I remember going to freshman orientation at my uni and walking up to the disability support services table at the student fair and asking about accommodations for students with ADHD and the guy explained all the possibilities to me but ended by saying he thought I’d be alright without since I kept my focus the whole time he talked to me and like

I don’t often want to hit people

but isn’t he supposed to be an expert on this stuff?

yes because following a two minute conversation when you’re scared out of your mind because of new surroundings is exactly like having to bang out three essays in two hours during exams

Even more writing tips for people with ADHD (or anyone looking for help)

I’m a third year undergrad working on a degree in International Relations and music. This means essays. A lot of essays. I also have ADHD and dyslexia, so it is sometimes a really interesting struggle. Here are some ways that I cope with the stress. Writing these out combines my two favorite things- self analysis and telling other people what to do. Yay! My average per-semester GPA is like 3.8 or something, so I’m pretty sure these work. More tips here

•  If you’re writing from PDF sources, save the PDF files so that all the info you need for in-text citation is in the title. So, for example, one of my personal favorite articles is 
  
  Mearsheimer, J.J. 1994/1995, “The False Promise of Institutions”, International Security, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 4-44.
  
  and since I’m studying International Relations, I use APA in text citations, so I saved this article as Mearsheimer 1994. No break in the work flow to cite, no opportunity to get distracted because all you have to do to find the info for the citation is glance at the top of the window. This also gives me a really reliably standard way of saving my articles so I can find them later.
  
  
•  Give your essay a name. A name name. One that means something to you. My current essay about militarized femininities and gendered violence is called Artemis, for obvious reasons. This ensures you have an easy to remember tag to put on all related documents, and it’ll help you start to think of the essay as one, cohesive project held together by overarching ideas, rather than a whole bunch of random bits that have to be stuck together. My notes are saved as Artemis_Notes and my outline is saved as Artemis_outline, and so on. Good stuff.
  
  
• Keep a list of all your sources. Just an alphabetized list with the title/ author, however you’re going to remember your sources, and a sentence or two about what they cover. It makes retroactively finding quotes a hell of a lot easier. Here’s the one I made for my last essay on martyrdom through an anthropological lens:
  
  
  
•  Don’t get caught up in the things people don’t care about. What exactly these things are changes from subject to subject. For instance, if you’re writing for a music musicology, or ethnomusicology class, don’t get caught up in writing style other than making it easy to read. I have literally never met a musician who was overly enamored of writing, and very few people in music use the written word for any reason other than the fact that there’s no other choice. Writing a politics paper that has something about public health? Don’t spend half the paper explaining the medical side, just give an overview. And in the real world, as long as people can figure out where you got your sources from, no one cares what sort of citation you use. Yeah, you’ll have douche bag professors who will take off points for poorly formatted citations, but that is total BS and won’t matter for the most part so don’t stress over it. People get accused of plagiarism when they don’t cite things at all, not when they cite them “wrong.”
•  
• Keep in mind that the vast majority of writing an essay isn’t writing, it’s finding things to say and how to say them. The average tumblr user can probably type 50 words a minute. At that rate, it would take less than an hour to write a 2,000 word essay if the writing was the hard part. So, collect everything you want to say before you start writing. Load up on facts. Fill up your memory bank haha puns are great so that as you write, you can spit out data like it’s your job and you won’t have to break flow. For people with ADHD, sometimes the hard part is figuring out HOW to say what you mean. For topics that come up constantly in your essay, keep a list of synonyms. And if, during your research, your brain spits out a sentence that means exactly what you want to communicate in your paper, stop and write it down. 
• If you’re pleased with how your paper is going, make a copy of the file and screw with the copy. Rearrange things. Add headings and subheadings. Add charts and pictures. Do whatever. Then take what you learned about your paper and reapply this to the untouched copy. This will keep you from falling into a rut or saying redundant or boring things.
  
  
•  Don’t stop reading articles just because you don’t think you can get quotes out of them. There is a reason most professors want a bibliography rather than a works cited, and the more background knowledge you have on the issue your essay is on, the more comfortable you’ll feel expressing original ideas or arguments. And, the less likely you’ll embarrass yourself by saying something that is either ridiculously obvious to most people in the field, or insensitive, or otherwise silly. 
  
