stress and for the normal functioning of the nervous system. Deficiencies can contribute to depression,insomnia,and irritability.

Bioflavanoids with Quercitin help the immune system and are important in protecting from allergic substances and chemical sensitivities. They also are necessary in circulation and and in manufacturing vitamin C in the body.

Vitamin E is a strong antioxidant which helps to prevent the breakdown of nutrients.

Glutathione and L-cysteine----Glutathione is in intoxidant;it helps protect against environment toxins and heavy metals by detoxifying those chemicals. It is obtained from L-cysteine or N-acetyl cysteine.

Probiotics are very important in producting the B vitamins in the body; they also help with food assimilation. They may be taken in powdered or capsule form.


HERBAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Nervine herbs including hops,chamomile,scullcap,catnip,lavender,and spearmingt are very helpful as teas.

Alfafa tea is good for making the body more alkaline and balancing the blood sugar.

Parsley tea made from fresh organic parsley simmered in water alkalizes the body and clears the kidneys.

Strengths of Neurodivergence

I want to go over the strengths of Neurodivergence

There hasn't been much posted about the strengths of neurodivergence which can be used to compensate for their weaknesses.



Asperger’s Syndrome often allows a student to show:

* Intense concentration on studying
* Independence
* An affinity with computers and other technology
* Good formal essay writing
* Attention to detail and precision
* Original ideas
* Reliable meeting of deadlines.




Positive aspects of dyscalculia

focus on difficulties. Dyscalculic people often have strengths as well, such as:

* Creativity
* Strategic thinking
* Practical ability
* Love of words
* Intuitive thinking
* Problem-solving


Positive aspects of dyspraxia

Most books and web sites on dyspraxia focus on difficulties. Dyspraxic people often have strengths as well, such as:

* Creativity
* Determination
* Motivation
* Strategic thinking
* Problem-solving


Positive aspects of dyslexia

Most books and web sites on dyslexia focus on difficulties with reading, writing and memory tasks. Dyslexic people often have strengths as well, such as:

* Creativity
* 3 dimensional thinking
* Seeing the 'whole picture'
* Pictorial thinking
* Divergent thinking
* Problem solving
* Making unexpected connections



ADHD is part of what might be called ‘neurodiversity’. Its indicators can overlap with dyslexia in respect of lack of concentration and difficulties with personal organisation. On the other hand, there are said to be some potential advantages of this kind of brain:



* Ability to see the ‘big picture’
* Being creative and inventive
* Ability to focus intensely for a time
* High levels of energy
* Risk-taking can lead to discoveries
* Being intuitive



ne of the more disturbing indicators of Tourette Syndrome are vocal and muscular tics (coprolalia/copropraxia) in the form of expletives, socially taboo words and obscene and inappropriate gestures. The person with TS cannot control these urges and can often become scorned upon by other people. Coprolalia/copropraxia are only present in less than 30% of Touretters (Packer,94), however because of media stereotypes these are the symptoms the general public often and only associate with Tourette Syndrome.

Whilst the indicators discussed may seem negative, there are also positive characteristics of TS as there are in many types of neurodiversity. These can include:



*

Excellent musical abilities.
*

Memory capable of almost “total recall”.
*

Excellent peripheral perception.
*

Laser-like concentration.


brainhe.com/

Neurodivergence Is Not Really Another Label like Indigo and ADHD

Neurodivergence is not really another label like Indigo and ADHD


Neurodivergence is not a diagnosis nor any other type of medical term. It's not some new age label either. It's not some label that means deficient nor is it a label that means something great. It's not some label that puts people down nor makes people feel good. It's not a label that's positive nor negative. It's just neutral like the word human, or homo sapiens which is technically the name of our species.


label is a short word or phrase descriptive of a person, group, intellectual movement, etc.

name is a word or a combination of words by which a person, place, or thing, a body or class, or any object of thought is designated, called, or known.

The actual concept of name and label are pretty much the same.....just semantics. Our own names(first,middle,last name, nicknames,user names) are labels which identify who we are.

the term,label can be used for any noun which is a word in regards to a person,place,or thing. words themselves can be labels. even the word itself is an actual label for the thing itself. All words were made up,and they were created to describe certain things whether a noun,verb,adjective,adverb. It's better than using unintelligible noises like grunts to describe something. That's why we humans created words which we use in speech,writing,and typing. It was developing verbal communication. Of course there is also nonverbal communication in the form of facial expressions,gestures,body language,and even tone of voice.

the term, "neurodivergent" is a liberal and practical word to use. Some would say that it's a politically correct word to use. It's better than using words like "stupid","idiot","crazy","retarded",and other negative labels that we're usually given by people that aren't like us. I know from personal experience since my special education years. It's not a word that means defective. It's not a word that has any metaphysical connotations either. There is no need for it. Many people that don't fit the relative neurological norms are metaphysically oriented,and some aren't. There have been people like us existing in ancient times. We're not something recent. I am 37 yrs old(born October 29, 1971) and come from a family of neurodivergents on both my mother and father sides of my family. I think that there is some misunderstanding about the use of the word. When we neurodivergents use the word,"neurodivergent", we use that as word to say "hey..there is nothing wrong with us...we're not some mental defects...different doesn't mean deficient" However,both conventional and alternative health practitioners tend to have that view.


as for Neurodivergence -

neuro as in neurological

divergence as in - to diverge (third-person singular simple present diverges, present participle diverging, simple past and past participle diverged).....the opposite of convergence

1. (intransitive) to run apart; to tend into different directions

divergence as in


in the book, UPSIDE DOWN BRILLIANCE The Visual-Spatial Learner by Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D.

on page 377
the author wrote the following about visual spatial learners:

are divergent thinkers, preferring solutions that are more creative.
- may be actually unaware of the more usual methods of problem-solving or classification--or they may be unaware to use these because they have things framed in a different way.

neurodivergent just means different way of thinking,thinking outside the box, a different frame of mind. atypical neurological processing.
It's a term that was first used by Autistic,Aspergers people to describe themselves as people that are just different type of thinkers,and so they don't see themselves a deficient that they they need to be fixed in some way. Then it later on got extended to Dyslexics,Dyspraxics,ADHD,Tourette Syndrome.

It has to do with the neurodiversity movement which I strongly support. It has to do with the belief of civil/equal rights for people who don't fit inside the box that include things like equal treatment and protesting against things that try to put us in a mental straightjacket like medications. We don't believe that we are types that should be medicated because we don't fit inside a box. I don't agree with the psychiatric medicating of Autistic Spectrum people nor ADHD people. Antipsychotics like Risperdal are used on these people now,and I am strongly against that. If I was a child in the 1990's or 2000's and had parents and/or teachers that wanted me medicated instead of a child in 1970's/1980's, I'd be on Ritalin or some other psychiatric meds too. I was lucky to have special education with great special education teachers instead as well as a 4th grade regular school teacher who straightened me up and helped me realize my potential as a regular student that I finished the year with award for most improved student with a B plus average report card. I started off with typical ADHD behaviors in 4th grade. In October 1999, I was misdiagnosed as having schizoaffective bipolar disorder because my speech was abnormal,and they wanted me to take an antipsychotic. My thought processes weren't psychotic. These people were clueless. They didn't know about my history of special education,speech therapy. Later on the neurologists including the world renowned neurologist/psychiatrist, Dr. Harold N. Levinson told me that I wasn't psychotic and confirmed my Dyslexia,Dyspraxia. Therefore, I felt vindicated. I became my own advocate and succeeded in getting my neurodivergence recognized,documented for the first time since my special education years. I fought against the psychiatric diagnoses. I wouldn't have done that if I hadn't learned about neurodivergent conditions in 2003 and realized that I wasn't stupid,crazy, and that my misdiagnosis of schizoaffective bipolar was a misdiagnosis.

