“Adam and Chava were the happiest couple because they didn’t have anyone to compare each other to!”
Please accept my gratitude for Rochie Bloomberg’s Out of Focus diary serial. It hit me like a bombshell that my two middle adult children, who are on the spectrum, are probably also suffering from adult ADHD.
Early on in their lives, the neurologists and psychologists wanted to put them on medication “to help their focus,” and I know one or both of them had a trial on Ritalin or equivalent medications. My husband and I were somewhat opposed to medicating young kids at that time and chose to concentrate on diet, behavior modification, and many, many other alternatives to drugs. And then we kind of forgot about the ADHD stuff as they got older.
Now they’re in their thirties and are still struggling with executive function, disorganization, and follow-through on their plans and goals. And, of course, they have created “stories” and “narratives” like Rochie’s with self-labeling about laziness, lack of motivation, being less than others, and feeling discouraged about achieving anything in life.
After I read the serial, I spoke to them about the possibility of assessment and treatment and the hope that better focus could help move them forward in their lives. Surprisingly, they weren’t defensive or negative. In fact, their faces lit up as I described the familiar symptoms, and they seem eager to get evaluation and help. This could be their next breakthrough, b’ezras Hashem.
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