Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder

by Edward M. Hallowell

The model for ADD that seems to fit best from our point of view, however, comes from the school of thought that thinks more in terms of inhibition and disinhibition than motivation or arousal. Chelune, Gualtieri, Lou, and a number of other researchers and clinicians have framed ADD as an inability to stop receiving messages rather than as an inability to receive the right messages. These people always feel a press for the next thing and the next thing and the next thing. The ADD individual is captive to the events of the external world. Although the difference may seem semantic, it is significant in the way we describe ADD. It stresses that the positive components of the syndrome will assist the problematic ones. Instead of framing the syndrome as an inability to pay attention to cues, this definition focuses on the ability of someone with ADD to pay attention to many more cues than the average person. Instead of describing ADD as an inability to concentrate, this model presents it as the ability to concentrate on everything. The world always is alive and ripe with sources of interest. This analysis is supported by the scientific findings and also has the benefit of removing the stigma of laziness and the burden of guilt with which ADD people have struggled most of their lives. It allows them to start considering their strengths, rather than dwelling on weaknesses.