I realized that I inherited my neurodivergence from both my parents who had their problems with psychiatry because of their neurodivergence. I realized that my father always had problems with his neurodivergence, especially as a black man born on Jan 2, 1941. He didn't get help for his,and he got diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. My mom(born June 13, 1954) told me that he had the same speech,auditory processing,and coordination problems that I have. He was a highly emotional,ultrasensitive person like me too. After I showed stuff about Dyslexic Syndrome(which was a term that Dr. Levinson used for Neurodivergence because of Dyslexia and the other neurodivergent conditions have strong overlap in symptoms) to my mother, she even told me that she has a lot of the neurodivergent symptoms. She is also a highly emotional,ultrasensitive person like me too. One of the problems,she tends to overreact to things and lose her temper easily and that led to her verbally and physically abusing me. She got easily angry if she felt like she was being talked down to or "getting smart" with her which she perceived me to do when I was talking back like in a retort or rebuttal, especially if I am trying to make a valid point that might come off rather sharp. She confessed to me that she didn't feel like she was smart until her early 30's. I read the same list to my maternal aunt Dominga (born on Nov 9, 1961),and she told me that has a lot of the neurodivergent symptoms too. Her daughter,Shavon(born on Nov 30, 1980) was diagnosed ADHD at 7 years old. I even talked to her other daughter,Gina(born on August 14, 1982),and she told me can relate to ADHD. I talked about neurodivergent conditions to my maternal stepgrandmother(born on Sept 11, 1941). She told me that my uncle(her son) Eddie(born on Sept 3, 1961), who had speech problems, was recommended to be be put on medication for hyperactivity,but she refused. She told me that she's hyperactive,and so was my grandfather(born June 22, 1935) and they weren't on medication for their hyperactivity. Therefore,she thought it made no sense for my uncle to be medicated for his hyperactivity. She also told me that my maternal grandfather's half brother,Gino is Dyslexic. She,herself,told me that she has problems remembering things that she reads. My uncle Eddie's son,Joey(born Feb 18, 1994) is described as a hyperactive type. Most of my mom's family have significant neurodivergent traits(mainly ADHD). Therefore,it seems like I come from a neurodivergent family.

I realized that my life purpose was to help my fellow neurodivergents,and that includes raising the issue about the need to distinguish neurodivergence from psychiatric disorders to prevent the psychiatric misdiagnosing of neurodivergents. I don't want my fellow neurodivergents to go through what I and many other neurodivergents have gone through. I grew up believing that I was meant to do something special,but I didn't know what. I seriously believed that. That's the thing "special". I was referred to as being "special" in my early childhood years because of my having special education needs. If it wasn't for special education therapies(auditory therapy,speech therapy,phonics,motor skills therapy), I'd still be autistic-like. I did resemble somebody with autism,and that's why I misplaced with the mentally retarded in 1st grade. Therefore,I can relate to the new agers label of Crystal given by New Agers for autism. Now I am Aspergers-like. I never had the nonverbal communication issues though. I was always very good with nonverbal communications. Dyspraxia and Autistic Spectrum have a strong overlap in symptoms/traits. Therefore, as a Dyspraxic,I always resembled somebody as being on autistic spectrum. Any ways....As a person that had special education needs, I am meant to help others with special education needs...especially children. Therefore,I was meant to do something special literally.

DANDA was formed by neurodivergents for neurodivergents. I know some of these people from Dyspraxia Yahoo group.


The term Neuro-Diversity was first coined in the USA in the nineties on a computer list for people with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Internet searches on the term tend to direct you to sites dealing with these conditions. It was also used by dyslexics on one of their lists in the USA. Unlike most names for ‘medical’ conditions, it was not chosen by the professionals.

However, many have now adopted it. Neuro-Diversity refers to the spectrum of neurological profiles describing how effective an individual is in processing information. This information comes in many forms, including written and spoken language, sounds, visual images, light, temperature, touch, texture and taste – as well as movement and co-ordination signals form the brain.

The processing of all these things includes not only receiving and interpreting, but also transmitting, concentrating and storing. For most people, i.e. the Neuro-Typical (NT), the cognitive profile is relatively smooth, with little variation in effectiveness of information processing.

This is in line with their general level of intellectual and reasoning ability. In contrast, a minority of people, i.e. the Neuro-Divergent (ND) have a cognitive profile which shows significant peaks and troughs, denoting significant disparity between the best and worst of their information processing.

The processing differences are present from birth, and are independent of any basic physical malfunctions, for example of eyes, ears or limbs. It is thought that 10% of the population is significantly ND, with many more having some degree of neuro-diversity. The norms of ‘easy’ and ‘difficult’ tend not to work for NDs, and in many cases are actually reversed.

For some, complex mathematical analysis is ‘a walk in the park’, where an actual walk in the park can be a nightmare.

What conditions does Neuro-Diversity include

• The conditions currently considered part of Neuro-Diversity are Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, AD (H)D, Asperger’s Syndrome, Autism and Tourette’s syndrome, as well as other conditions such as Semantic Pragmatic Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). What problems can be caused by to lack of Awareness

• Over and above the difficulties that can be caused by Neuro-Diversity itself, there are a number of issues that arise as a result of a lack of awareness of Neuro-Diversity by NDs themselves, and by society at large. Many NDs, even as adults, are not aware of the condition, let alone that they have it.

There is a very low level of awareness among the medical profession in relation to adults. Many NDs have got themselves into a pattern (consciously or unconsciously) of masking or over-compensating for their difficulties from birth, and may find it hard to be assertive.

As a result of having to deal with their conditions in a world not willing to accommodate them, the ND can have mental health problems, including anxiety, depression and low self-esteem, and some can end up with drug/alcohol abuse which may also mask their condition. Many have problems realising their (often considerable) potential.

For example, the workplace is designed around the needs/features of the Neuro-Typical, e.g. open plan offices without screens to reduce distractions, and an expectation of organisational/administrative skills and an ability to multi-task.

The sooner the associated conditions are diagnosed and people given the necessary support and opportunities, the more likely it will be that they can lead fulfilled lives.

www.danda.org.uk/

Proportion of the population with neurodivergence as well as overlapping,comorbidity of neurodivergence

Neurodivergent conditions tend to have high degree of overlap with each and comorbidity.
Comorbidity seems to be the rule and not the exception.

It seems that the percentage of neurodivergents in the population is around 25 percent if you consider comorbidity.



It affects about 3 - 5% of children with symptoms starting before seven years of age.
ADHD occurs twice as commonly in boys as in girls. ADHD is generally a chronic disorder with 10 to 40% of individuals diagnosed in childhood continuing to meet diagnostic criteria in adulthood.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atte...y_disorder

Dyspraxia estimates range from 5% - 20% with at least 2% being affected severely.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deve..._dyspraxia

Dyslexia affects at least 1 out of every 5 children in the United States.
www.brightsolutions.us/

Dyslexia and ADD so frequently coexist within the same child that it is always best to test for both.
www.brightsolutions.us/

A large proportion of ADHD children (around 50%) also show clinical features of dyslexia and/or
dyspraxia, as noted above, although these associations are stronger for the Inattentive form of ADHD than for Hyperactivity-Impulsivity.
www.apraxia-kids.org/atf/cf/...dson.pdf

The overlap with ADHD is around 30-50%, and with dyspraxia it may be even higher.
www.apraxia-kids.org/atf/cf/...dson.pdf

Autistic Spectrum Disorders with comorbidity
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cond..._disorders

Autism affects an estimated two to 10 of every 10,000 people
childdevelopmentinfo.com/disor....shtml


* 4 people in every 10,000 have autism
* 35 people in every 10,000 have Apsergers Syndrome (about 10:1 ratio of male to female, though the lower incidence of women may be due to their ability to mask the condition and remain undiagnosed)
* 15 in every 10,000 have another type of PDD (Pervasive Development Disorder)

This means approx 0.5% of the population has some sort of Autistic condition.
www.inthelight.co.nz/topics/...gers.htm

Top 5 Emotional Difficulties of People with Learning Disabilities

Top 5 Emotional Difficulties of
People with Learning Disabilities


1. Shame

People growing up with a learning disability often feel a sense of shame. For some, it is a great relief to receive the diagnosis while for others the label only serves to further stigmatize them. For many adults, especially older adults, an accurate diagnosis was unavailable. These individuals were frequently labeled as mentally retarded, written off as being unable to learn, and most passed through the school system without acquiring basic academic skills.

