ADHD + learning disabilities / ADHD/LD Awareness Month / art / life

create something saturday: fall.

• by kerri

I love this season.

Even though it was like 13 degrees today. (There’s nothing wrong with it being 13 degrees, AT ALL. It was awesome. It’s just a little less Fall than I’m used to.)

I got some chalk pastels from Amazon on Thursday. (You know how long those sat in my cart for before I got free shipping thanks to ordering 3 iPhone cords? Gerry, thank you greatly for purchasing another phone cord to allow me free shipping. I don’t know why I’m telling you this.) I finally broke ‘em open today—not terrible, given my “severe” level of distractibility per a form my specialist filled out once… Here’s how that went.

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8551/30266080901_0857671edb.jpg?resize=500%2C408&ssl=1

These are a huge difference from the oil pastels. I can’t wait to try ‘em out on black paper, too. (Though I have to acquire some of that, and who knows how long that will take! ;).)

Day 15 Challenge Update:
Plank –  Passed the two minute barrier today–2:05. Halfway there. On Halloween I’ll conquer the post-test challenge (since the app I use is only a 30 day challenge!), which should have me clocking in at least at 3:25. My next “endurance test” (which the app calls a day off ;)) is on the 19th.

Meditation – Did the 3:01 Exploring Thoughts meditation last night. I need to work on getting back at a twice-daily meditation schedule, at least most days. Smiling Mind also has a streak function–I’ve done 16 consecutive days of meditation, which is pretty cool. I’m not sure anymore how long my longest streak was. (There are many features missing from this update and it kinda sucks.)

ADHD + learning disabilities / ADHD/LD Awareness Month

ADHD fact friday #2 [14/31]

• by kerri

adhd fact friday

Week Two Fact:
It’s said that ADHD occurs 3 times more often in boys/men than girls/women. 
However, the symptoms girls exhibit are more likely to be overlooked. Where boys seem more prone to the hyperactive/impulsive(/inattentive) form of ADHD—including moving around a lot, aggression, running/climbing, etc., girls are more likely to have the quiet sort of inattentive symptoms—daydreaminess, being “withdrawn”, low self-esteem or anxiety, and if ‘aggressive’, symptoms are verbal—not physical. [1]

Inattentive ADHD—in girls or boys—is a lot easier to miss, because while it’s all “behavioural”, the behaviours are not of the same magnitude.

 

Challenge Update Day 13/14:
Yes, I was too ranty last night to get the challenge update in. Hello there.

Meditation: Mindful vs. Mindless meditation last night, 3 minutes. The night prior was a bit of a shorter one but, yep, if it exists I can’t find where the history bit of Smiling Mind went off to.

Plank: This app is killing me (in a good way? Sort of?) Yesterday was 105 seconds… Then boom, 115—a whole minute longer than when I started. (I am sort of awestruck, if you haven’t figured that out.) The 105 was terrible because I didn’t put music on. 115 was surprisingly better (but then, I was listening to Fireworks by The Tragically Hip. Soooo.)
Tomorrow is 125—crossing the 2 minute mark.


ADHD + learning disabilities / ADHD/LD Awareness Month / advocacy / life

no, actually, you aren’t having an “ADD day”. [13/31]

• by kerri

There’s a difference when an ADHDer says “it’s been one of those ADHD days”.

This is how I started writing this post, and then realized, remembered the fact that—frustratingly—the term “I’m so ADD today” is thrown around like it means nothing.

Yes. I have ADHD every day. But there are some days—like today, when I can just feel the chaos in my brain intensify as the clock keeps ticking—from 6 PM onward because I took my morning Concerta at 6:20 AM and didn’t—again—manage to actually get my afternoon dose into my body. I can feel that difference in how my brain feels. 

The thing is, whether it’s a less-well-managed ADHD day like today, or a more holistically approached day with my ADHD—one where I take my meds when I am supposed to, and get a decent amount of exercise, and get grounded with meditation and all that stuff—I still have ADHD. No matter how I choose to approach it, I still have ADHD, like I’ve had my whole life whether I knew it or not, and like I’ll presumably continue to experience the rest of my life. 

