ADD and SPD Helping Each Other.

                Can one disorder help another? Yes in my opinion and experience it certainly can. I have had ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) as long as I can remember undiagnosed and disorder really would be the correct way of describing it. Constant disorder and it took nearly 35 years to acknowledge it. Of course I didn’t begin that process until not too long ago and so much of my life has been consumed with chaos, quick decisions, not getting things done, and on the positive side, adventure. I had just accepted I would always be this way. A way that made teachers repeat the same comment to me over and over. You lack focus is what I was always told. You’re not trying hard enough was a constant as well but my response in my mind was always “maybe you’re not teaching good enough” because the teachers that understood my lack of focus never lost my attention. No matter what I was always judged and never understood.

                When SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder or Autism) came into my life I had to adjust in several ways and keep up my son in ways I never imagined. My dad and I giggled on the phone the other day about how I have had to adjust from my difference to his. Of all the things God has thrown at me and I have looked up to the sky and said “I sure hope you know what you are doing” this was certainly one of them. Just hearing the words schedule, organize, plan ahead, and repeat made my head want to explode and convinced me God really does have a sense of humor to throw this challenge at me.

 I require no order whatsoever and my son requires order 100% of the time. I have spent my entire life not knowing what will happen next and to be honest I enjoy that. Not an option with SPD, what will happen next is very important for him to feel at ease. I have almost zero planning skills or so I thought and now I find myself on edge if a plan is not in effect.

All kids require a certain amount of all of these things but with SPD it can seem a bit extreme. Maybe extreme to one person but creating a balance for another person. In the beginning I was very overwhelmed and worried I would not be able to do for him what needed to be done. It seemed like so much of what I was not made of and how would I ever be able to get my mind in the order it needed to be in for him. Well, slowly it just started to evolve in a positive way because I had no choice. If I didn’t find a way I would never be able to understand him. On the other hand my ADD has given his SPD benefit to. I know it’s ok to push some limits and step outside the box and that he will need to learn that in life. Adventure is to important to run away from and I want him to be able to embrace it even if it requires some change and disorder.

Could it be in a world full of medications, interventions and judgments two differences that are complete opposite of each other also are an answer to strengthen each other? In the case of my son and me the answer is yes in so many ways. Two labels considered a flaw in society that actually needed each other to create a balance. Now there is something to really think about!