Sadly, these feelings of shame often cause the individual to hide their difficulties. Rather than risk being labeled as stupid or accused of being lazy, some adults deny their learning disability as a defense mechanism. Internalized negative labels of stupidity and incompetence usually result in a poor self concept and lack of confidence (Gerber, Ginsberg, & Reiff, 1992)

Some adults feel ashamed of the type of difficulties they are struggling to cope with such as basic literacy skills, slow processing, attention difficulties, chronic forgetfulness, organizational difficulties, etc.

The following myths about learning disabilities have perpetuated the general public’s negative perception about learning disabilities:

Myth #1

People with learning disabilities have below average intelligence and cannot learn.

Fact

People with learning disabilities have average to above average intelligence (Gerber. 1998). In fact, studies indicate that as many as 33% of students with LD are gifted (Baum, 1985; Brody & Mills, 1997; Jones, 1986). With proper recognition, intervention and lots of hard work, children and adults with learning disabilities can learn and succeed!

Myth #2

Learning disabilities are just an excuse for irresponsible, unmotivated or lazy people.

Fact

Learning disabilities are caused by neurological impairments not character flaws. In fact, the National Information Centre for Adults and Youth with Disabilities makes a point of saying that people with learning disabilities are not lazy or unmotivated (NICHCY , 2002).

Myth #3

Learning disabilities only affect children. Adults grow out of learning disabilities.

Fact

It is now known that LD continues throughout the individual’s lifespan and “may even intensify in adulthood as tasks and environmental demands change” (Michaels, 1994a). Sadly, many adults, especially older adults, have never been formally diagnosed with a learning disability. In fact, the majority of people with learning disabilities are not diagnosed until they reach adulthood (LDA, 1996)

Myth #4

Dyslexia and learning disability are the same thing.

Fact

Dyslexia is a type of learning disability. It is not a another term for learning disability. It is a specific language based disorder affecting a person’s ability to read, write and verbally express themselves. Unfortunately, careless use of the term has expanded it so that it has become, for some, an equivalent for "learning disability".

Myth #5

Learning disabilities are only academic in nature. They do not affect other areas of a person’s life.

Fact

Some people with learning disabilities have isolated difficulties in reading, writing or mathematics. However, most people with learning disabilities have more than one area of difficulty. Dr. Larry Silver asserts that "learning disabilities are life disabilities". He writes, “The same disabilities that interfere with reading, writing, and arithmetic also will interfere with sports and other activities, family life, and getting along with friends." (Silver, 1998)

Typically, students with LD have other major difficulties in one or more of the following areas:

*

motor coordination
*

time management
*

attention
*

organizational skills
*

processing speed




*

Social skills needed to make friends and maintaining relationships
*

emotional maturation
*

verbal expression
*

memory



Many adults with learning disabilities have difficulty in performing basic everyday living tasks such as shopping, budgeting, filling out a job application form or reading a recipe. They may also have difficulty with making friends and maintaining relationships. Vocational and job demands create additional challenges for young people with learning disabilities.

Myth #6

Adults with learning disabilities cannot succeed in higher education.

Fact

More and more adults with learning disabilities are going to college or university and succeeding (Gerber and Reiff 1994). With the proper accommodations and support, adults with learning disabilities can be successful at higher education.

2. Fear

Another emotional difficulty for adults with learning disabilities is fear. This emotion is often masked by anger or anxiety. Tapping into the fear behind the anger and/or the anxiety response is often the key for adults to cope with the emotional fallout of learning disabilities.

Feelings of fear may be related one or more of the following issues:

*

fear of being found out
*

fear of failure
*

fear of judgment or criticism
*

fear of rejection

Fear of Being Found Out

Many adults with learning disabilities live with fear of being found out. They develop coping strategies to hide their disability. For example, an adult who can hardly read might pretend to read a newspaper. Other adults may develop gregarious personalities to hide their difficulties or focus on other abilities that do not present learning barriers. Unfortunately some adults will have developed negative strategies such as quitting their job rather than risking the humiliation of being terminated because their learning disability makes it difficult for them to keep up with work demands.

The fear of being found out is particularly troublesome for many older adults who have never been diagnosed with a learning disability or those who received inappropriate support. Such adults were frequently misdiagnosed with mental retardation, inappropriately placed in programs for the mentally disabled, and/or stigmatized by teachers and classmates. In later life, these adults often return to learning through adult literacy programs in order make up for lost educational opportunities. Seeking help is a difficult step forward for these adults because it requires them to stop hiding their disability. The simple act of entering a classroom can be an anxiety producing experience for adults who have been wrongly labeled and/or mistreated by the educational system. For these adults, returning to a learning environment is truly an act of courage!

Low literacy skills and academic difficulties are not the only type of learning disabilities adults try to hide. Adults with social skill difficulties may live in constant fear of revealing social inadequacies. For example, an adult who has trouble understanding humour, may pretend to laugh at a joke even through they don’t understand it. They may also hide their social difficulties by appearing to be shy and withdrawn. On the other hand, hyperactive adults may cover up their attention difficulties by using a gregarious personality to entertain people.

Fear of Failure

The National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992, found that 58% of adult with self-reported learning disabilities lacked the basic functional reading and writing skills needed to experience job and academic success (Kirsch, 1993). Most of these adults have not graduated high school due to the failure of the school system to recognize and/or accommodate their learning disability. Needless to say, adult literacy programs are a second chance to learn the basic academic skills missed out in public school. As mentioned above, going back into an educational environment is often a fearful experience for adults with learning disabilities. One of the main reasons for this is the fear of failure. Many adults reason that, if they have failed before, what is to stop them failing again and, if they do fail again, then this failure must mean they, themselves, are failures.. The tendency for adults with learning disabilities to personalize failure (i.e. failure makes ME a failure) is perhaps the biggest self-esteem buster for adult learners. Educators need to be aware of these fears to help learner’s understand that failure does not make them a failure and making mistakes is a part of the learning process.

For most people, anxiety about failing is what motivates them to succeed, but for people with learning disabilities this anxiety can be paralyzing. Fear of failure may prevent adults with learning disabilities from taking on new learning opportunities. It might prevent them from participating in social activities, taking on a new job opportunity or enrolling in an adult education course.

One positive characteristic that often helps adults overcome their fear of failure is their ability to come up with innovative strategies to learn and solve problems. These strategies are often attributed to the “learned creativity” that many adults with learning disabilities develop in order to cope with the vocational , social and educational demands in their everyday lives. (Gerber, Ginsberg,& Reiff, 1992).