  
• If you have to write a report on a nonfiction book you don’t have time to read, or you just want to use a book you don’t have time to read in one of your essays, skim the book and search any academic databases you have access to for peer book reviews. They average less than five pages long, and will not only highlight the major themes and cases in the book, but will also make you well informed of the response the book garnered within its academic circle, particularly the criticisms that were raised about it. In addition, writers that are well known enough to do a review of a book are also probably well-respected figures in their field. Look for their other works for easy-to-find resources.
  
  
•  DO NOT work in your bed, your room if you usually hang out in there, or any other space that you don’t associate with doing work. The importance of this changes from person to person. It is essential to me, it might be unimportant for you. I do nothing but work at the desk in my room. If I want to read fanfiction, I go sit somewhere else. Creating a space your brain is trained to automatically associate with work is extremely helpful for getting yourself to focus.
  
  
•  Adapt your writing style to how you learn. Your essay will not go well if you don’t learn everything you write. By the time a good essay is finished, you should be able to have a conversation about at least the ideas in your essay, if not the specific names and dates, because if you’re forever consulting your notes while writing, you will never freaking finish. It will take SO LONG. As such, your writing process should reflect your learning habits. Get creative! I am a visual and kinesthetic learner, so I write out my ideas and such on either a large white board, or index card I then lay out with relevant spatial relationships on the floor. If you are a purely kinesthetic learner, maybe create a different section of your workspace that is associated with each of your major points. When you find a good quote to support that point, write the quote on a piece of paper, lightly crumple it into a ball, and toss the paper to the right part of the room. Auditory learners- pick a different album for each part of your paper, and listen to it while you do that part of the research. Associate each article/source/major point with a different song in the album.  Write on yourself-a summary of one main point on each arm and each leg, with the titles of relevant sources on each finger and toe. Idk, you’re smart. Come up with something that breaks up the monotony!

 #THIS WILL FOREVER BE THE IMAGE FOR ME OF WHO STILES REALLY IS#HE IS CALCULATING AND COLD #HE WEARS HIS ADD LIKE ARMOUR #HE FLAILS TO HIDE HIS SIZE #HIS STRENGTH #HE IS CUNNING AND MANIPULATIVE #SMART AND INSIGHTFUL #HE HAS A CONSTANT NEED TO KNOW TO UNDERSTAND TO HAVE MASTERY OF THINGS HE DOENS’T GRASP RIGHT OFF THE BAT #YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO HURT SOMETHING HE CARES ABOUT #HE HAS THE ABILITY THE KNOWLEDGE THE WILL TO TAKE YOU THE FUCK DOWN WIHTOUT A SECONDS THOUGHT #HE IS NOT THE BOY WHO RUNS WITH WOLVES#HE IS THE MAN THE WOLVES WILLFULLY FOLLOW

Sometimes I cry because Stiles is the first time a character perceived as having ADD has been more than a punchline or a special fucking snowflake indigo child. We can be focused. We can be geniuses. We can be idiot assholes. We can be whatever. 

the cycle of class participation for people with ADHD and social anxiety

ceci-nest-pas-une:

violasarecool:

ask-damaged-jim:

sherlockspeare:

Sherlock mirroring John.

Oh, look, another symptom of Asperger’s Syndrome, not sociopathy.

Okay, it’s unpopular opinion time. Ignore me if you wish.

Alright. Let me start this little rant by saying that I’m absolutely sick of people claiming Sherlock Holmes to be a ‘sociopath’. He isn’t. Allow me to also say that I know how similar Asperger’s and sociopathy can seem, in certain cases, and that’s because I was misdiagnosed as a sociopath awhile back. I have Asperger’s Syndrome. As does Sherlock.

