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ADHD og koffein

desember 20, 2010

Jeg fant denne lille artikkelen:

While prescription medication for ADHD is widely available, many people with ADHD are finding caffeine may work as an alternative to traditional treatment.
Adults and children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder have to work harder than the average person to be successful in life. Many take prescription medication for this obstacle, but others prefer to look for alternatives. Caffeine may be a viable solution in replacing traditional medications or work in conjunction with medicine to help people diagnosed with ADHD to find success in their everyday lives.

Why Use Caffeine To Treat ADHD or ADD?

Caffeine is a widely available product, found in everything from beverages to chewing gum. It is inexpensive and has little side effects for low dosages. There is no prescription involved, so even those not officially diagnosed with ADHD, but suspect they struggle in this area, can try this treatment.

Caffeine is similar to traditional ADHD medications in that it is a stimulant. Just like Ritalin, this stimulant effects dopamine levels, and enlarges vessels to increase blood flow in the brain. It also has cognitive advantages of increasing attention and processing time.

Read more at Suite101: Caffeine as an Alternative ADHD Treatment?: How Caffeine Affects a Child or Adult with ADHD suite101.com

Mange bruker energidrikker for å få i seg koffein, men mange energidrikker er usunne. Nå finnes et sunt alternativ – besøk DrinkACT og les mer!

Er det ADHD eller bipolar lidelse?

desember 7, 2010

Hentet fra Medicinenet

Children with bipolar disorder are often misdiagnosed as having ADHD, and ADHD medication won’t help. Sometimes, children suffer from both.

WebMD Feature

Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario

When Alex Raeburn was in the fourth grade, he started having discipline problems and occasional outbursts in school. Toward the end of his fifth grade year, he stormed out of the classroom, broke the glass face of a hall clock, then left the school building entirely. The incident landed him in the psychiatric ward of a hospital where he underwent testing, but he left without a diagnosis.

Alex’s problems continued, so his parents took him to see a psychiatrist who had been recommended by his school’s psychologist. «This doctor talked to my wife and I for 15 minutes, then to Alex for 15 minutes, diagnosed him with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and put him on Ritalin,» says Paul Raeburn, who wrote a book about his son’s experiences entitled Acquainted with the Night. When there was no improvement after a few weeks on the medication, the doctor suggested increasing Alex’s dose.

«After we increased the dose, Alex became completely out of control, very volatile and angry,» Raeburn tells WebMD. «He threatened to run out of the house and not come back, so we had to hospitalize him again.»

It was during this hospital stay that bipolar disorder was first suggested as a possible diagnosis instead of ADHD. Eventually, it was confirmed that Alex indeed suffered from bipolar disorder and that the Ritalin had most likely triggered his violent episode.

Because ADHD and bipolar disorder do share some symptoms and sometimes coexist, children like Alex are commonly misdiagnosed. ADHD is a more common condition in children and often the first thing a doctor thinks of.

«One problem is that there are not many child psychiatrists in this country, so parents take their child to a pediatrician, who just isn’t equipped to do a comprehensive assessment, says J. Kim Penberthy, PhD, a professor in the department of psychiatric medicine at the University of Virginia. «Instead, a quick and dirty job of diagnosing is done.»

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar disorder is difficult to recognize and diagnose in youths because it does not fit typical symptoms seen for adults.

Research done by Joseph Biederman, MD, a child psychiatrist and expert in bipolar disorder in children, estimates the frequency of ADHD in school-aged kids at 3%-5%. The frequency of bipolar disorder in the same group is estimated to be less than half of 1%. Most of the children diagnosed with bipolar disorder also meet the criteria for ADHD, while only about one in five with ADHD meet bipolar disorder criteria.

Some experts believe that ADHD is overdiagnosed, and while bipolar disorder is relatively rare in children, it tends to be underdiagnosed. This could be because bipolar disorder typically surfaces in adolescence or early adulthood, and it is much less black-and-white in terms of how it manifests in children.

Current research suggests that there may in fact be a third, separate disorder that is somewhere in between the two.

Symptoms present in both ADHD and bipolar disorder include impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity, and both disorders seem to be inheritable.

But there are many differences, the biggest being that bipolar disorder is primarily a mood disorder, while ADHD affects attention and behavior. For example, while irritability and aggressiveness can indicate bipolar disorder, they also can be symptoms of ADHD, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, or other types of mental disorders.

A few other key ways in which they differ include:

How anger manifests itself. Though both ADHD and bipolar disorder have an anger component, the tantrums of a kid with ADHD are usually born out of frustration or overstimulation; any destructiveness is also unintentional and a result of carelessness.

With a bipolar child, anger is explosive and extreme and usually triggered when a parent or other authority figure attempts to set limits; destructiveness is often intentional. A kid with bipolar disorder can sustain his rage for as long as two hours, whereas one with ADHD can usually be calmed down within 20-30 minutes.

Whether or not psychosis is present. «With bipolar disorder, a large number of kids have psychosis, meaning thoughts and behaviors not based in reality,» says Stephanie Hamarman, MD. «For example, a child might really believe he has superpowers and can fly. ADHD kids do not exhibit psychosis.» Hamarman is chief of psychiatry at the Stanley Lamm Institute of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y.

How consistent the behaviors are. ADHD symptoms tend to be chronic, while bipolar disorder is generally more episodic. ADHD tends to improve over time; bipolar disorder often gets worse, especially if proper treatment is delayed.

Treating these illnesses routinely starts with mood-stabilizing medications. Studies are looking into the effectiveness of other forms of therapy like psychotherapy. In ADHD, treatment may require stimulant or newer nonstimulant medications. When both disorders are present, the mood component is treated first. Studies are looking into the effectiveness of other forms of therapy like psychotherapy for these conditions.

«The most important thing is for parents to get their child a thorough diagnostic evaluation,» Penberthy tells WebMD. «That means the doctor doesn’t just talk to the person who brings the child in, but gets info from multiple sources, including teachers, Little League coaches, peers, and daycare providers.»

With either disorder, the earlier you catch it, the better. Proper diagnosis and treatment not only reduces the impairment in functioning due to symptoms, but it hopefully prevents the long-term effects that may occur if the disorder is untreated.

«Research shows that having ADHD symptoms in childhood can have negative effects in adolescence and adulthood, such as substance abuse, low academic achievement, interpersonal conflicts, low self-esteem, and high physical injury rates,» says Penberthy.