Fear of Ridicule

Adults with learning disabilities frequently fear the ridicule of others. Sadly, these fears often develop after the individual has been routinely ridiculed by teachers, classmates or even family members. The most crushing of these criticisms usually relates to a perceived lack of intelligence or unfair judgments about the person’s degree of motivation or ability to succeed. For example, comments such as “you’ll never amount to anything”, “you could do it if you only tried harder”, or the taunting of classmates about being “in the mental retard class” have enormous emotional effects on individuals with learning disabilities. For many of these adults, especially those with unidentified learning disabilities, these and other negative criticisms, continue to affect their emotional well-being into their adult years. It is not uncommon for adults to internalize the negative criticisms and view themselves as dumb, stupid, lazy, and/or incompetent. Such negative criticisms often fuel the fear adults with learning disabilities have about being found out.

Fear of Rejection

Adults with learning disabilities frequently fear rejection if they are not seen to be as capable as others. If they come from a middle to upper class family where academic achievement is a basic expectation for its members, fear of rejection may be a very real concern. They may also fear that their social skill deficits will preclude them from building meaningful relationships with others and may lead to social rejection. Prior experiences of rejection will likely intensify this sense of fear.

3. Environmental and Emotional Sensitivity

Environmental Sensitivities

Adults are often overwhelmed by too much environmental stimuli (e.g. background noise, more than one person talking at a time, side conversations, reading and listening at the same time). Many people with LD and ADD have specific sensitivities to their environment such as certain fabrics they cannot wear, foods they cannot tolerate, etc.

Emotional Sensitivity

Many adults with learning disabilities see themselves as more emotionally sensitive than other people In its most extreme form, high levels of emotional sensitivity are both a blessing and a weakness. The positive features of this trait helps adults with learning disabilities build meaningful relationships with others. For example, they are often very intuitive and in-tune with both their own and other people's emotions. Sometimes they are actually able to perceive other's thoughts and feelings. However, this strength also serves as weakness due to its propensity to overwhelm the individuals. Emotional difficulties occur when they are unable to cope with the onslaught of emotions they are feeling. Highly sensitive adults with LD may be moved to tears more easily or feel their own and other people’s pain more deeply. For example, Thomas West, writer of "The Minds Eye", not only gives a thorough explanation of Winston Churchill's learning disability, but also describes his sensitive nature. West details Churchill's tendency to break into tears quite easily" (West, 1997) even out in the public eye. He notes one incident in which Churchill was moved to tears after witnessing the devastating effects of a bomb.

This description of Churchill also serves to highlight the strong sense of justice that many adults with learning disabilities possess. Unfortunately, this sense of justice often serves as a double edged sword. On one hand, it is refreshing to behold the passion of many of these individuals in their fight to overcome injustice. While on the other hand, this very passion, when it crosses the line into aggression, can cause social rejection and/or emotional overload. Often the individual may be unaware that their behavior has turned aggressive. They only wish make their point known and have others understand it. This type of over reaction is not a purposeful attempt to hurt anybody. It is more likely to be caused by a difficulty with monitoring their emotions and consequent behavior.

4. Emotional Regulation

Difficulties with regulating emotions are common for highly sensitive adults with learning disabilities. Dr. Kay Walker, describes the connection between learning disabilities and self-regulation problems in her paper “Self Regulation and Sensory Processing for Learning, Attention and Attachment”. She asserts that self-regulation problems frequently occur in those with learning disabilities (Walker, 2000) In its most extreme form, individual may easily shift from one emotion to the next. Others may experience difficulty regulating impulsive thoughts or actions.

Fortunately, most adults have learned to handle their emotional sensitivity to avoid becoming overwhelmed or engaging in negative social interactions. Nevertheless, some adults may be so deeply affected that they become depressed or suffer from anxiety. A lack of school, job and/or social success will likely add to this emotional burden. Some adults with LD, especially those who have been ridiculed by their family members, teachers and/or peers, may be more apt to take criticism to heart because of their experiences and/or their ultra-sensitive nature. Emotional wounds from childhood and youth may cause heightened emotional responses to rejection. In turn, social anxiety and social phobia may result

5. Difficulty Adjusting to Change

Change is scary for everyone, but for people with learning disabilities and other neurological disabilities, change may be particularly difficult. Children with learning disabilities may prefer procedures to stay the same and have a hard time moving from one activity to another. Usually this difficulty becomes less of an issue as the child matures. However, adults with learning disabilities may still experience difficulty adjusting to change in more subtle ways . For example, some adults will have trouble moving from one work task to another without completely finishing the first task before moving on to the next one. Adults with learning disabilities are frequently described as inflexible when it comes to considering another person’s view point or a different way of doing something.

Adjustment to change is difficult for adults with LD because change brings the unexpected. In general, people with learning disabilities are less prepared for the unexpected. The unexpected may bring new learning hurdles, new job demands or new social challenges. Since all these areas can be affected by learning disabilities, it is no wonder why change can produce so much anxiety for adults with learning disabilities.

To avoid the tendency to blame the person for their lack of flexibility, it is important to understand the neurological basis for this difficulty with adjusting to change. With this said, through social skills practice, adults with learning disabilities can improve their ability to tolerate change. In addition, parents, instructors, and other professionals can help adults with learning disabilities by making transition processes easier through understanding and accommodating the adults’ needs.

References

American LDA, (1996), They Speak for Themselves- A Survey of Adults with Learning Disabilities (Shoestring Press) Pittsburgh, PA 15234

Baum, S (1985). Learning disabled students with superior cognitive abilities: A validation study of descriptive behavior. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Brody, L. E. & Mills, C. J. (1997). gifted Children with Learning Disabilities: A review of the issues. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(3), 382-296.

Gerber. P.J., Ginsberg, R., & Reiff, H.B. (1992). Identifying alterable patterns in employment success for highly successful adults with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25 (8) 475-487.

Gerber, P. J. (1998). Trials and tribulations of a teacher with learning disabilities through his first two years of employment. In R. J. Anderson, C. E. Keller, & J. M. Carp (Eds.), Enhancing diversity: educator with disabilities (pp. 41-59). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Gerber, P. J., and Reiff, H., eds. (1994) Learning Disabilities In Adulthood: Persisting Problems And Evolving Issues: Stoneham, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Jones H. B., (1986). The gifted Dyslexic. Annals of Dyslexia, 36, 301-317

Kirsch, Irwin S., Ann Jungeblut, Lynn Jenkins, et al. (1993) Adult Literacy in America: A First Look at the Results of the National Adult Literacy Survey, (pg. 44) U.S. Department of Education, NCES, Washington, DC.

Michaels, C. A. (1994a) Transition strategies for persons with learning disabilities. San Diego, CA.

NICHCY - National Information Centre for Children and Youth with Disabilities. (2002) General Information about Learning Disabilities. (pg. 1) Fact sheet #7. Retrieved

November 2, 2002, from www.ldonline.org/ld_indept...cy_fs7.pdf

Silver, L. B. (1998) The Misunderstood Child: Understanding and Coping With Your Child's Learning Disabilities 3rd edition, NY: Random House Books.

Walker, K. (2000) Self Regulation and Sensory Processing for Learning, Attention and Attachment . Occupational Therapy Department, University of Florida.