Common symptoms of high-functioning sociopathy:

• Superficial charm
• Manipulative and conning
• Grandiose sense of self
• Pathological lying
• Lack of remorse, shame, or guilt
• Incapability to love
• Need for stimulation
• Lack of empathy/inability to relate
• Irresponsibility
• Lack of realistic life plan
• Extreme intelligence

Common symptoms of high-functioning Asperger’s Syndrome:

• Issues picking in on social cues (ex: When someone is upset with them, or being sarcastic, it’s very hard for them to tell)
• Appear to lack empathy/inability to relate
• His or her speech may be flat
• Formal style of speaking
• May avoid eye contact (me) or stare at others (Sherlock)
• Talk a lot, usually on favorite subject; inability to tell when boring the listener
• Internal thoughts are often verbalized (ex: Seeming blunt or rude by telling someone they’re stupid, merely because they have no filter)
• Extremely heightened senses (GEE I WONDER WHY SHERLOCK CAN SMELL AND HEAR AND TASTE AND SEE EVERYTHING)
• Highly intelligent/logical way of thinking
• Tendency to mimic others, especially people they like (JAWN)
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Typically only keep few, very close friends
• Can go days without speaking, and eating very little, especially when drained

SO NOW THAT THAT’S COVERED. Let’s move on, shall we?

Sherlock Holmes grew up with the Holmes family, a respectable family. Behavior is learned, especially for those with Asperger’s. Why is Sherlock so proper? Why is he so cunning? Why does he dress the way he does? Well, that may just have something to do with the people he grew up with.

Is he manipulating? Of course. Yet, isn’t Mycroft? Hm. I wonder where he learned that trait. Not only that, but he’s doing it for basic information, not just for pure entertainment as a sociopath would. Let’s be serious. He doesn’t fool around. Oh, did I mention that’s another symptom of Asperger’s? Conversation and action for purpose, not for pleasure; very precise.

Let’s also toy around with a very common controversial topic within the Sherlock fandom: Sherlock does feel. He does love. He does care. The whole reason he jumped was because he cared. He cares for John, he cares for Mrs. Hudson, and he cares for Lestrade. John is his best friend, Mrs. Hudson is his mother figure, and Lestrade is his friend and his work. Without those, he would have been nothing. It would have destroyed him. Therefore, he destroyed himself in sacrifice (which we all know was faked, blah, blah, but the sentiment is still there, blah, blah).

While Sherlock may not have the physically clumsy symptoms of those with Asperger’s (I don’t either), that’s typical for someone of his age, as it’s something you usually grow out of as you get older. Asperger’s is a lifelong disorder. It never goes away, and there’s no medication that targets each symptom. You treat what you can, and live with what you can’t.

His need for stimulation, I think, has to do with his basic frustration and his work, as a matter of fact. Sherlock does drugs. Okay? That’s common knowledge within this fandom. He likes his drugs. Why does he do them? Well, to quote him, ‘they help him think’.

In all reality, it’s somewhat correct. The drugs Sherlock takes heighten his senses to an even more extreme degree, making him the observant smartass that he is. Not only that, but they speed up his thought process, and mixing that all in with his intelligence level, makes for one smart cookie.

I also believe that he’s just…frustrated. It’s hard. It really is. He knows he’s not like everyone else, which is why he’s clung onto the sociopath nonsense. He truly believes that he is a sociopath, probably because he’s done research on it and saw a partial match. It was something, finally something, he could relate to. Because I did the same goddamn thing. He knows it doesn’t fit perfectly. Moriarty knows it doesn’t fit perfectly. ‘We both know that’s not quite true’. He knows. He just has nothing else to hold onto.

Rant over. Knowledge is power. Blah, blah, blah.

The end.

SHERLAWKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

this gives me all the feels

and YES

YES

I can’t believe how many people ACTUALLY think that he’s a sociopath

or claim to be one because of it

nope nope nope

thank you

Question: Do you think it is intentional that Sherlock announced he was a high-functioning sociopath in the first episode? If the two conditions are commonly misdiagnosed for each other, maybe that was an intentional misdirection.

