Chris Packham: Inside our Minds, Sunday BBC2

petra

Allira
The map thing came up at a party last Saturday. Lots of women do it. The men found it odd.
I get left and right muddled.
On my driving test I had to put a tight elastic band round my left wrist.

When I saw my osteopath last week I circled the wrong knee on the diagram he gave me. Good job I wasn't having an operation on it.

MayBee70

petra

Allira
The map thing came up at a party last Saturday. Lots of women do it. The men found it odd.
I get left and right muddled.
On my driving test I had to put a tight elastic band round my left wrist.

When I saw my osteopath last week I circled the wrong knee on the diagram he gave me. Good job I wasn't having an operation on it.

😯

But you're looking at the diagram so left is right!

Doodledog

Sarnia

Having 2 GC with dyslexia and autism I am a firm believer in professional assessments. Otherwise how do you know what you are dealing with? Being aware of any issues is vital for the child and all those who have contact with them.

I agree when it comes to children. As an older adult, I don't see the point though.

I think for an adult their life must have been like doing a jigsaw without the picture.
Being diagnosed must surely put that jigsaw together and give them some understanding on why they found life so difficult and was the odd one out.

It might for some. But to get a diagnosis you have to suspect that there is an issue (not necessarily a problem) and follow up the suspicions. If you can do that, you can read around it and gain an understanding that way.

I'm not discouraging anyone from doing what's right for them, but it's not a one size fits all situation.

Now I can read maps - and transpose them - but left and right, now that is a problem. With both my sister and DD had to be given directions by waving the appropriate arm so that the driver could see it as neither of them had a clue which was which otherwise.

In DD case the problem was solved when she was involved in a car accident and badly her damaged right arm. We now give directions as 'arm' ( the damaged one ) and non-arm (the undamaged one) and it really works very well. However it is a rather drastic solution to the problem, so I do not recommend it.

Allira I am like your DH on one point. I too can respond correctly to port and starboard, whilst still confused by left and right.

I touch my wedding ring to signify left . How hard can it be, but after all these years there is still an element of doubt.

M0nica

Now I can read maps - and transpose them - but left and right, now that is a problem. With both my sister and DD had to be given directions by waving the appropriate arm so that the driver could see it as neither of them had a clue which was which otherwise.

In DD case the problem was solved when she was involved in a car accident and badly her damaged right arm. We now give directions as 'arm' ( the damaged one ) and non-arm (the undamaged one) and it really works very well. However it is a rather drastic solution to the problem, so I do not recommend it.

Allira I am like your DH on one point. I too can respond correctly to port and starboard, whilst still confused by left and right.

As a navigator in the car, I have been known to shout "Other left!" at DH.

Doodledog

It might for some. But to get a diagnosis you have to suspect that there is an issue (not necessarily a problem) and follow up the suspicions. If you can do that, you can read around it and gain an understanding that way.

I'm not discouraging anyone from doing what's right for them, but it's not a one size fits all situation.

I agree. I've ADD (no H).

So obvious that I always knew, Mum and Dad always knew. The nuns knew. There were no tablets. The people round me said "concentrate" or "sit still," or "pay attention" often - I speak the same to myself. I learned strategy.

I'd not take tablets. I appreciate some people may find the tablets helpful, I drink lots of strong coffee and that seems to help (though counter intuitive).

I am with you, Norah, I would not take tablets - but then at a family gathering I discovered my cousin's son, a hospital consultant, has been diagnosed with ADHD, and he has the tablets, but only takes them when he needs them. They are there if needed.

Like you I have developed strategies for dealing with my problems, but having talked to DS recently, who is close to having a breakdown because of his ADHD, ADHD presents itself in different people in different ways and I can see that my strategies. He is also a senior academic, involved in lots of projects, having to take on more and more administration work, and everyone in the department, neurally diverse or not, is under strain because of the number of balls they are juggling and generally the neural diverse among them are struggling more than the thers.

I think you were also fortunate that those around you, teachers and parents, understood your problems. For most of us, and I am your age, nothing was known about these problems and even with loving, caring and worried parents, I was generally seen as a rather odd child who was just not trying hard enough and far to careless.

M0nica, I was quite fortunate, my parents had daughters who were not ADD, I was younger, they saw my differences and somehow knew the way to help me was to calmly advise paying attention, sitting still, and concentrating.

I'm very sporty, my parents also made sure I had lots of time outside running and playing. Concentration is far easier when I'm tired.

My much younger brother took the tablets when he had to concentrate in his 20s and 30s. He is able to self regulate now, but young, beginning a job in NYC, away from home, the tablets helped him.

I'm in favour of whatever helps. For me that is coffee, exercise, and people round me calmly reminding me to concentrate. I'm not hyper, I suspect that makes the ADD slightly easier by a small measure.

I do know right from left, know not what a port is, can read a map and navigate well. We're all different, with various abilities.

I wish that I had heard the port/starboardthing pre satnav days. It would have saved soooo many, shall we say altercations 😡

MOnica and Allira
For some odd reason I find it more comfortable to steer a boat with a tiller rather than a wheel. It just feels right.

I always considered myself very good at map reading, and I was, but it was a long time before I realised that I always had to have the map facing the way I was going! Another interesting thing is the way that men seem to know where the points of the compass are and follow a map in their heads, while women navigate by landmarks. I was once looking for somewhere in London and if I asked a man for directions it was "first right, take the third left, and then North up the main road" If I asked a woman it was "walk up as far as that big tree on the corner, turn left and you'll see an old pub, cross the road at the traffic lights and you'll see the park gates in front of you"