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Master Nerd....."The Early Years"

© Lise Hogan

I was born in February in the late 1950's. I was very sick almost all the time. I spent the first few years of my life in and out of the doctor's office putting my parents in hock. It was not unusual for me to have a fever of 104. I think my mom told me the highest fever I ever had was 106. Maybe that was only as high as the thermometer would go.

As a result of being sick very often and getting sick so easily, I could not be around other children very much. I think, because I did not spend much time with children my age, I did not know how to interact with kids my age when I started school. Failure to read social cues is very common in ADD children. It's something I've had to deal with all my life. I can't speak for every ADD child, but I do have some theories on why it's been a problem for me.

Because I was sick so often, I did not have the oppurtunity to be around other children. If a child is not in social settings - for whatever reason, they won't get the experience they need. Sometimes ADD kids are very impulsive. They just don't take time to think about their actions and the consequences.

Children with ADD may not take the time to read social cues, or consider consequences of their actions. If that child has the hyperactivity component and it's hard to sit still, play the game, wait a turn, or do somthing they don't want to, then they lack the patience to wait for a pay-off. I want it NOW seems to be a common thread amoung people who live with ADD.

I think with me it was a little (or a lot) of all of the above.

I was a very hyperactive child. Could not sit, stand or even BE still! A few years ago I took all of our home movies and put them on VHS format video tape. I watched myself as a child very closely. A lot of things come out in that tape. I must have worn my parents out! Sometimes I wish I was still jiggly like that - I'd be a lot thinner!

My parents bought a movie camera when I was four. My mom was expecting my youngest sister. There are movies of me always in motion - always moving bouncing back and forth ALL the time. My mom said I used to fall down tired - just pretty much sleep from exhaustion. I remember hated taking a nap. In the 50's and 60's that was what kids were supposed to do. It's always been hard to go to sleep - hard to calm down - and hard to wake up.