Untreated bipolar disorder can result in a phenomenon known as «kindling,» where each episode has the effect of setting the stage for future episodes, which may worsen over time. In the case of bipolar disorder and ADHD together, there is an even greater need for careful and accurate diagnosis, since the stimulant medications that can successfully treat ADHD may actually worsen manic symptoms of bipolar disorder.

Parents also play a big role and need to be persistent in finding knowledgeable doctors and challenging them if they think their child is misdiagnosed. Even under ideal circumstances, finding the right combination of medications, especially with bipolar disorder, requires some trial and error.

Joyce (who asked that her last name not be used) went through years of misdiagnoses and incorrect treatments with her son, Shane, starting when he was 7 years old. Shane is bipolar and experienced several episodes involving mania, depression, and violence before getting his illness under control.

«He’s almost 12 now, and it’s taken us until this year to get the correct combination and dosage of medication,» she says. «He’ll never be ‘normal’ and will always need medication, but to anyone who doesn’t know him, they now see a typical boy full of life, charm, and a kind heart.»

Syk – eller bare annerledes?

november 21, 2009

ADHD behandling med effekt

januar 7, 2009

ADDitude Mag er et amerikansk blad som ofte virker å være positive til bruk av medisin. Det betyr ikke at de ikke har interessante artikler og -forfattere. Artikkelen under er et eksempel. Håkon.

Improve focus and regulate mood with these proven alternative ADHD treatments.

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Brain Training

New evidence suggests that alternative ADHD treatments like meditation and sharpening working memory can improve attention and focus in both adults and children.

The ability to pay careful attention isn’t important only for students and air-traffic controllers. Researchers are finding that attention is crucial to a host of other, sometimes surprising, life skills: the ability to sort through conflicting evidence, to connect more deeply with other people, and even to develop a conscience.

But for all that, attention remains one of the most poorly understood human faculties. Neither a subject nor a skill, precisely, attention is often seen as a fixed, possibly inborn, faculty that cannot be taught. Now scientists are rapidly rewriting that notion. Fresh advances in neuro-imaging and genetics have powered decades of research, leading to a much clearer picture of attention. Many scientists have come to see attention as an organ system, like circulation or digestion, with its own anatomy, circuitry, and chemistry. Building upon this new understanding, researchers are discovering that skills of focus can be bolstered with practice in both children and adults, including those with attention-deficit disorders. In just five days of computer-based training, the brains of six-year-olds begin to act like those of adults on a crucial measure of attention, one study found. Another study suggested that boosting short-term memory seems to improve children’s ability to stay on task.

We do not yet know how long these gains last, or the best methods for developing attention. But the demand is clear: Dozens of schools nationwide are already incorporating some kind of attention training into their curricula. And as this new arena of research helps overturn long-standing assumptions about the malleability of this essential human faculty, it offers intriguing possibilities for a world of overload.

‘If you have good attentional control, you can do more than just pay attention to someone speaking at a lecture, you can control your cognitive processes, control your emotions, better articulate your actions,’ says Amir Raz, Ph.D., a cognitive neuroscientist at McGill University, who is a leading attention researcher. ‘You can enjoy and gain an edge in life.’

How We Pay Attention
Recently, scientists have used advances in genetics and imaging technologies to map brain activity to formulate more detailed theories of what, exactly, attention is. It has been compared to a filter, a mental spotlight, and a tool for allocating our cognitive resources. Increasingly, however, attention is viewed as a complex system comprising three networks, or types of attention: focus, awareness, and ‘executive’ attention, which governs planning and higher-order decision-making. According to this model, first proposed by University of Oregon neuroscientist Michael I. Posner, Ph.D., the three attentional networks are independent, yet work closely together.

Armed with an improved sense of how attention works, Posner and others have begun researching whether attention can be trained. And their findings are intriguing. After years of research into how attention networks develop, Posner and colleague Mary K. Rothbart, Ph.D., began experimenting a few years ago with training children’s attention. They targeted children six and under, since executive attention develops rapidly between ages four and seven. Inspired by computer-learning work with monkeys, Posner and Rothbart created a five-day computer-based program to strengthen executive-attention skills, such as working memory, self-control, planning, and observation.

After the training, Posner and Rothbart reported that six-year-olds showed a pattern of activity in the anterior cingulate – a banana-shaped brain region that is ground zero for executive attention – similar to that of adults, along with slightly higher scores on IQ tests and a marked gain in executive attention. The children who were the most inattentive gained the most from the program. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and have since been replicated in similar experiments by Spanish researchers. ‘We thought this was a long shot,’ says Posner. ‘Now I’ve changed my mind.’ Though small-scale, the results, from his lab and others, have been so remarkable that he and Rothbart are now calling on educators at conferences, and in their book, Educating the Human Brain, to consider teaching attention in preschool.

Improving Executive Attention
A parallel line of investigation is based on the close link between attention and memory. Working memory is the short-term cognitive storehouse that helps us recall a phone number or the image of a landscape; this type of memory is integral to executive attention. Tapping into this link, cognitive neuroscientist Torkel Klingberg, M.D., Ph.D., of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, devised software to improve executive attention by training working memory in children and teens with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Using a training program he calls RoboMemo, Klingberg has helped children improve their working memory and complex reasoning skills, according to studies published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, among other publications. This appears to pay off in attention, as well: The children were also reported to be less impulsive and inattentive by their parents, although their teachers largely did not report such improvements.

A different line of research investigates the attention-boosting potential of something very different: the 2,500-year-old tradition of meditation. With a long history but little scientific data on its effects, meditation has begun to intrigue neuroscientists in labs around the country, who are measuring the success of meditative practices that boost focus and awareness.

Lidia Zylowska, M.D., assistant clinical professor in psychiatry at UCLA, co-founded the university’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, and is a pioneer in the study of meditation’s impact on human focus and attention.

In one study, Zylowska and colleagues reported that eight weeks of mindfulness meditation – a technique designed to improve attention and well-being largely by focusing on breathing – boosted powers of focus and self-control in 24 adults and eight teens with ADHD. The work was published in May in the Journal of Attention Disorders.