West, T. G. (1997). In the minds eye: visual thinkers, gifted people with dyslexia, and other learning difficulties, computer images, and the ironies of creativity. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.


ldpride.net/emotions.htm

My Gratitude List based on The Secret

I was watching The Secret video. They suggested that we make a gratitude list.
They said that it helps us feel positive focusing on the things that we're grateful for

so I made mine



GRATITUDE LIST

I am grateful for:

1. for being alive
2. to have a roof over my head
3. to have food to eat
4. for mom to be alive
5. for mom to stop smoking
6. for Robert being there for my mom
7. for finding my life purpose as a neurodiversity advocate,helping other neurodivergents
8. for my neurodivergent conditions being diagnosed,documented for the first time since my special edication years
9. for my early identification,diagnoses of my neurodivergent conditions in childhood
10. for learning about neurodivergent conditions that helped me understand my neurodivergence
11. for learning about Astrology that helped me understand myself especially emotional nature in regards to my being a psychic,emotional sponge
12. for my gift as an astrologer and being help others with it
13. for my gift as a massage therapist and being to help others with it
14. for believing in God but in a pantheist way
15. for my 720 hour massage therapy certificate
16. for the disability compensation money that gave me much financial security and helped me support my mother
17. for ending my sugar addiction
18. for ending my junkfood addiction
19. for my dental work
20. for being an attractive person - inside,outside
21. for all the people that made a positive difference in my life
22. for all the people that have loved me
23. for my exgirlfriend Meghann loving me
24. for Meghann being a catalyst in my life that I forgave my mom for abusing me and the psychiatrists for misdiagnosing me
25. for having a romantic relationship with Meghann,getting to experience mutual romantic love
26. for meeting Meghann when I flew to see her,and spent time with her
27. for being highly intelligent
28. for all the awards that I received in school
29. for making rate in the navy
30. for completing all 4 years of my first military term
31. for Anne Angelheart's soul reading and advising me to seek a shaman for healing
32. for having Steve Flores,the shaman, as my healer/advisor
33. for meeting somebody on Second Life that introduced me to Eckhart Tolle's teachings
34. for finding that I love Eckhart Tolle's teaching, finally finding a spiritual teacher that I love to listen to and find humorous
35.for learning about THE SECRET which is about the Law of Attraction
36. for meeting others that are into The Secret at Living The Secret group
37. for understanding that I can be successful by having a positive frame of mind and going after what I want,striving for it, believing that I deserve it and that I am good enough to obtain it
38. for meeting Isaac and his becoming my partner in ASTROLOGY OF NEURODIVERGENTS (AKA INDIGO,CRYSTAL) tribe
39. for finding my father and confirming my hunch about his moonsign being Pisces like me
40. for being born a multiethnic person to a white mother and black father helping me to be believe in unity,universal love as well as be tolerant and accepting of diversity
41. for being neurodivergent,my special education experiences that helped me to learn to treat others like I want to be treated
42. for my mother raising me as best as she could
43. for my stepfather raising me
44. for my stepsisters for being like real sisters to me,teaching me things like how to swim when I was 3
45. for all the friends that I ever had in my entire life
46. for my 2nd grade special education teacher,Sue Ann Miller who believed in my intelligence and had me mainstreamed in a regular classroom 4 years before predicted to begin as a regular student in 7th grade
47. for my gift as a good dancer which helped me socialize and meet people,met women and go on dates when I was in the navy
48. for my gift of self expression
49. for the lessons that I have been given to help me with my soul evolution
50. for the new beginning that will be full of wonderful things that including things that I have always wanted for myself and others.


At the end, I really felt very good. I am grateful for a lot of things in my life. It's good to focus on the positive stuff and get in that positive frame of mind. Then I can attract more positive things in my life.

Loose and/or or Rapid Speech in Disorders Other Than Mental Illness

LOOSE AND/OR RAPID SPEECH IN DISORDERS OTHER THAN MENTAL ILLNESS

Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals tend to think that if a person speaks rapidly then they have manic speech. They think that is their speech is tangential,then they must be psychotic. They tend to judge people by their speech,and then tell them that they have a thought disorder,and so they tried to get them to take a neuroleptic. Some even want you to take Risperdal. That's what it was like for me as a Dyslexic,Dyspraxic,ADHD person. They didn't know that my rapid,tangential speech was cluttering. They never stopped to consider that at all. They told me that I had some "slight thought disorder" and wanted me to take a neuroleptic. When I came back to mental hospital for depression, they made me take Risperdal because of my speech irregularities. These psychiatrists never asked if I had a history of speech therapy nor special education. I had intensive speech therapy in special education for my Dyslexia,Dyspraxia. It's so important that psychiatrists differentiate cluttering speech from speech stemming from mental illness like schizophrenia,bipolar. This type of speech runs in families, my mother told me that my father had speech problems that including stammering and stuttering. I read that they were the same,and so I asked my mother if my father cluttered. My mother told me "No", but I read my mother about the symptoms of cluttering, and my mom said that's what he did. My father was a clutterer like me,and he was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic by prison psychiatrists. My father was a black man in 1960's,and so it was common for black people to be misdiagnosed schizophrenic in those days. If you have Dyslexic,Dyspraxic,ADHD issues like my father,your chances of getting diagnosed schizophrenic increase even more. Understanding cluttering speech is very important. Many nonprofessionals can even misjudge clutterers too,and look at them like they are clueless and/or crazy because they are ignorant about this type of speaking.


DISORGANIZED AND OR RAPID SPEECH IN DISORDERS OTHER THAN MENTAL ILLNESS

page 59 of DSM-IV-TR Diagnositic Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders

The most common associated feature of Expressive Language Disorder in
younger children is Phonological Disorder. There may also be a
disturbance in fluency and language formulation involving an
abnormally rapid rate and erratic rhythm of speech and disturbances
in language structure (cluttering). When Expressive Language Disorder
is acquired, additional speech difficulties are also common and may
include motor articulation problems, phonological errors, slow
speech, syllable repetitions, and monotonous intonation and stress
patterns. Among school-age children, school and learning problems
(e.g., writing to dictation, copying sentences, and spelling) that
sometimes meet criteria fo Learning Disorders are often associated
with Expressive Language Disorder. There may be also be some mild
impairment in receptive language skills, but when this is
significant, a diagnosis of Mixed Receptive Language should be made.
A history of delay in reaching some motor milestones, Developmental
Coordination Disorder,and Enuressis are not uncommon. Social
withdrawal and some mental disorders such as Attention-
Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder are also commonly associated.
Expressive Language Disorder may be accompanied by EEG abnormalities,
abnormal findings on neuroimaging,dysarthric or apraxic behaviors, or
other neurological signs.


CLUTTERING UPDATED

Our research has advanced the following working definition: "Cluttering is a syndrome characterized by a speech delivery rate which is either abnormally fast, irregular, or both. In cluttered speech, the person’s speech is affected by one or more of the following: (1) failure to maintain normally expected sound, syllable, phrase, and pausing patterns; (2) evidence of greater than expected incidents of disfluency, the majority of which are unlike those typical of people who stutter." An example of cluttered speech can be seen in the sidebar at the center of p. 5.

This definition expands previous definitions that focused only on two components: an excessively rapid and/or irregular speaking rate, and disfluencies that are frequent but are not judged to be stuttering. Like all working definitions, this one must change as new data are gathered. Admittedly, the definition is not wholly satisfactory, partly because it is based on listener judgment. One especially frustrating problem is that people with the disorder frequently do not clutter, for example, when they speak in a short screening evaluation. In such cases, they either are not diagnosed or one must rely on subjective reports, by the client or others, that cluttering does indeed exist.

Another vexing issue is the extent to which language planning and pragmatic problems are implicated in the diagnosis of cluttering. We do not currently include language difficulties in the definition because there appear to be at least a few clutterers for whom language problems are not evident. A third confusing issue is that cluttering often—but not always—coexists with stuttering, although the two are now regarded as distinct fluency disorders by most authorities. Moreover, cluttering is often noticed before the stuttering takes over during development of the disorders and after stuttering is treated successfully, but not while a person manifests significant stuttering. Further adding to this confusion, even in relatively rare cases of "pure cluttering," is that most clutterers or their families refer to their problems as "stuttering."

