{"id":1962,"date":"2021-08-09T15:12:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T20:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=1962"},"modified":"2021-08-09T15:12:45","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T20:12:45","slug":"your-attention-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=1962","title":{"rendered":"Your Attention, Please . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Last week, it seems like it took me forever to read a New York Times article<\/a> about whether I might have adult ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).\u00a0 I had trouble focusing.<\/p>\n

My spouse, with whom I associate ADD, would interrupt my reading to point out a pretty bird in the yard.\u00a0 After admiring it for a bit, she forgot what she came to tell me. Oh, that\u2019s okay, I had to find something on my disorganized desk, or check the mail, or get something to eat.<\/p>\n

Perhaps I should not have read the article.\u00a0 I have a To-Do list that is seven pages long.\u00a0 I should be rearranging priorities on the list rather than reading something that has nothing to do with me.<\/p>\n

The article did reveal something that I believe explained why my Iowa Test of Basic Skills tests had a huge slump on the graph when it came to reading comprehension.\u00a0 My geography, math, English grammar, and other ratings were always 90 to 99.\u00a0 However, reading comprehension caused a dip in my overall score.\u00a0 Then I read last week \u201cthat adults who are diagnosed with A.D.H.D. must have also experienced significant symptoms of the disorder\u00a0before the age of 12<\/a>, even if they were not formally diagnosed during childhood, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or D.S.M.\u201d<\/p>\n

I remember scoring in the 30s on the ITBS Reading Comprehension section.\u00a0 Every time the results would come back, I wanted to argue.\u00a0 I should have scored perfectly in those sections. \u00a0How else can you explain that I did well in the math sections when the questions went something like: \u201cA train leaves Philadelphia at 6:00 am traveling west at 50 mph; another train leaves St. Louis at 7:00 am traveling east at 45 mph.\u00a0 At what time and place will they meet?\u201d\u00a0 I could get the answers to the questions easily.\u00a0 However, I did wonder who put those questions together because there wasn\u2019t enough information.\u00a0 Were they passenger trains or freight trains?\u00a0 Did they have to pick up or let off passengers?\u00a0 Were there stops to exchange boxcars along sidings, or pick some up, along the way?\u00a0 There is also the problem of the United Transportation Union<\/a> requiring breaks and shift changes for engineers and other personnel.<\/p>\n

But I played their silly game as if the trains were remotely controlled and had no scheduled stops.\u00a0 Not to mention the inability of having to maintain that speed going up and through mountains . . .<\/p>\n

Now, where was I?\u00a0 Oh, yeah.\u00a0 Stephanie remembered what she came to talk about.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it was important.<\/p>\n

I am not going to waste my time reading about this condition again.\u00a0 There is even a treatment plan for it.\u00a0 If I had it, why would I want to change?\u00a0 I sort of like myself.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good thing I am not afflicted with ADHD.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t want to live that way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, it seems like it took me forever to read a New York Times article about whether I might have adult ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).\u00a0 I had trouble focusing. My spouse, with whom I associate ADD, would interrupt … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[878,879,877,880],"class_list":["post-1962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adhd","tag-iowa-test-of-basic-skills","tag-ny-times","tag-united-transportation-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1962"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1964,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1962\/revisions\/1964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}