Focus in the Classroom
If focus skills can be groomed, as research has begun to hint, the important next question is whether, and how, attention should be integrated into education. Will attention become a 21st-century ‘discipline,’ a skill taught by parents, educators, even employers? Already some educators are showing interest in attention training, mostly through the practice of meditation. Susan Kaiser Greenland, a former corporate lawyer who started the nonprofit InnerKids Foundation, in 2001, to teach meditation practices in schools, says demand outstrips her staffing. The Santa Monica-based firm works with children, ages four to 12. But with the field of attention training still in its infancy, scientists don’t know whether any current teaching brings long-lasting gains – or, for that matter, which practices work best. ‘Part of the problem in today’s society is that people are looking for extremely quick fixes. People are looking to lose 20 pounds before the wedding next week,’ says Raz. ‘But attention training is a slow process.’

Nonetheless, with global use of ADHD medicines tripling since the early 1990s, and evidence mounting that attention can be strengthened, researchers are permitting themselves cautious excitement at the prospect that attention training could work. ‘Attention is such a basic skill that children need, and to be able to impact that skill, to teach them how to redirect their attention and how to become more aware of themselves, their bodies, emotions, and thoughts – it’s an exciting thing,’ says Zylowska. ‘It’s also critical.’

Maggie Jackson (maggie-jackson.com) is the author of Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age (Prometheus Books). The full version of this article originally appeared in The Boston Globe.

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Diet Matters

The right foods and supplements can sharpen focus and regulate mood.

Doctors and ADD experts rarely talk with parents about managing their child’s ADD symptoms through diet. This is a mistake, says Ned Hallowell, M.D., author of Delivered from Distraction, because the quality of a child’s diet determines how effectively his brain operates. Poor nutrition can cause a child to become distracted, impulsive, and restless. ‘The treatment of ADD must include diet as an essential component of a proper regimen,’ says Hallowell. Here are tips on improving ADD symptoms by improving diet:

Beef Up Your Protein Levels
It is more difficult for a child to pay attention or regulate mood when he’s not getting enough protein, says Vincent J. Monastra, Ph.D., author of Parenting Children with adhd: 10 Lessons That Medicine Cannot Teach. Foods rich in protein are used to make neurotransmitters, the chemicals released by our brain cells to communicate with each other. Protein can also prevent surges in blood sugar, which increases hyperactivity. ‘Because the body makes brain-awakening neurotransmitters when you eat protein, it’s a good idea to start your day with a breakfast that includes it,’ says Monastra. Common protein sources include beef, pork, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, and dairy products.
Take Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Found in cold-water, fatty fish, such as sardines, tuna, and salmon, omega-3s are believed to be important in brain and nerve cell function. Omega-3s increase the level of dopamine in the brain. While omega-3 fatty acids seem to improve anyone’s mental focus, the compounds may be especially helpful to those with adhd. One study, done in 2003, showed that omega-3s tend to break down more readily in the bodies of patients with adhd than in those without the condition. Another study, from 2004, suggested that ADD children were more likely to have low blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids than those with no symptoms. Hallowell, founder of the Hallowell Centers for adhd, recommends that his patients take omega-3 supplements, and notes that ‘it seems to help with mental focus, not hyperactivity or impulsivity.’

Mind Your Minerals
Deficiencies of several minerals – zinc, iron, and magnesium – can worsen symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Zinc is involved in the regulation of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control mood. One study showed that zinc combined with ADD medication – methylphenidate, specifically – improved symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity. Zinc is found in beef, turkey, chicken, pork, lamb, oysters, and beans.

Magnesium is involved in hundreds of enzyme activities. ‘Among the substances that are developed from magnesium are the myelin sheath that surrounds the brain cells and the neurotransmitters involved in attention and concentration,’ says Monastra. Magnesium is found in meats, nuts, soybeans, and spinach.

The latest research suggests that low levels of iron can worsen adhd symptoms in children with the condition. A 2004 study found that 84 percent of children with adhd had significantly lower levels of iron, compared with 18 percent of kids without the condition. Iron plays an important role in the brain, affecting production of the key neurotransmitter, dopamine. If you suspect your child has low levels of iron, talk with your doctor about testing him. Diet, not supplements, is the safest way to increase your child’s iron levels.

Balance Your Diet
Hallowell encourages parents of ADD children to visualize their plates when preparing a meal. Half of the plate, he recommends, should be filled with fruits and vegetables, one-fourth with a protein, and one-fourth with carbohydrates. This combination will control swings in behavior caused by hunger or a shortfall of a particular nutrient. In addition to the balanced plate, Hallowell advocates eating several servings of whole grains each day, to prevent blood-sugar levels from spiking and later plummeting, and cutting back on foods that contain dyes and excess sugar. Several studies have suggested that artificial food coloring and sugar may increase hyperactivity in children with ADHD.

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The Calming Benefits of Nature

A daily dose of greenery, from a walk in the woods or by playing in a room full of plants, may reduce ADHD symptoms in adults and children.

As many parents and teachers well know, children diagnosed with ADHD have trouble paying attention, listening, following directions, and focusing on tasks. They may also be aggressive, antisocial, and susceptible to academic failure. From looking at high-tech images of the brain, some scientists report that ADHD children show altered levels of some neurotransmitters and slight shrinking in the part of the cerebral cortex that governs attention and impulse control. But scientists are not clear whether those differences indicate a cause for the disorder, which could be due to a genetic defect, or simply a manifestation of another cause or causes.

In ongoing studies by the Human-Environment Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois, researchers have discovered tantalizing evidence for a new view of the syndrome. In a 2004 study published in the American Journal of Public Health, the laboratory found that children as young as five showed a significant reduction in ADHD symptoms when they engaged with nature.

Parents and guardians were asked to identify after-school or weekend activities that left their children functioning particularly well or poorly. The study measured responses to two types of activities: those in green landscapes – such as grassy backyards, parks, and farmland – and those in indoor or paved recreation areas. The researchers designed the study to account for any effects of physical exercise, so they could measure only the influence of green settings. They also factored out age, gender, family income, geographic region, size of community, and the severity of diagnosis.

In 54 of 56 cases, outdoor activities in more natural settings led to a greater reduction in ADHD symptoms than activities in less natural areas. The only instances when symptoms worsened occurred in the artificial environments. In a related experiment, the laboratory found that children could focus on specific tasks better in green settings.

Going Green
Other researchers have found that engagement with nature buffers life stresses, which otherwise could aggravate ADHD. Although most of their studies focus on adults, an increasing number gauge the impact of green settings on children. A 2003 Cornell University study reported that the more nature a child encountered at home – including exposure to indoor plants and window views of natural settings – the less he or she was affected by negative stresses.