Regardless, we are currently convinced that rate problems are somehow central to cluttering. There is the near universal impression that clutterers try to talk too fast, so fast that their speech intermittently breaks down. This explains the common clinical impression that most cluttering disfluencies result from placing excessive demands on the output capabilities of the speaker’s linguistic and other systems. Clutterers also tend to slur or omit syllables of longer words, which compromise intelligibility during spurts of rapid speech.

Many other symptoms have been reported in people who clutter. These optional symptoms include: lack of awareness of the problem; family history of fluency disorders; poor handwriting; confusing, disorganized language or conversational skills; temporary improvement when asked to "slow down" or "pay attention" to speech; misarticulations; poor intelligibility; social or vocational problems; distractibility; hyperactivity; auditory perceptual difficulties; learning disabilities; and apraxia.
www.asha.org/about/publi...f031118a.htm


Cluttering is another problem that makes speech difficult to understand. Like stuttering, cluttering affects the fluency, or flow, of someone's speech. However, the difference is that cluttering is a language disorder, while stuttering is a speech disorder. People who stutter have trouble getting out what they want to say, and those who clutter says what they're thinking, but it becomes disorganized while they're speaking. Because of this disorganization, someone who clutters may speak in bursts or pause in unexpected places. The rhythm of cluttered speech may sound jerky, rather than smooth, and the speaker is often unaware of the problem.
www.kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp

page 47 to 49 from A SOLUTION TO THE RIDDLE OF DYSLEXIA(The DISCOVERY OF
CEREBELLAR-VESTIBULAR SYNDROMES by Harold N. Levinson, MD

Occasionally, dyslexics manifested a "loose" and telescopic quality to
their associative speech or thinking styles, and as a result tended to
be rapid,wordy, and rambling in their spontaneous descriptions. This
interesting speech pattern appeared independent of anxiety factors,
and tended to resemble a schizophrenic's "loose associations" and
tangential thinking. However, these dyslexic children were not
psychotic, and lacked autistic preoccupation and projective thinking
mechanisms. They merely seemed to forget momentarily the direction of
their thought sequences and/or the thoughts and words themselves.
Occasionally, the temporal spacing between words and sentences was
shorter than normal and even dysmetric.

Later studes noted nonpsychotic "absentminded" adult dyslexics to
manifest similar loose,wordy, and rambling speech patterns ----
clearly demonstrating the need to qualitatively and diagnostically
distinguish dyslexic speech patterns from schizophrenic patterns
(Kasaninin, 1964). Upon analysis, this loose, absent-minded dyslexic
thinking style prone to slips was found to be due to the very same
underlying memory, directional, and temporal spatial dyscoordination
mechanisms characterizing dyslexic reading, writing, and spelling.

Not infrequently these so-called absent-minded individuals intend to
do say or do one thing and wind up saying or doing another, even the
opposte of what was originally intended. Forgetting is commonplace. As
a result, the dyslexic's speech and action patterns may often exhibit
a disoriented and disjointed, even comical, quality, which many
clinicians fallaciously consider due to primary psychogenic
determinants. However, upon analysis, the dyscoordination or slip
between intention and speech or motor response was most often found
lacking a primary emotional causation, and appeared qualitatively
consistent with the dyslexic symptomatology. In retrospect, these
slips invariably provoked secondary emotional attempts at
compensation; and the unsuspecting psychiatrist and psychologist will
unwittingly mistake secondary defensive reaction with primary
causation. For example, some dyslexics become embarassed, blush, and
retreat socially as a result of their slips, while others attempt to
joke and rationalize them away.

Paradoxically, some dyslexics were found to demonstrate highly
organized, crystal-clear thinking and expressive styles. Upon
analysis, many of these individuals were found to have had subtle and
compensated speech impediments during their early childhood. In
retrospect, their highly condensed speech patterns appeared to be
defensive or adaptive attempts at minimizing speech output and
thinking errors. Although these dyslexics were often incapable of
spontaneous free-associative and reflective speech, they were more
than capable of performing these same very same functions in silence.
For example, when asked to freely think aloud about a question, they
could not or would not. But they could, and would,invariably produce
the answer after a silent pause----clearly demonstrating their highly
developed, silent associative and reflective thinking capacities.
Following recognition and resolution of their guarded or defensive
speech mechanisms, many learned to think aloud and to express
themselves without embarassed or fear of criticism. Later adult
stories not only confirmed these observations but revealed the
existence of dyslexics who were capable of free association and
reflection only when writing. Their fluent and lucid writing styles
appeared to be motivated similarly by dyslexic verbalization
difficulties which were compensated for by gifted and/or unhampered
writing functions.

Because the ability to free-associate is a cardinal and essential
prerequisite for candidates being evaluated for psychoanalytic
therapy, and since this ability may be nonverbally present, it
behooves psychiatrists and psychoanalysts to explore seriously these
clinical considerations in their diagnostic-treatment assessment of
psychoanalytic patients.

The first part are my problems. That's why I was misdiagnosed as
having schizoaffective bipolar by psychiatrists years ago in
adulthood,and they never did any medical testing. They only went by
what they observed.

Luckily, Dr Levinson understood that my speech and thoughts weren't
psychotic but Dyslexic. I saw Dr Levinson in June of 2005. He is
the psychiatrist/neurologist who diagnosed m e as having cerebellar
vestibular dysfuncion and recognized my Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,sensory
integration diffiiculties. He didn't diagnose me with any mental
illness. He thought my problems were neurological.

The second part is me too....mainly compensatory thinking,speech
mechanisms.

Natural Medications for Neurodivergent Issues

Here are a list of helpful natural Medications for neurodivergent issues that Dr. Levinson listed in his book, SMART BUT FEELING DUMB


Niacin(Vitamin B3) - deficiencies - depression, mental dullness,
confusion, forgetfulness, disorientation,
hallucinations,insomnia,nausea,vomiting



Vitamin B2(Riboflavin) - deficiencies - hypoglycemia, eyes have
abnormal reaciton to light, blood shot eyes,mucous in eyes, bulbar
conjunctivitis, hypoglycemia, trembling, dizziness,sluggishness



Vitamin B6 - deficiencies - pancreas problems, diabetes,
hypoglycemia, skin disorders, extremities going to sleep, cramps in
fingers,hands/feet swelling, neural pathway disturbances



Vitamin B12 - deficiences - sore or weak extremities, poor reflex
action, exhaustion, diminished mental energy, loss of
concentration,lethargy, difficulties with walking,stammering,
tingling sensation in fingers,stiffness in body



Thiamin - deficiencies - tirednesss, loss of appetite, emotional
instability, unexplained irritability, loss of mental alertness,
labored breathing, cardiac damage, erratic heartbeat, slow heart
rate, enlarged heart, indigestion, anorexia, severe and continuous
constipation, gastic antony, neural problems like neuritis



Choline - deficiencies - liver problems, kidney problems, high blood
pressure,and glaucoma, hypertension,nervous disorders



Lecithin - protect proper cardiovascular health, improve brain
function, increase energy levels, support of a healthy liver and aid
in digestion of fats



DHA - good for brain and eye functioning, deficiencies - deficits in
learning, hyperactivity, problems with brain and eye development,
problems with mental and visual functioning



DMAE - increases neurotransmitter acetycholine, improving mental
alertness and clarity of thinking, improve memory and learning
ability, increase energy levels, stabilize moods



Ginkgo Biloba - helps mental performance, improves inflammatory
condition, treats blood vessels, treatment for hearing loss and
tinitus, good for vision and hearing - helps with problems with
memory, alertness,attention,and disorientation



Mentalin - helps to support mental function, alertness,and memory,
promotes a positive mood and a sense of calm



Ginger Root - Ginger has been used by many as a remedy for the
common cold. Additionally, it has also been used as an effective
analgesic, anti-pyretic, anti-viral, in the treatment of
hypertension, and in the prevention of atherosclerosis. Other
benefits of ginger include its ability to cleanse the colon, reduce
spasms and cramps, stimulate circulation, and aid metabolism. Many
have used it to treat colitis, nausea, gas, indigestion, bowel
disorders, morning sickness, motion sickness, vomiting, congestion,
fever, and headaches. Asian medicine still uses it as a treatment
for asthma, shortness of breath, water retention, earache, diarrhea,
nausea and vomiting. Homeopathic practitioners even recommend it for
sexual disorders. An added benefit to Ginger is that it is a strong
antioxidant and effective microbial agent for sores and wounds.







