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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by aminos4me on November 3, 2007, at 23:10:12
Hi, im a recently diagnosed adult with ADD.
Part of my response from dexamphetamine is the return of motivation! So im going back to study next year...Does anyone have any tips to help someone with ADD stay on task, up to date and organized?
Any input is greatly appreciated as i have no idea!
Ill have to do some research...
Posted by Gee on November 6, 2007, at 20:31:01
In reply to ADD and Study... Tips?, posted by aminos4me on November 3, 2007, at 23:10:12
YES! This was me last year!! I found that dexedrine really really helped studying. I was a student when I was diagnosed, and while my grades weren't horrible, they weren't amazing either. The best part for me has been the increased attention span and the motivation. I can now read something and remember it! As well as my grades aren't all over the place. The biggest help to that has been a separate test location. Before you start at your uni, go get your accommodations in place. Or go see what they'll offer you.
Study tips:
I've found that studying has gotten easier, but at first I kept a pretty regimented study schedules.
I got a big wall calender and wrote up all of my due dates, and what I should have accomplished when, so that I could visually see what I had comingn when. As well, I wrote it all in my agenda, and I put it on my microsoft outlook.
At first I used Microsoft outlook a lot because you can put in how long something should take, and you can schedual your day. So like I'd put from 9:30-10, read french lit. And then from 10-11, read Arky, and so forth. I put in time for breaks, and a finishing time. It beeps when the time is up, and if you need more time, then you can "snooze" it for whatever period of time. It allowed me to see my day, and set ahead of time how long I wanted to spend on a certain subject. And if I was getting bored ahead of time, I would either set it aside and come back to it, or push through if there wasn't much time leftThe biggest thing I've found is that when I get bored of what I'm doing, I need to stop, and do something else. If I don't then I just end up wasting time.
Also, for me, studying in a quiet environment is important. If there's a lot going on around me, i can't focus. But sometimes I do need something else going on in the background to focus on a specific task. So sometimes I'll pop a DVD into my computer while I'm typing up notes to get me focused and then turn it off.
Did your diagnosis say whether or not you're a visual learner or an auditory learner or a kinesthetic learner?
Oh, one book that I found helpful was "Driven to Distraction" It offered a lot of helpful incite, and it wasn't too hard to read.
Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, let me know!
Posted by utopizen on November 28, 2008, at 1:04:20
In reply to Re: ADD and Study... Tips? -- kinda long, posted by Gee on November 6, 2007, at 20:31:01
Rule No. 1:
Don't take the stim until you're sitting in the library, and you've already opened the book. Don't worry about time of onset-- it's not years, it's minutes. Read along, and before you know it, you'll have it working for you, keeping you at pace.
Otherwise, you'll enter that deliberate, stim-induced procrastination state. Don't do that. Especially for your afternoon dosing... wait for it until you're in the library.
Rule No. 2: Unless you have super great track records, do not fool yourself into doing work outside of the library or study lounges.
Rule No. 3: Don't cram. Don't trust yourself to potentially cram. This is the biggest problem with ADD types-- you have a diagnosis because your attention deficit is so clearly out of line with your apparent impression to others as to your potential/intelligence/aptitude.
Translation: you have ADD because you're too smart. Otherwise, you're over-diagnosed ; )
This is actually the biggest problem of ADD you know you can test certain deadlines, etc., a bit too well at times. Problem is, the more you do, the more you will test it more next time, and bank of procrastination.
Assume you will fail, and then work backwards treat yourself like you're highly learning disabled, and slow. Don't think you can put off readings for the present week, banking on double-duty sessions the following week.
The following week suddenly becomes finals, and then you just failed out of school. Treat your syllabus like it's a cheat sheet to not flunking, and you might follow it more than most, even.
=)
This is the end of the thread.
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