A 2003 study by researchers at the New York State College of Human Ecology reached similar conclusions. Nancy Wells, Ph.D., the lead researcher, said that exposure to nature resulted in ‘profound differences’ in children’s attention capacities and that ‘green spaces may enable children to think more clearly and cope more effectively with life stress.’ That, in turn, could strengthen a child’s attention and potentially decrease the symptoms of ADHD.

It’s not clear why exposure to nature would have such an apparently powerful influence on brain functions related to attention. One theory is that the experience simply engages a child mentally and physically in a ‘natural’ way, consistent with how humans have evolved. In an earlier hunting and gathering or agricultural society – which is to say, during most of humankind’s history – young people were more likely to engage in physically demanding, mentally relaxing activities that immersed most of their sensory receptors: climbing, hunting small animals, baling hay, splashing in the swimming hole.

As recently as the 1950s, most U.S. youngsters still had some kind of agricultural connection. Even in towns or cities, kids played ball in sandlots or spent hours building forts in tangled and wild ‘vacant’ lots. Their unregimented play was steeped in nature. That kind of exposure to nature has faded dramatically in recent decades, but our need for nature – possibly physiological – has not. ‘Neurologically, human beings haven’t caught up with today’s over-stimulating environment,’ says Michael Gurian, a family therapist and author of The Wonder of Boys. ‘The brain is strong and flexible, so 70 to 80 percent of kids adapt fairly well. But the rest don’t.’

Rethinking Attention
If ADHD has something to do with a lack of nature, the neurological mechanics could be explained by the attention-restoration theory developed by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan, husband-and-wife environmental psychologists at the University of Michigan.

In the early 1970s, the Kaplans studied the impact of a range of activities and found that too much directed attention (this could include computer tasks, homework, studying for a test) leads to what they call ‘directed-attention fatigue,’ marked by impulsive behavior, agitation, irritation, and inability to concentrate. Directed-attention fatigue occurs because neural inhibitory mechanisms become overstressed by blocking competing stimuli. Subsequent research, including more than 100 studies linking exposure to nature to stress reduction, has supported the Kaplans’ theory – and the salutary influence of what they called ‘the restorative environment.’

The University of Illinois team, while not questioning the effectiveness of current ADHD treatment methods, has suggested that nature therapy could be a third option, in conjunction with prescription medications and behavioral therapy. They recount how one parent began taking her son to the local park for 30 minutes each morning before school, which she had indicated reduced his ADHD symptoms. ‘Come to think of it,’ she told the researchers, ‘I have noticed his attitude toward going to school has been better, and his schoolwork has been better this past week.’ Another parent of a boy with attention-deficit symptoms began engaging him regularly in outdoor activities, with similar results.

Nature Deficit: The Cause of ADD?
If a greener environment can play a role in managing ADHD, few, if any, studies have explicitly examined whether the converse is also true: that ADHD may be a set of symptoms initiated or aggravated by lack of exposure to nature. By this line of thinking, many children may benefit from medications, but the real disorder lies in the society that has disengaged children from nature and imposed on them an artificial environment for which they have not evolved. Viewed from this angle, children and adults alike would suffer from what might be called nature-deficit disorder, not in a clinical sense, but as a condition caused by the cumulative human costs of alienation from nature, including diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses.

If that’s the real ailment, a walk in the woods would be the ideal treatment: It’s not stigmatizing, has no serious side effects, and it’s free. But such reliance on greenery would underscore the need to scale back industrialism, redesign cities, and expand access to nature – which can’t be encapsulated in a pill, but could be equally powerful medicine.

Richard Louv has written for The New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor, and is a longtime columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune. He is the author of seven books, including Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin Books), from which this piece was adapted with permission. For more information about the book, go to thefuturesedge.com.

Nytt kosthold mot atferdsvansker

januar 5, 2009

Barn med atferdsproblemer kan få et bedre liv ved å legge om kostholdet. Det mener spesialpedagog Magne Nødland. Sammen med forsker Ann Mari Knivsberg ved Lesesenteret og Karl-Ludvig Reichelt ved Rikshospitalet har han gjennomført et forskningsprosjekt der 23 barn med ADHD-atferd kuttet ut alle melkeprodukter i ett år.

Grunnstønad ved glutenintoleranse uten cøliaki

januar 5, 2009

Feiler det deg noe? Ernæringsforslag fra Bjarte

januar 5, 2009

Historien til Bjarte Aasland

januar 5, 2009

Jeg har gjort meg en del tanker rundt min erfaring, og jeg er av den oppfatning at en ubalanse slik den jeg har erfart, har vidtrekkende konsekvenser, familiært, sosialt og økonomisk. Derfor er det meget interessant å sette fokus på lidelsen og sette den inn i større sammenhenger, slik at folk blir oppmerksomme på hvor stor betydning feil mat kan ha. Derfor ønsker jeg å dele min historie med andre slik at det kanskje kan inspirere, informere og hjelpe andre til en bedre hverdag for seg eller sine.

Jeg har så lenge jeg kan huske vært opptatt av kosthold, ernæring og trening. Har generelt hatt et sunt kosthold og bedrevet regelmessig trening. Selv trodde jeg at jeg tålte all mat, og har ikke lagt noen restriksjoner på meg selv i så måte. Fra rundt midten av tiåret (2004- 2005) merket jeg noe var i ferd med å utvikle seg. Jeg følte meg ofte oppblåst, energiløs, sløv og tung i hodet. Opplevde en tidligere ukjent anspenthet, pustebesvær og angst, selv i helt trygge omgivelser. Men jeg tilskrev det livssituasjonen min, og skyldte på familielivet, arbeidssituasjonen, alder, etc. I tillegg kunne jeg merke et redusert kognitivt funksjonsnivå, spesielt knyttet til redusert tale-og språkopplevelse, oppmerksomhet, orienteringsevne, hukommelse, nylæring, initiativ, etc. Lidelsen viste seg også i form av nærmest anfall av melankoli og tristhet, kognitiv svik, en lammende og nummen fornemmelse i og rundt hals og struperegion. Det sistnevnte fenomen har jeg forøvrig sett beskrevet i vitnesbyrd fra andre i PIF-nytt som €lang i ansiktet€. Uansett, ennå falt ikke mistanken på ernæring.