Can I just throw ADD into the mix as a possibility? Sociopathy, Asperger’s, and ADD are misdiagnosed for each other, with ADD being the most commonly diagnosed because that’s what people would rather hear (which is ridiculous btw. As if your diagnosis impacts your condition). But… Hyperfocus to the point of eclipsing bodily functions, tendency towards addiction, difficulty with social interaction, no desire to eat, inability to understand the direct connection between work and need for income (Sherlock rushing off to start the immediately gratifying work of solving the case without collecting the check, which is delayed gratification), difficulty sleeping, complaining of loudness when nobody’s talking (to a person with ADD, everything is loud. Your bright pink shirt is loud. The stupid look on Anderson’s face is loud. The unfinished puzzle in the corner is loud.)

It’s just my opinion, but I’m going to take a leaf out of John Green’s book and say that for me, Sherlock has ADD because that’s how I see him and that’s how I need him to be. And the nice thing about that is you’re allowed to think whatever you want, too!

8bitfuture:

Bluetooth stickers locate lost items.

‘StinkNFind’ stickers are low energy Bluetooth devices which can stay on for up to a year, allowing users to track them via a smartphone app.

The technology doesn’t allow items to be placed on a map like a GPS, instead offering an approximate distance from the phone. To find an item, users need to walk in a random direction until they see the item getting closer.

An alternative feature allows users to set an alarm to go off when the sticker moves a certain distance away from the smartphone. That could alert parents if a child ran away from a playground, for example, or to remind you you’ve forgotten your keys when leaving for work.

One smartphone can be paired with up to 20 stickers, which are about the size of a US quarter.

Sometimes I worry that my ADHD is just me being a big baby and that there’s nothing wrong with me except that I’m lazy.

But then I remember that I’m not allowed to drive a car while unmedicated so

Writing for people with ADHD (or anyone else)

in an attempt to convince myself I am capable of writing this impending paper and to quell the panic attack I feel brewing somewhere around my sternum, I’m writing a list of tips and tricks for writing that I’ve devised or picked up over the years. Feel free to add your own!

• Break down the prompt into manageable bites. My favorite method is the verb-object bold-underline method (sorry underlines don’t show up on the dash. If you’re doing this on paper, circle instead of bold): Bold the direction verb and underline the object. For example: analyze the use of sight and blindness as a literary motif in King Lear
• Word Vomit. Get all of your thoughts down. Fuck formatting, organization, grammar, avoiding swear words, and whether or not anyone else will understand it. One of the hardest things about writing with ADHD is forgetting all your ideas before you have a chance to write it down. If you’re stuck for a word or name; need to find more evidence/data/examples; or are worried about forgetting to put a citation, put in !!!! and keep going; once you’re done you can search for exclamation points because there shouldn’t be any in your finished paper. 
• Use color to differentiate parts of your paper. Once you get your shit down, color can help you keep the paper organized, particularly if it’s a longer paper, like 8+ pages. For instance, if you’re writing an analysis paper, one color for your introduction, another for the background info section, a different color for each of your main points and all the supporting examples, and one more for your conclusion. That way, no stray sentences will get lost, and you can click and drag and solidify your paper’s organization 
• Markers and whiteboards or windows are the shit if you’re a visual person. make a big ass diagram of your points once you’ve barfed them up all over your word processor. Alternatively, prezi.com has some great visual mapping potential and is free for anyone with a student email address (seriously that site is amazing).
• Keep a quote document as you do research- each time you come across a good quote, add it along with the source and page number for easy access later. 
• If you’re doing a reading through a pdf, put an annotation with a one-word subject summation of each page for easy searching later. That way, if you need to find something ever again it won’t be such a pain. 
• Talk to your teacher if you are unsure about anything at all. From my experience, we like to put things off when we’re not sure about them (yes, I do appreciate the irony right now) and open communication with the professor can stem this and motivate you. 

Score one for Headphones117

robynvespertili:

I’m an INTJ. For explanations on this, go to this website: http://typelogic.com/intj.html

Personalities like this are determined by the Meyers-Briggs test. You can take it anywhere online. Just Google it. 

Anyway, this conversation happened:
Headphones117 (aka Roommate): Do you know of any INTJ’s who like people?

Me: Let me put it this way. The most famous literary INTJ is Hannibal Lector.

Headphones117:…..

Me:…….

Headphones117: Well…he liked people.

Me:  

Hey now, we have STEPHEN HAWKING

conitorratio:

ADD