It’s the last day of the year. I’ve had a fantastic time writing my blog, ADHD: from A to Zoë for Psych Central. I want to take a moment to thank Dr. John Grohol for giving me this opportunity, and for his unrelenting support and kindness over the past year, while I cut my teeth as a blogger.

I’d also like to thank my blog editors, past, Laura Nathan-Garner, and present, Jessica DiGiacinto, for their excellent editing and proofreading skills.

(Geez, I feel like I’ve won an Oscar…)

Snowshoing, Fire, and Beer - the perfect ADHD Boxing Day!

Christmas is over. How’d you make out? I found myself, post-Boxing Day, taking stock of how I did in regard to my ADHD-ness over the holidays.

Family gatherings

On the one hand, I finally made it, for the first time, to my birth family’s (I’m adopted) annual December 24th Christmas gathering.

On the other hand, I arrived an hour late. Then again, so did my little brother.

In On the Road with Totally ADD Rick Green – PBS or Bust! Part I, director and producer (and fellow ADDer) Rick Green talked about his experience of traveling through the U.S. to support his documentary A.D.D. & loving it?! as it recently aired on 78 PBS stations across America.

Rick also reminisced about making the documentary.

Working with different camera crews in each location, Rick had the opportunity to experience differing reactions to his film’s subject matter: adult ADHD. We left Part I with Rick describing the various responses, most of which were based on myths and stereotypes. Or, says Rick…

One of Zoë's fav ADHD heros: Rick Green, of TotallyADD.com

I’m delighted to present a guest blog post today from TotallyADD.com‘s Rick Green, fellow ADDer, director and producer of the documentary, A.D.D. & loving it?!

In Part I, we’ll follow Rick’s recent trek across the states as his documentary airs on 78 PBS stations throughout America.

Talk about getting a finger on the pulse of the nation’s ADHD awareness! Keep reading to find out how savvy America really is (or isn’t) about adult ADHD!

ADHD Work Panic: Will Zoë be too tired? Get fired? Stay tuned!

I’ve been at my part-time job longer than anyone. Even though it’s only been a year, everyone else has either quit, or been fired. This may not sound like a triumph, but given my past work history and my struggles with undiagnosed ADHD, it is. Even if no one but me knows it, it is. In the past, it was me quitting or being fired.

Prior to my ADHD diagnosis, one of several part-time jobs I’d held was as a salesperson in a bookstore. I thought it was going to be a dream job because I love books. The reality of it was that I cracked under the pressure.

How’s everybody doin’ out there?  Stressed? Depressed? Starting to regress? Let’s take a deep breath, gather the tribe together, and take an ADHD TIME OUT!

That’s right. Let’s just forget it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever else it is that’s ramping up the stress-o-meter for you at this time of year, and take a moment to laugh together.

In a previous blog post, ADHD Christmas Caption Fun…Let’s Create! I invited everyone to send in a caption for this photo, which I took roadside in a teeny rural Ontario town, after doing a double-take, a U-turn, and grabbing my digital camera. It was just too good not to snap a shot.

Help! I’m trapped in a Charles Dickens novel and I can’t get out!

Ghost of Christmas past meets undiagnosed ADHDer…scary!

The Ghost of Christmas Past, that prescient apparition from Charles Dickens’ famed novel, A Christmas Carol, has grabbed me by the elbow, and is making me watch as my new friend – an undiagnosed ADHDer – spins out of control.

Like Ebenezer Scrooge, I too watch helplessly, unable to communicate across the divide with this mirror image of my former self, my undiagnosed self, my self who was unaware of how ADHD had derailed my own life.

Karen and Zoë share a laugh with Dr. Timothy Bilkey (hey, if you don't laugh, you'll cry!)

Today, we conclude a three-part series of posts based on my conversation with Canadian filmmaker, Karen O’Donnell.

O’Donnell made her first film, Odd Kid Out, in an effort to visually portray her son Kail’s struggles with ADHD.  Kail was diagnosed at age 7, and was the subject, along with two other children, for the first documentary.  O’Donnell has now followed up with A Mind Like Mine, filmed when Kail and Daniel were both about to enter college / university.

O’Donnell’s own struggles are shared here, as candidly as they are in her film, A Mind Like Mine. I hope you enjoy our conversation. I’m pretty sure, if you have a mind like ours, you’ll find plenty to relate to, and might even learn something new about ADHD.

In Part I of Karen O’Donnell, A Mind Like Mine (And, Possibly, Yours!), we met Canadian documentary filmmaker Karen O’Donnell.

O’Donnell’s latest film is a compelling drama that follows the lives of Kail and Daniel, two young men with ADHD, as they struggle to participate in higher education in spite of the myriad challenges of their ADHD symptoms. O’Donnell draws out the experiences and feelings of the film’s two primary subjects, and seamlessly weaves interviews with many ADHD professionals throughout her film to provide a context for the young men’s narratives.

I was interested in speaking with O’Donnell about her experience as a filmmaker, as a mom to Kail, one of the film’s subjects, and as herself a candidate for an ADHD diagnosis.

To read Part I, please click here.

We’ll pick up my conversation with O’Donnell here, in Part II, and conclude it tomorrow, with Part III.

Recipe for disaster: send one hyperactive Chick A-D-D, suffering from an unnamed comorbid condition based on a deep fear of the rich and powerful, out to do teambuilding for a multi-national company worth 4.6 billion and watch what happens!

My mission: conduct a 10-15 minute meeting closer, using over 70 African drums and 100 shakers, distributed amongst 160 of the corporation’s top North American executives.