Lidelsen medførte at jeg var i en tilstand og atmosføre preget av å komme gjennom dagene, en navnløs, iskald, totalomfattende livsangst og flukt som sakte men sikkert gikk over til å bli en normaltilstand..Det meste rundt meg , både situasjoner, personer og hendelser var skremmende og noe jeg måtte forholde meg til med stadig større vansker. Da er man kun opptatt av og dominert av sin egen uro, angst og smerte. I et slikt klima er det ikke plass til varme, nærhet, toleranse, forståelse, empati, velvilje eller€¦ kjærlighet

Vanskelighetene med å mestre livet forsterket seg, og det kulminerte med samlivsbrudd i 2006, med påfølgende utflytting til leilighet og et liv alene.

Etter tips fra en kamerat holdt jeg meg unna hvete noen dager etter påske 2007, da merket jeg en viss bedring og forstod at jeg var i ferd med å trykke på de riktige knappene. Jeg gikk helt i kjelleren, det eneste som stod i hodet på meg var å finne ut hva jeg led av og hvordan jeg kunne bli frisk. Og jeg brukte mye tid og ressurser på å identifisere denne fienden, og dermed få innsikt i hvilke våpen jeg skulle bruke for å bekjempe og uskadeliggjøre den.

Leste på internett og andre kilder, prøvde og feilet ved å eksperimenterte med mat, levde en nærmest asosial, vegetativ tilværelse. Mistanken gikk til hjerneskade, Alzheimer, jeg hadde samtaler med min tannlegeonkel om kvikksølvforgiftning og bestilte MR-scan av hjernen. Så, endelig, etter flere konsultasjoner i løpet av 2007 , blod-og urinprøver og vurdering av prøveresultat, både hos fastlege, homeopat, Neurozym og Balder-klinikken i Oslo ble bildet tydeligere. Etter hvert har jeg fått kartlagt hva jeg lider av – hveteallergi, intoleranse mot gluten, øl-og bakegjær og kumelk.

Det var først i november 2007 at det løsnet for alvor, og helsen forbedret seg dramatisk i løpet av kort tid. Fra da av startet jeg en nærmest puristisk praksis angående mat, og spiste kun HELT ren mat, og inntok en homeopatisk basert måltidserstatter og næringsjuice som inneholder større konsentrasjoner av stoffer alle har bruk for. I løpet av få dager våknet jeg fra de mentalt døde, og til et nytt liv, i løpet av uker hadde det nye, forhøyede funksjonsnivået etablert seg. Man kan trygt snakke om før og etter. Sjelden har begrepet hatt større relevans. Det var en opplevelse hinsides det jeg trodde var mulig. Og som i viktighet og omfang kan sidestilles med det å bli far, ingen annen erfaring, hendelse, innsikt, periode i mitt liv, lærdom eller annet har hatt tilnærmelsesvis samme betydning som denne, noengang!

Ifjor var jeg så langt nede at jeg i fremtiden så for meg et uverdig liv med sterke begrensninger. Jeg vurderte flere ganger å gå til legen å få €krykker€, i form av farmasøytisk medisin, da primært mot depresjon og ADHD-symptom (antidepressiva, ritalin, etc). Og i mine svarteste stunder, da alt opplevdes håpløst, var jeg veldig nær å ringe for å bestille time.Jeg hadde også bestilt time for utredning for ADHD., som da naturlig nok etter november 2007 ble kansellert

Nå har jeg et mentalt, følelsesmessig og kroppslig funksjonsnivå og velvære jeg aldri har erfart tidligere. Bedre enn NOEN gang før , og bedre enn jeg trodde var mulig å få det, så raskt og i en alder av 42 år. Jeg har i praksis ikke spist ett kornprodukt/gjærprodukt på snart ett år, og omtrent ikke melkeprodukt på like lang tid. Og har aldri hatt det tilnærmelsesvis bedre.

Det dramatisk forbedrede funksjonsnivået, først og fremst mentalt og kognitivt, men også fysisk, er permanent og i stadig utvikling, takket være riktig ernæring og diett.

Jeg er trygg, rolig, behersket, sterk og kontrollert. Blodsukkeret er stabilt , og jeg er fokusert og konsentrert.

Jeg vil nevne ett aspekt som jeg synes er veldig interessant. Jeg har store deler av livet vært litt stam, nesten uhørlig, en såkalt skjult stammer. Og har hatt et problematisk forhold til mitt språk og min tale. Som nevnt forverret dette seg de siste årene. Tidlig ifjor var jeg på en ukes behandling i Statped Vest i Bergen for mitt angivelige stammeproblem. I dag nærmest ler jeg av det hele, når jeg erfarer hvor mye lidelsen har innvirket på tale-og språkopplevelsen min. Nå er talen tilnærmelsesvis helt flytende, naturlig, uhemmet og rolig.

Først og fremst fordi sentralnervesystemet som jo former tanker, refleksjoner, bokstaver og ord til setninger, fungerer slik det skal. Da kan man forestille seg at det er flere der ute med samme lidelse som går til logoped og andre behandlingstilbud. Erkjennelsen etter den innsikten lidelseshistorikken har gitt meg, sier meg at man må ha et funksjonsnivå i bunn før man går til behandling, enten det nå er for mentale, språklige eller fysiske plager. Og da står ernæring helt sentralt.

Ett annet viktig moment er det jeg har nevnte tidligere, med barndom og oppveksvilkår. Nå ser jeg at jeg feilaktig de siste årene har lagt mye av skylda mi på en begrensende barndom og perifer far, men erkjenner nå at angst, tvang, uro og dysfunksjon i mitt tilfelle i all hovedsak kom av ting jeg spiste som kroppen ikke håndterte, og som plaget den, først og fremst mentalt, med angst, ADHD-symptom og tvang som resultat. I seg selv en erkjennelse med perspektiver langt utover en selv.