Other nutrients that I added myself which I feel would be good for neurodivergent issues




Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) - deficiencies - fatigue,
depression,irritability, dizziness, muscular weakness, stomach
distress, constipation, adrenal exhaustion, cramping, lack of
coordination, hypoglycemia, insomnia, stomach/intestinal
disorders..burning,itching,painful feet



Folic Acid - fatigue, bodily weakness, irritable behavior,
insomnia,forgetfulness, intestinal disorders, gastointestinal
disorders, poor health growth, lackluster hair, balding or premature
graying, mental depreession bordering on schizophrenia,.... women
can give premature birth,hemmorrhage after birth and to incur
toxemia, child's groth can be delayed, there can mental retardation
in child

ADD - The Hunter Trait

Thom Hartmann believes that ADD well suits a person to live in a hunting-gathering world, but that it puts them at a disadvantage in a farming or industrial world. For the first two hundred thousand years of human history, ADDers ruled the world, but now that over 98 percent of the world's population lives in an industrial or developing industrial world, ADD has become a disadvantage --- unless you're one of those who has learned how reinvent your life to work with,instead of against, your neurological difference.

He believed that ADDers and Hunters are one and the same. He believes that ADD traits are hunter-gatherer traits. He believe that the "normal" people who are good with routine,order,obedience,conventional are the farmer types.



A New View of ADD,
Not as a Disorder but as a natural adaptive trait
page 73 from Thom Hartmann's Complete Guide to ADHD


1.Trait As It Appears In the Disorder View
2. How It Appears In The Hunter View
3. Opposite Farmer Trait



1. Distractible
2.Constantly monitoring their environment
3. Not easily distracted from the task at hand

1. Attention span is short,but can become intensely focused for long periods of time
2. Able to throw themselves into the chase on a moment's notice
3. Able to sustain a steady, dependable effort

1. Poor planner: disorganized and impulsive (makes snap decisions)
2. Flexible;ready to change strategy quickly.
3. Organized,purposeful. They have a long-term strategy and they stick to it.

1. Distorted sense of time: unaware of how long it will take to do something
2. Tireless: capable of sustained drives,but only when hot on the trail of some goal.
3. Conscious of time and timing. They get things done in time,pace themselves,have good staying power.

1. Impatient
2. Results oriented. Acutely aware of whether the goal is getting closer now.
3. Patient. Aware that good things take time; willing to wait.

1. Doesn't convert words into concepts adeptly, and vice versa. May or may not have a reading disability.
2. Visual/concrete thinker, clearly seeing a tangible goal even if there are no words for it.
3. Much better able to seek goals that aren't easy to see at the moment.

1. Has difficulty following directions.
2. Independent.
3. Team player.

1. Daydreamer.
2. Bored by mundane tasks; enjoys new ideas, excitement, the hunt, being hot on the trail.
3. Focused. Good at follow-through, tending to details,taking care of business.

1. Acts without considering the consequences.
2. Willing and able to take risks and face danger.
3. Careful, look before you leap.

1. Lacking in the social graces.
2. No time for niceties when there are decisions to be made!
3. Nurturing; creates and supports community values; attuned to whetheer something will last.



Thom Hartmann's views have been confirmed by the discovery of the DRD4 7R Gene too. It is a novelty seeking gene connected approximately half of ADD cases. It is an advantageous gene dated back between 10,000 to 40,000 years ago that helped humans thrive and survive.
www.sciencedaily.com/release...4512.htm
www.futurepundit.com/archive...263.html
www.sciencedaily.com/release...5604.htm

Vestibular Disorders

I wanted to post about Vestibular Disorders (aka Cerebellar-Vestibular
Dysfunction,inner ear problems) which have symptoms that overlap with
Dyspraxia,Dyslexia,AD/HD,Auditory Processing Disorder,and especially
sensory integration disorder

Vestibular disorders in children are generally considered uncommon.
They are not as easily recognized as vestibular disorders in adults,
in part because children cannot describe their symptoms as well.

Symptoms and signs that may indicate vestibular dysfunction in
children include developmental and reflex delays, visual-spatial
problems, hearing loss, tinnitus, motion sensitivity, abnormal
movement patterns, clumsiness, decreased eye-hand and eye-foot
coordination, ataxia, falls, nystagmus, seizures, dizziness, nausea,
ear pressure, difficulty moving in the dark, behavioral changes,
and/or delays in performance of developmental activities such as
riding a bicycle, hopping, and stair climbing involving alternating
left-right leg movements.
www.vestibular.org/vestibul...rders.php

(developmental delays,visual-spatial problems,abnormal movement
patterns,clumsiness,decreased eye-hand and eye-foot
coordination,developmental delays, difficulty moving in the
dark,behavioral changes,falls,and delays in performance of
developmental activities seem to fit right in with Dyspraxia).....I
had all those problems except for visual spatial problems because I
have visual spatial strengths of Dyslexia



Possible Symptoms of Vestibular Disorders

The human balance system depends on the inner ear, the eyes, and the
muscles and joints to transmit reliable information about the body's
movement and orientation in space. If the inner ear or other elements
of the balance system are damaged, the result may be vertigo,
dizziness, imbalance, and other symptoms.

The human balance system depends on the inner ear, the eyes, and the
muscles and joints to transmit reliable information about the body's
movement and orientation in space. If the inner ear or other elements
of the balance system are damaged, the result may be vertigo,
dizziness, imbalance, and other symptoms.

With vestibular disorders, the type and severity of symptoms can vary
considerably. Symptoms can be frightening and difficult to describe.
People affected by certain symptoms of vestibular disorders may be
perceived as inattentive, lazy, overly anxious, or seeking attention.
They may have trouble reading or doing simple arithmetic. Functioning
in the workplace, going to school, performing routine daily tasks, or
just getting out of bed in the morning may be difficult for some people.

The following is a list of symptoms that have been reported by people
with vestibular disorders. Not all symptoms will be experienced by
every person with an inner ear disorder, and other symptoms are
possible. An inner ear disorder may be present even in the absence of
obvious or severe symptoms. It is important to note that most of these
individual symptoms can also be caused by other conditions, unrelated
to the ear.

(I only listed the symptoms that fit with neurodivergent
conditions........so I left some out....I could be wrong too because
maybe some of the other symptoms fit with neurodivergent
conditions)....not that they said that an inner ear disorder may be
present even in the absense of obvious or severe symptoms....so
vestibular disorder can easily be undiagnosed,misdiagnosed due to lack
of apparent symptoms suggesting a vestibular disorder....especially if
they only focus on problems with balance...also if there is talk about
problems with the inner ear,many people will just associate that with
only hearing problems. a lot of people think that ear is only for
hearing but don't know about it being important for balance.
Cerebellum,part of the brain,is important for balance too.)