I’m not about to get into the positives/negatives of ADHD. Honestly, it’s great to hear those things being discussed candidly, but it’s also at times a bit overdone. ADHD is just a part of me—at least that’s how I feel tonight.

Why neurotypical people misunderstand ADHD, or classify their five minutes or inattention or an hour of distraction once in awhile as “ADD-like” is that ADHD behaviours are typical human behaviours. It’s confusing, I get it. With ADHD, we experience these things—impulsivity and/or hyperactivity and/or inattention symptoms—exponentially more frequently than people with typical brain chemistry. The difference is that after a non-ADHDer’s hour of distraction or brief lapse into impulsivity or “off day”, they return to a normal level of functioning—they get a good night’s sleep or do something to recharge and they’re back at 100%. 

Everybody’s ADHD looks different—some of us also experience certain symptoms associated with ADHD—or ADHD in general—more severely than others, and we all have different combinations of symptoms.

But a moment, an hour, or even a single a day of these kinds of symptoms does not at all mean that you’re having an ADD day. Because part of having an actual ADD day is knowing that you get to wake up and start all over again, with your same quirky brain. And depending on what factors are at play, who knows what that’ll look like.

I don’t know what non-ADHD life is like. I guess it would probably feel restful to even have one day off—even in contrast to having stimulants on board. Then again, if I just got a day off, I’d probably be bored partway through of normal brain life ;).

My ADHD life looks different every day. And it confuses even me, though you find patterns sometimes. (My ADHD might look different every day because I don’t remember or because shiny things. I don’t know. You couldn’t expect me to get through this without a shiny reference right? You also only find patterns when you pay attention…). But I know that this is the reality I live in. ADHD is a part of it—legitimately. It’s a whole mix of things, not awesome or terrible, i just is.

So help all of us with ADHD out if you don’t have ADHD, please.
Say you’re really distracted.
Say you’ve got too much energy.
Say what you’re feeling, that’s cool.
Please, though, don’t compare your off day to ADHD.
It’s not the same thing. 

12 of 12 / ADHD + learning disabilities / ADHD/LD Awareness Month / life / stuff bloggers do

[catching up] 12 of 12: october 2016! [12/31]

• by kerri

Today is Wordless Wednesday except with words. So it’s just Wednesday, really.

https://i0.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5549/30276332116_b311807f39.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

12:## am | kitchen. Bedtime snack pumpkin pie, BOOM.

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8138/29680828963_f086e713ec.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

12:## am | kitchen. WTF, Winnipeg. It’s October 12th. Snow is not okay.

https://i0.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5760/30195822822_a2382b1244.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

11:22 am | kitchen. I swear I do leave my kitchen. It’s #LDchat time, like it is every (or most, for me) Wednesdays!

https://i0.wp.com/farm8.staticflickr.com/7770/29681151984_5ba899454c.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

##:## pm | bus stop. I wrote half a blog post while I sat here because I got to the bus stop 11 minutes early. Also the snow went away and there is still a flower at the bus stop.

https://i0.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5551/29680830043_33f161d49f.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

##:## pm | mall. I found all the sweary colouring books and sent this picture to Tara. Then she bought a sweary colouring book (which kind of surprised me, actually!)

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8273/30195816342_8896c7c645.jpg?resize=500%2C375&ssl=1

##:## pm | my office. It’s still weird typing my office. Anyways, I’m super into both Command hooks and what the Internet calls office hacks now. So I put three more command hooks onto the wall—two are pictured here so my writing junk and dry erase junk doesn’t actually take up room on my desk.

https://i0.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5744/29680823703_dd8609cd1d.jpg?resize=500%2C375&ssl=1

##:## pm | car. Driving to IKEA. The camera never captures the pretty sky…

https://i0.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5708/29681151184_351901613c.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

##:## pm | IKEA. Uh oh, the LAPTOP (which has a LAPTOP label on the other side) is BROKEN.