Jeg er i bedre form i dag enn noen gang i mitt liv, og jeg har trent mer eller mindre jevnlig 2-5 ganger i uken i over 30 år, helt siden jeg begynte med uorganisert idrett som 8-10 åring. Jeg har mye mer energi, overskudd og kraft enn noen gang, og kroppen responderer mye bedre på trening. I mai 2007 falt jeg på rulleski og slo skulderen stygt, den ble gradvis bedre, men forble vond utover høsten 2007. Det var først etter at jeg fant nøkkelen til mitt helbred i november 2007 at helningskurven skjøt i været i løpet av få uker, og nå kjenner jeg ingenting til skaden. Jeg har hvilepuls på under 50. Mitt sanseapparat er forsterket, min finmotorikk forbedret, og jeg har dramatisk forsterket opplevelse av og evner i tale, musikk og språk. Nå er jeg fritatt for uro, rastløshet, tvang, angst, adhd-symptom, symptomer som blir forbundet med autisme og schizofreni og depresjon. Endelig er livet godt! Så sterkt kan det sies. Når jeg NÃ… opplever fravær av disse symptomene, erkjenner jeg at jeg har hatt det så lenge jeg kan huske, men plagene ble forsterket de siste årene. Og som nevnt innledningsvis kan konsekvensene både individuelt og i ytterste konsekvens samfunnsmessig være store. Personlig har jeg i ettertid erkjent at sykdommen har vært den direkte årsak til eller bidratt til forsterket destruktiv atferd, oppførsel og handlinger, og vært en sterkt begrensende faktor i mitt liv. Ukritisk pengebruk, redusert evne til sosial interaksjon, ineffektivitet og dårlig utnyttelse av ens potensiale er viktigst i så henseende.

Og vitnesbyrd fra NPIF-medlemmer på nett og i medlemsblad forteller meg at vi er flere som har likelydende erfaringer, både mentalt, somatisk og sosialt.

Opplevelsen er ubeskrivelig, takknemligheten og gleden kjenner ingen grenser, ikke sjelden gråter jeg av ren lykke over å ha det så godt. Jeg kunne i dag €med god grunn€ vært fylt av et osean av bitterhet over at ingen, verken hjem, helsevesen eller skole tok tak i dette på mine vegne for 30 år siden. Men tro meg, gleden over det høye funksjonsnivået fortrenger all bitterhet over at ingen har visst om eller tatt tak i dette på mine vegne for lenge siden.

Daglig tar jeg meg i å reflektere over og erfare hvor mye bedre jeg mestrer hverdagslivets oppgaver og plikter, funksjoner, situasjoner og møte med mennesker. Man rekker så mye mer, utfører oppgaver så mye enklere, har mer ro og orden. Selve opplevelsen av tid og det å være i tiden, har endret seg på grunn av dette. For man ser at man har kapasitet til mye mer, når man er frisk, uten unødig angst for oppgaver, situasjoner, personer eller handlingar. Med et sentralnervesystem som virker slik det skal og et mentalt og kognitivt funksjonsnivå de fleste andre tar for gitt, er mulighetene uendelige.

Det har vært et paradigmeskifte, en øyeåpner av rang, og min erfaring har dramatisk endret min virkelighetsoppfatning på flere områder. Først og fremst når det gjelder ernæringsterapi og ortomolekylær medisin, og dens enorme potensiale. Men også den generelle inkompetansen, kunnskapsløsheten, tvilen og skepsisen hos den tradisjonelle legestanden og i skolemedisinen om ernæringsterapiens potensiale. Jeg ble frisk mer på tross av enn på grunn av fastlegen min.

Mitt kosthold er i dag basert på fire prinsipper:

Unngå å spise det kroppen ikke håndterer (matallergi-matintoleranse)

Få i seg større mengder av det alle har godt av (vitaminer, mineraler, sporstoffer, aminosyrer, enzymer etc).

Endre energibalansen til mer sakte karbohydrater og mer protein og fett.

Spise så ren volum-mat som mulig.

Ernæring er uhyre viktig for velvære og funksjonsnivå. Vi tar det som en selvfølge at vi skal puste ren og ubearbeidet luft. Likevel tenker vi ofte ikke over at maten vi putter i oss er bearbeidet og behandlet. Hvorfor ikke være snill med kroppen vår og gi den ren mat også?

Det er mitt utgangspunkt, lager maten fra grunnen av og spiser så ren og ubearbeidet mat som mulig, i praksis tilnærmet steinalderkost med høyt innslag av belgfrukter. Mennesket er genetisk uforandret de siste fleire ti-talls tusen år, og har dermed utviklet oss og levd i samhandling med omgivelsene og de rammebetingelser de satte, angående kosthold etc. De siste 50-100 årene har matvareindustrien presentert oss for så mange nye forbindelser, fargestoffer, konserveringsmiddel, behandlingsmåter etc, at det er ikke det minste rart at en del av oss reagerer. Det er etter min oppfatning det største ufrivillige ernæringpolitiske eksperiment noensinne, og fremstår nærmest som et institusjonalisert statlig og sosialt overgrep. Men man trenger heldigvis ikke å underkaste seg det. Bare så synd at ernæringsinformasjonen til befolkningen gjennom media, skoleverk, statlige institusjoner og profesjoner er så unyansert, forvirrende, usystematisk og fragmentert. Det er ikke lett å orientere seg i den informasjonsjungelen for den alminnelige borger.

Jeg føler meg priviligert som har fått ta del i, og nyte godt av mulighetene ernæringsterapi gir. Det er en virkelighet få mennesker utenfor profesjonsmiljøene vet finnes, noen flere har intellektuell kapasitet til å ane eksisterer, men som sørgelig få tar konsekvensene av.

Majoriteten av befolkningen i den «moderne» vestlige sivilisasjon pådrar seg nemlig sakte men sikkert plager, ubalanser og unødvendig tidlig død som følge av uheldig kosthold og livsstil. Men det skjer så sakte at man tror man lever….

Min erfaring har perspektiver langt utover meg selv, og jeg har allerede rådgitt, bistått og ansporet flere mennesker til å reflektere over sin egen og andres ernærings-og diettsituasjon i lys av plager de har av forskjellig karakter. Flere av disse har gitt tilbakemelding om at de grunnprinsippene jeg anvender, som egentlig er veldig enkle og greie, virker veldig positivt.

Jeg har kjempet en hard og vond kamp, og vært gjennom mitt livs mørke. Hadde det ikke vært for mine tre barn og min kamerat som rådet meg til å forsøke hvetefri diett som en begynnelse, vet jeg ikke om jeg hadde klart å holde ut. Jeg kan med stolthet og ydmykhet si at kampen er kronet med hell, uten bruk av ett eneste farmasøytisk produkt. Helbredet har gjort meg til et bedre menneske, smerten er borte, fordi man er fritatt for angsten og uroen.

Dermed har man evne og forutsetning, og naturligvis ØNSKER å nyte livet og samværet med andre mennesker, i stedet for å være opptatt av sin egen smerte og kamp.

