Are you on the spectrum?

I’ll tell you why I might consider it though.

A few months ago, a tragic event occurred. There was a shooting in a school in Connecticut.

And then, because tragedy isn’t apparently enough for some, there were comments made about the mental health of the alleged shooter. I took the stance that his mental health was secondary to the issue, and only played a part in so much as societies treatment, marginalization and stigmatization of him would have played a far greater role in the events under scrutiny.

I have not changed my mind. But in a post entitled Asperger’s, ADHD, Autism and Violence: Is There A Connection … I suggested that ADHD was on the Autism Spectrum.

You’d think I’d said God was dead. I was questioned about my stance. I was abused about it. I was insulted, called names, and lectured.

Clara Hughes and Bell Canada say “Lets Talk”

As marketing schemes go, this was a good one. Bell, Canada’s telecommunications giant, has been ramping up to February 12th, choosing that day to put mental health in the limelight.

I know this brought them a great deal of publicity, but I don’t have a problem with that. The money they spent on this campaign could easily have gone to slick commercials and a cadre of spin doctors figuring out how to make saving a nickle look like something worth the money and effort needed to invest in getting signed up for that “save a nickle” program.

Executive Function is highly over rated

The following is a quote from a colleague of mine. I find it to be a compelling statement that describes one aspect of ADHD, our difficulties with Executive Function, EF, very accurately. Please read on.

“Many people [...], (like me) experience executive dysfunction. This important self-regulatory system when in deficit, makes it difficult to take steps towards a goal while incorporating information and making adjustments along the way.

“I liken the goal reaching issues to my sensory processing issues (and wonder if on some level in the frontal cortex of the brain they are related). My auditory system seems to be unable to filter out background noise, or hone in on a particular sound when required.

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