Vision Symptoms of Vestibular Disorder

* Trouble focusing or tracking objects with the eyes; objects or
words on a page seem to jump, bounce, float, or blur or may appear doubled
* sensitivity to light, glare, and moving or flickering lights;
fluorescent lights may be especially troublesome
www.vestibular.org/vestibul...ptoms.php

(They fit with the visual processing issues of Scotopic Sensitivity
and Visual Dyslexia.......My problems are in tracking objects with
the eyes, sensitivity to light,glare,and moving or flickering
lights,flouresecent lights may be especially troublesome, but it's not
the point that my vision is distorted)


Hearing Symptoms of Vestibular Disorder

* Hearing loss; distorted or fluctuating hearing
* Sensitivity to loud noises or environments
www.vestibular.org/vestibul...ptoms.php

(They fit the auditory processing issues of Auditory Processing
Disorder and Auditory Dyslexia)....I have a history of distorted
hearing(auditory reversals that have been corrected through auditory
therapy), mishear words at times) and have problems with sensitivity
to loud noises or environments,but it doesn't lead to pain but an
audiological tester asked me if I need earplugs when I go to bed, I
wore headphones while I was working with sandpaper that my navy
coworkers looked at me like I was weird)


Cognitive and psychological Symptoms of Vestibular Disorder

* Difficulty concentrating and paying attention; easily distracted
* Forgetfulness and short-term memory lapses
* Confusion, disorientation, difficulty comprehending directions
or instructions
* Difficulty following speakers in conversations, meetings, etc.,
especially when there is background noise or movement
* Mental and/or physical fatigue out of proportion to activity
* Loss of self-reliance, self-confidence, self-esteem
* Anxiety, panic
* Depression
www.vestibular.org/vestibul...ptoms.php

(Every single one of those symptoms can be symptoms of psychiatric
disorders including even psychotic disorders)

(Difficulty concentrating and paying attention,easily distracted fit
with AD/HD......I have all those issues...Fish/Cod Liver Oil helps me
(Forgetfulness and short term memory lapses fit with
ADHD,Dyspraxia)...........I have all those issues.....Fish/Cod Liver
Oil helps me
Confusion,disorientation,difficulty comprehending directions or
instructions fit with Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,AD/HD)....I have all those issues
Difficulty following speakers in conversations,meetings,etc,especially
when there is background noise or movement fits with Auditory
Processing Disorder,Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,and AD/HD).....I have all those
issues

(Mental and/or physical fatigure out proportion to activity, loss of
self reliance,self confidence,self esteem are emotional fallout of
learning disorders and AD/HD)......I have a history of those issues
since my special education days

(Anxiety,panic fits with Anxiety Disorders,Avoidant Personality
Disorder)....I have those issues
(Depression fits with Depression Disorders)....I have those issues
(both can be emotional fallout of learning disorders and
AD/HD).....That's definitely true in my case


Other

* Motion sickness
* Sensation of fullness in the ears
* Headaches
* Slurred speech
* Sensitivity to pressure or temperature changes and wind currents

(sensitivity to pressure or temperature changes and wind
currents,headaches,slurred speech could fit in with neurodivergent
conditions)...I can relate to motion sickness,headaches, and
sensitivity to pressure or temperature changes and wind currents

After reading Dr. Levinson's books on cerebellar vestibular
dysfunction which seems pretty much all about vestibular disorders and
he trying to connect them to learning disorders and AD/HD,I am
starting to believe that a vestibular disorder could be a cause of
Dyspraxic,Dyslexic,other Learning Disorders,AD/HD symptoms. I don't
believe that vestibular disorder causes all cases of Dyspraxia,
Dyslexia,other learning disorders,nor AD/HD, and so that's where I
disagree with Dr. Levinson. I also believe that the vestibular
disorder could be a co-existing disorder with learning disorder and
AD/HD. In 2005, Dr. Levinson's testing showed that I have vestibular
disorder,and so he diagnosed me as having cerebellar vestibular
dysfunction. I had a severe ear infection when I was 3 months old. I
have a history of balance and coordination problems. At 4 years old,I
was examined by neurologist because of those issues and brain damage
was ruled out. In 2006,Veteran Affairs neurologists confirmed that I
have an abnormal cerebellar system. After neuropsyche testing that
concluded that I have learning problems, they confirmed that I have
Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. It was Dr. Levinson's testing that I took to
the neurologists to get me tested.

My Cerebellar Vestibular Dysfunction Diagnosis
astynaz.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php

My Diagnosis of Dyslexia,Dyspraxia by Veteran Affairs Neurology
astynaz.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php

My Diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Inattentive
Type, Generalized Anxiety Disorder,Dysthymic Disorder,and Avoidant
Personality Disorder
astynaz.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php

Dr. Levinson uses the same testing as doctors that test for vestibular
disorder including electronystagmography (ENG which include Rotation
tests, Computerized Dynamic Posturography (CDP),and Speech audiometry
tests on me.
He didn't use a 3D Optokinetic scanner for me because I told him that
I didn't have visual processing Dyslexic problems but auditory
processing Dyslexic problems. He tested me with a 3D auditory scanner
which measures auditory blurring,and the instrument capable of
speeding up a series of clear sounds until they could no longer be
distinguished, with and without an interfering background,thus
establishing the auditory blurring speed. He also conducted
neurological tests which are exactly the same type of tests that are
used to test for intoxication in drivers suspected to be drunk. Maybe
intoxication impairs the cerebellar-vestibular system. I was very
abnormal overall on the Cerebellar Dysfunction/Neurological Testing.
astynaz.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php
astynaz.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php

Confirmation of Abnormal Cerebellar System by Veteran Affairs Neurologists
astynaz.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php

Testing for Vestibular Disorder
www.vestibular.org/vestibul...tests.php

Testing for Dyslexic Syndrome
www.levinsonmedical.com/inform...ng.html

Dr. Levinson prescribed me Meclizine( aka Antivert,an antihistamine
that is used for vestibular disorders and is available in drug stores
without a prescription) and recommended Ginkgo,DMAE,Lecithin,and
Piracetam.
astynaz.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php

Symptoms of Vestibular Disorder
www.vestibular.org/vestibul...ptoms.php

Dr. Levinson's list of Symptoms of Dyslexic Syndrome that are obvious
symptoms of vestibular disorder
www.levinsonmedical.com/inform...me.html

Symptoms of Dyspraxia
www.ncld.org/content/view/466/391/
www.dyspraxiausa.org/symptom...xia.html
www.dyspraxiausa.org/adult_symptoms.html


I want to reiterate that vestibular disorders don't cause all nor most
cases of learning disorders nor ADHD. I believe that they can cause
many cases of them though. I also believe that the vestibular disorder
can co-exist with learning disorders and AD/HD. Another thing is that
Ronald D. Davis mentions that disorientation,confusion are strongly
connected to learning disorders and AD/HD in his book,GIFT OF
DYSLEXIA. The thing is that disorientation,confusion are symptoms of
vestibular disorder too.
Also Dore uses exercises to treat cerebellar dysfunction which he
believes is root of learning disorders and AD/HD. Exercise program is
also implemented to treat vestibular disorder.


Vestibular Disorder therapy
ww.vestibular.org/vestibula...-rehab.php

Ronald D. Davis Theory of Dyslexia where he talks about
disorientation/confusion
www.dyslexia.com/library/davistheory.htm

Dore
www.dorecenters.com/how.aspx


I just want to say that I don't believe that nobody has all the
answers to problems in life. That goes the same with people who have
answers to the neurodivergent conditions. There could be right in
some things and wrong in others. There can be many roots to a
problem,and so there can be many solutions to a problem. I always feel
that it's always good to look at numerous views of things whether they
are believed to be right or wrong. Many things can seem controversial
to people if it doesn't fit with mainstream views. However,many views
that were controversial are mainsteam today. Jesus' teachings were
seen as highly controversial,and he was rejected by many Jewish
religious leaders and crucified. Now his teachers are mainstream with
Christianity being one of the major world world religions.