Jeg håper at jeg med dette vitnesbyrdet kan sette i gang konstruktive prosesser hos de som leser det. Og dermed kanskje hjelpe andre til et bedre liv. Da er gleden uendelig, og man utøver i praksis det dobbelte kjærlighetsbud. Og hva er mer meningsfylt enn det?

Mvh

Bjarte Aasland
Mjugbakken 7
4048 Hafrsfjord

Bjarte Aasland er 42 år gammel, bosatt i Stavanger og medlem i

NPIF.

Brev fra din kjære kone – som ikke har ADHD

juni 17, 2008

Tanker og handlinger er ikke like tilfredsstillende: Det er mulig at du tenker mye på meg, men når du er borte i din egen verden eller er distrahert av noe, så er det ikke mulig for meg å vite det. For meg føles det som om du nesten aldri tenker på meg. Det gjør meg trist. I fremtiden, kan du bruke noen sekunder på å vise meg ved handling, ikke tanker, at du tenker på meg? Et lite kyss, et «Jeg elsker deg» eller andre handlinger vil bety mye for meg.

Jeg liker ikke å være en masekjerring, men vet ikke om en mer effektiv måte å få oppmerksomhet fra deg på: Mennesker med ADD er ofte tilfreds med å være i sin egen verden. Det er greit en del av tiden, men hvis jeg ønsket å være fullstendig ignorert så hadde jeg ikke giftet meg. I løpet av årene så har jeg lært at den enkleste (merk deg at jeg ikke sier «beste») måten å få oppmerksomhet fra deg på er å gå helt opp i ansiktet ditt og mase eller kjefte. Jeg er sikker på at du ikke liker dette, og det gjør ikke jeg heller. La meg stoppe dette mønsteret ved å vise meg et tegn vi kan være enige om. Når jeg virkelig trenger din oppmerksomhet, så kan jeg bruke dette tegnet og du går med på å slutte med hva-nå-du-holder-på-med og følger med på det jeg sier. Jeg lover at jeg ikke skal misbruke dette – og vi kommer til å få det så mye bedre!

Jeg elsker deg masse, men lurer på om du elsker meg: Mennesker uten ADD trenger positive, fysiske bekreftelser. Jeg vil gjerne tro at du elsker meg, men når du blir distrahert av stort sett alt unntat meg, så er det vanskelig å tro at jeg er høyt prioritert. Hvorfor skulle en bil, en datamaskin eller et spill være viktigere enn meg? Uansett hvor mye jeg forsøker å ikke ta det personlig, så hender det at jeg ikke får det til. Jeg trenger tid, hver uke, hvor du bare fokuserer på meg – ingenting annet. Gjennom dette vil du vise meg at du elsker meg, og vil få meg til å føle meg bedre og mer lykkelig. La oss sette oss ned nå og sette av tid på timeplanene våre til hverandre-tid.

Jeg vil gjerne vise deg min kjærlighet, men sinnet mitt kommer i veien: Jeg elsker deg. Masse. Jeg ser for meg en fremtid hvor du har jobbet med noen av ADD-symptomene dine – og jeg har jobbet med mine negative reaksjoner til dem – slik at vi kan ha det gøy sammen igjen. Men vi må jobbe sammen om dette, ikke slåss mot hverandre. Det er for mye sinne og frustrasjon på begge sider akkurat nå. Kan vi jobbe sammen? Vær så snill?

Jeg jobber virkelig hardt med forholdet vårt, men av og til kjenner jeg på fortvilelse fordi det ikke virker som om du også gjør det: Jeg ber deg ikke om å møte meg nøyaktig på midten, men av og til fortviler jeg fordi vi aldri møtes i det hele tatt! Jeg trenger oppmerksomhet, og en form for oppmerksomhet er at du tar mine behov såpass alvorlig at du gjør en innsats i min retning. Dette går tilbake til «tanker og handlinger er ikke det samme»-konseptet. Jeg vil være lykkelig rundt deg (og du ønsker at jeg skal være lykkelig – alt er så mye enklere da!) men det er vanskelig å alltid forsøke uten å se gjensidig handling. Kan vi bli enige om en ting som du vil jobbe med for meg og sette opp en plan for hvordan det skal skje? Da vil jeg føle meg mer lykkelig, som vil gjøre meg mer lykkelig, som vil være til gjensidig glede.

Vi har begge våre sterke og svake sider: Du tenker kanskje at alt jeg gjør er å fortelle deg hva du gjør feil, og at dette betyr at jeg tror jeg er perfekt. Jeg beklager at jeg maser, og jeg tror ikke at jeg er perfekt (masingen er bevis på det!). La oss annerkjenne at vi begger er mennesker, og dermed ikke er perfekte, og sette opp en plan for å få gjort tingene en eller begge av oss ikke er så gode til. Løsninger kan være å bytte på hvem som gjør en ting, eller å leie andre til å gjøre det.

Jeg beklager at jeg er sint: Jeg hater å føle meg sint hele tiden. Det begynner virkelig å få meg til å mislike meg selv, faktisk. Jeg forstår hvorfor jeg føler meg sint – forholdet vårt går ikke den retningen jeg trodde det skulle gå. Du er sikkert sint på grunn av dette, også. Jeg vil gjerne jobbe meg gjennom sinnet mitt – og å få deg til å innrømme og jobbe med – ditt. Dette innebærer atferdsendring hos oss begge, og kanskje profesjonell hjelp, men la oss gjøre det til et felles mål å jobbe med det for vår (ikke-sinte og potensielt fantastiske) fremtid. Et skritt i riktig retning vil være for meg å lære å akseptere mitt tidligere sinne, tilgi meg selv, og gå videre. Er det noe du også kan gjøre?

Jeg vil ha det gøy! Hva skjedde med dagene hvor vi elsket å være sammen hele tiden? Livet vårt er for seriøst og sint akkurat nå. La oss sette av tid til å gjøre noe morsomt sammen (og skaffe en barnevakt hvis vi trenger det). Jo sprøere og jo lengre borte fra hverdagen, jo bedre!

Jeg vil at du skal ville ha meg: Vi har problemer nå, som kanskje påvirker sexlivet vårt, men jeg savner virkelig dagene da sex var gøy, opphissende, og jeg følte meg elsket og trygg med deg. Jeg vil at du skal ville ha meg seksuelt. Når vi har kvittet oss med noe av sinnet, og jeg er mer sikker på at du kan vise at du elsker meg, kan vi sammen finne tilbake til det vi hadde? Det vil jeg virkelig. Kanskje kan vi starte med små kjærtegn – eller kanskje vi bare skal ha fantastisk sex – akkurat nå!