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8274/29681153064_d9a7facc69.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

##:## pm | closet. Trying to get paper plates for a craft for work… WHY the eff is there so much carbonated beverage in my house?

https://i0.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5778/30195821362_202ea796bb.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

##:## pm | my office. Refreshing my memory (aka re-learning all over again) about energy systems, adenosine triphosphate and lactic acid for a blog post.

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8601/30014608720_4818ebe19c.jpg?resize=281%2C500&ssl=1

11:16 pm | my office. I plank in my office because I have foamy tiles there and it’s nice. The app said it was a day off today, so I just held the plank as long as i could moderately comfortably. To think I started at 55 seconds 13 days ago. (Don’t tell me about why rest days are important or whatever, kay? I have a kinesiology degree but it’s called a plank challenge for a reason.)

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8408/30195813052_a531b92ff2.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

11:28 pm | kitchen. Actually heading to bed before midnight because I’m going to a thing about budgeting in the morning (who am I?). My dad always leaves coffee cups and stuff here under the microwave. To like, reuse in the morning (or, if my mom is away, all weekend). It’s not like we don’t have a dishwasher he could put it in.

PS. I did the 3 minute Mindful vs. Mindless bitesize meditation after this. Yay.

ADHD + learning disabilities / ADHD/LD Awareness Month / life

ADHD tech tuesday: google calendar ramblings [11/31]

• by kerri

The great thing about technology that is great for ADHDers is that it’s also great for like 95% of other people. Most of it is not eve designed with ADHDers in mind, but for everyone. (That is where good design comes in!) However, good technology is even more of a benefit, I think, to those of us with ADHD than it might be for others—if that’s even possible given how much the world now relies on technology.

This is where Google Calendar comes in.

I am not a crazy colour coder. I do use Calendars 5 for iOS which has some colours in it for different To-Do list fields which is okay, now that Microsoft killed Sunrise, because Microsoft is mean that way. (I’m pretty sure they also killed Timeful. Damn it, Microsoft!) But my Google Calendar is not all colour coded. Everything feeds into my iPad, iPhone, and Mac (except I currently lack a calendar app on my Mac because I don’t like anything except for Sunrise which is now dead, and refuse to pay $60 for a calendar app. C’mon guys.)

I’ve been a pretty thorough Google Calendar user for years. And years. Except now that I bullet journal (more on that Thursday), I am less into the Google Calendar. But, with IFTTT (more on If This Then That next week), I do still store a TON of information in my Google Calendar, ready to access wherever I need it. (Because somehow I never lose my phone ever. Miracle.) Foursquare checkins and other such things are pushed into my Google Calendar so I can check back later to see where I was on a particular day, or when I want to whatever place. If I’ve used Foursquare anyways which I usually forget to.

Sunrise made a lot of my Google Calendar-y things even easier. But, hey, maybe sharing my rambly love for Google Calendar with you all is the way I can actually get myself to IFTTT more things to my Calendar. (Maybe not the best idea to keep things uncluttered, but in terms of an archive, it’s super great.)

One thing that I hugely appreciate from Google Calendar that my Bullet Journal cannot give me is alerts. Alerts are SO freaking important to me (although I did get really alarm fatigued by my Fitbit and all my Concerta alarms so I am STILL trying to figure out a way to ensure I take my Concerta at noon everyday…). But for special tasks, they are great. Like submitting a job application or—for next year—I have four reminders set asking me if I want to cancel my Visa card because it keeps auto-renewing and now I finally have a record of the auto-renew date.

Because honestly, y’think I’m going to contact my BANK? I’d need four alerts for that, too ;).

Challenge Update Day 11:

Meditation: Body Scan Bubble Journey meditation last night, 7 minutes.

Plank: Crossed the 100 second barrier today: 105 seconds. It was friggen hard. It’s hard to believe that after just 11 days, I can do 50 more seconds than I could at the beginning of the month. Day 30 will be 205 seconds—ridiculous!