A Personal Testimony of ADD by Yvonne Sheccoury August 2002

  After many years of going to psychologists, reading books, starting various new projects from embroidery to quilting, pottery, painting and lots of other ideas which have variously popped into my head and perhaps, only finishing half of what I started, I found myself half way through my life without having really accomplished anything in particular.

For four years now I have been a member of ESRA’s Adult Group for Attention Deficit Disorder, after having being diagnosed by one of the lecturers who address the group.  The one thing that has been very constant is the fact that I have only missed two meetings since they started and I have never been late  – one many of the ADD symptoms!

One can call ADD or ADHD an insidious disease affecting various aspects of daily life, from getting up on time in the morning to managing your life around children, work and free time, (if you ever get any).  In fact, in today’s fast-paced environment, life can be chaotic, even without ADD/ADHD. Many of us have various problems at home, school or work with the eventual consequences of break-up of marriages, failing in school or losing our jobs.

We blame a lot of circumstances for our failures; whether it is our spouse or our place of work.  Yes, we do have limitations but we have to look at ourselves first, which is the series Judith Schwarcz (Chair of the ESRA Parents Support Group of Children with LD/ADHD) has been facilitating for the past year in our group.

ADD/ADHD is a gift and should never be considered to be insidious.  We have a lot to offer the world. Many of the famous people we know from history or in the present day have ADD/ADHD; just to name a few, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Di Vinci, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg etc.

A major cause of ADD/ADHD is an inherited miswiring in the brain that  causes a deficit in attention. This deficit in attention has caused many children to suffer constant humiliation while growing up.  During development, many of us were inflicted with comments such as, “you are lazy, you can never do anything right”, and numerous other degrading comments.  Unfortunately, the self has absorbed all this humiliation and lowered our confidence and self-esteem, leading to other learning disabilities.

I started to read Ron Davis’s book, entitled “The Gift of Dyslexia”. I didn’t really understand all of it and asked Judith if she could enlighten me with regard to the contents.  I started to become interested as, after yet another job loss, I decided I needed to learn Hebrew to improve my job prospects, especially in today’s market.  At Judith’s suggestion, I decided to take the Ron Davis Correction Course for Dyslexics.  This course runs for five intensive days and I can say now, from experience, that it was the best thing I ever did.  I now have the tools to work by myself, and I am not saying it is an easy path to go on, but I am fully confident that I will succeed in the goals I have set for myself.  At this stage one of the goals of reading Hebrew has succeeded, I couldn’t even see the letters without getting into a panic, frustrated and hot under the collar.  The deep seated fear I had of reading Hebrew has vanished and I am able to read, slowly, however, I am sure with time and practice this will continue to improve.  Every day I read at least two to three paragraphs and it is getting much faster as I go along. I may not be able to use my Hebrew for successful letter writing, but at least I can copy type and I can make corrections using the word corrector in the computer, as I have started to recognize words which are meaningful for me now.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank ESRA, Judith and Ron Davis for showing me the light in the dark tunnel.

The ESRA ADD Adult Support Group meets on a monthly basis and welcomes new members.

For more information, call Yvonne at 053-769-600.   Click to listen highlighted text! After many years of going to psychologists, reading books, starting various new projects from embroidery to quilting, pottery, painting and lots of other ideas which have variously popped into my head and perhaps, only finishing half of what I started, I found myself half way through my life without having really accomplished anything in particular. For four years now I have been a member of ESRA’s Adult Group for Attention Deficit Disorder, after having being diagnosed by one of the lecturers who address the group.  The one thing that has been very constant is the fact that I have only missed two meetings since they started and I have never been late  – one many of the ADD symptoms! One can call ADD or ADHD an insidious disease affecting various aspects of daily life, from getting up on time in the morning to managing your life around children, work and free time, (if you ever get any).  In fact, in today’s fast-paced environment, life can be chaotic, even without ADD/ADHD. Many of us have various problems at home, school or work with the eventual consequences of break-up of marriages, failing in school or losing our jobs. We blame a lot of circumstances for our failures; whether it is our spouse or our place of work.  Yes, we do have limitations but we have to look at ourselves first, which is the series Judith Schwarcz (Chair of the ESRA Parents Support Group of Children with LD/ADHD) has been facilitating for the past year in our group. ADD/ADHD is a gift and should never be considered to be insidious.  We have a lot to offer the world. Many of the famous people we know from history or in the present day have ADD/ADHD; just to name a few, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Di Vinci, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg etc. A major cause of ADD/ADHD is an inherited miswiring in the brain that  causes a deficit in attention. This deficit in attention has caused many children to suffer constant humiliation while growing up.  During development, many of us were inflicted with comments such as, “you are lazy, you can never do anything right”, and numerous other degrading comments.  Unfortunately, the self has absorbed all this humiliation and lowered our confidence and self-esteem, leading to other learning disabilities. I started to read Ron Davis’s book, entitled “The Gift of Dyslexia”. I didn’t really understand all of it and asked Judith if she could enlighten me with regard to the contents.  I started to become interested as, after yet another job loss, I decided I needed to learn Hebrew to improve my job prospects, especially in today’s market.  At Judith’s suggestion, I decided to take the Ron Davis Correction Course for Dyslexics.  This course runs for five intensive days and I can say now, from experience, that it was the best thing I ever did.  I now have the tools to work by myself, and I am not saying it is an easy path to go on, but I am fully confident that I will succeed in the goals I have set for myself.  At this stage one of the goals of reading Hebrew has succeeded, I couldn’t even see the letters without getting into a panic, frustrated and hot under the collar.  The deep seated fear I had of reading Hebrew has vanished and I am able to read, slowly, however, I am sure with time and practice this will continue to improve.  Every day I read at least two to three paragraphs and it is getting much faster as I go along. I may not be able to use my Hebrew for successful letter writing, but at least I can copy type and I can make corrections using the word corrector in the computer, as I have started to recognize words which are meaningful for me now. I would like to take this opportunity to thank ESRA, Judith and Ron Davis for showing me the light in the dark tunnel. The ESRA ADD Adult Support Group meets on a monthly basis and welcomes new members. For more information, call Yvonne at 053-769-600. Powered By GSpeech