Oversatt av Håkon Rian Ueland

Hentet fra ADHDmarriage.com

Dr. Hallowells tale om ADHD og læringsproblemer

juni 3, 2008

Eagle Hill Graduation Talk
June 1, 2008
Edward M. Hallowell, M.D.
(Used with permission from the author).

http://www.drhallowell.com/

When Alan Carney, my classmate at Exeter, told me that he had suggested to Mr. McDonald that I be your graduation speaker this year, I was thrilled. Why would I be thrilled, you might wonder. Why would I be thrilled to give up a Sunday morning with my wife, Sue, and our 3 phenomenal kids? Why would I be thrilled to drive all by myself many miles to the west? Why would I be thrilled to speak to an audience whose chief desire for this talk is that it end quickly?

I’ll tell you why I was thrilled. I was thrilled because I knew I would be able to divulge a great secret in this talk, and I love divulging secrets. Who doesn’t? As Samuel Johnson said, «The chief reason for divulging a secret is the vanity of being known to have been trusted with it in the first place.»

So what is this secret I am going to divulge to you? I can see you wondering. I can almost hear you thinking, What’s up with this guy? What kind of secret could he possibly have?

Well, the secret relates to your school, Eagle Hill, and to this day, your graduation. You believe that you have attended the Eagle Hill School, a school that describes itself on its website as a school for students with learning disabilities. You believe that P.J. McDonald, your good-natured head, is indeed that, a good-natured head of school named P.J. McDonald. You believe that you will graduate from this school today having mastered the prescribed curriculum so that you are now ready to attend college and take your place alongside students who do not have learning disabilities.

The secret is that this is all a ruse. The secret is that Eagle Hill is a covert operation, code name, Eagle Hill. The true mission of Eagle Hill is to find and train the most interesting, talented, gifted, unusual, tenacious, humorous, creative, hard-working, out-of-the-box future innovators and leaders that can be found among kids of or near high school age.

Believing that it might cause these students to develop a swelled head were they told of the true mission of the school, it was decided years ago to disguise what happens here as the treatment of learning disabilities. This would encourage you all to work all the harder, not that you need all that much of such encouragement, and it would also help in fund-raising, as donors prefer to give to people in need.

But now, I can let you in on the secret. Having both ADD and dyslexia myself, I am a member of the secret society you all belong to, the society of the magnificently-minded.

I don’t know any of you personally, but I can tell you about you. Let me describe you to you, and let’s see if I’m right. I’ll bet there is someone in this class who can make just about anyone, anywhere laugh. I’ll bet there is a master trickster. I’ll bet there is one person in this class who could make a fortune as a con artist but instead is heading toward a career in show business. I’ll bet you have an amazing mathematician who comes up with incredible solutions to problems without having any idea how he did it. I’ll bet you have someone who could make even the shyest person on this planet feel comfortable in conversation. I’ll bet you have a superb writer, a superb artist, and a superb singer. I’ll bet you have a magician, a chef, and a potter. I’ll bet at least one of you can hit the cover off a golf ball and another one of you who someday will design a better golf ball. I’ll bet there are more than a few of you who haven’t a clue what you will do when you get to that age when you’re supposed to «do» something. Don’t worry! You’ll know it when you find it and you will surprise not only the world, but yourselves as well.

You see, this is the great secret, secret even, maybe, from each of you. You are beautifully, magnificently, and so very variously talented. You do not fit the mold, thank God. In fact, God depends upon you to keep changing the mold. Others in this world, the ones who plod ordinarily along, living with attention surplus disorder or the other disabilities of normalcy, sometimes don’t understand you. Sometimes they place misleading labels on you, like LD or ADD. But, believe me, they rely on you. The world relies on you.

How so? Well, let me tell you about a couple of members of our society, the society of the magnificently-minded. I went to high school with one of them. He was a few years ahead of me. Our high school, Exeter, was another covert operation. Only it was even more covert than Eagle Hill, but Exeter itself didn’t realize how many of the magnificently-minded it was helping develop their special talents. One of them, this fellow I want to tell you about, thought he was stupid while he was at Exeter. It took him 5 years to get through the 4 year curriculum. He rarely got a grade above a C or a D. The only reason they let him stay was that he was a faculty member’s son. Finally, he graduated, but barely. His name? John Irving. He is now one of the world’s most famous novelists, and probably Exeter’s best known alum.

How about another? This guy couldn’t stand school at all. But his family valued education, so he stayed with it as long as he could. Finally, he could take it no longer, and he dropped out of college. Others told him he was disabled and slow, but he knew better. He knew he had talent. To make a wonderfully long story short, he went on to become one of the greatest innovators in the aviation industry, the creator of, among other things, the electronic ticket. His name is David Neeleman, and he is the founder of JetBlue Airlines. Hs says his ADD is the key to his success.

One more. This woman used to be so ashamed of her organizational problems that she would not let friends come to her house or into her room. She had a terrible time with certain academic subjects, but, she too knew part of her mind was magnificent. She never gave up on herself or on pursuing the vision she had. Vision was indeed her gift. She is now a Pulitzer-prize winning photo journalist and a New York Times best-selling author several times over. Her name is Sharon Wohlmuth.

I could tell you hundreds of other stories about members of our society. But you want me to end soon. I understand.

But before I end and before you leave, I want to be sure you’re in on the secret. You are not disabled. Just the opposite. You are magnificently-minded. You are the innovators, the ones who can make people laugh and cry, the ones who will dream up new stuff and the ones who will make the new stuff sell. You’re the ones get knocked down a hundred times but get up a hundred and one. You’re the ones who find new ways to new destinations and new ways to bring others along.

One of you, probably one of the ones who hasn’t heard a word of this talk, will come up with a stand-up comedy routine that will bring down the house. Another of you, probably one of the ones who almost missed this morning’s ceremony for a comedy of reasons, will one day discover a new medical procedure accidentally on purpose. Another of you, probably all of you, will be the most fantastic, playful, devoted, hopelessly-in-love parents the world has ever seen.

The mention of parents leads me to the one suggestion I have for you graduates. Take a moment today, perhaps on the way home, maybe after you get home, but certainly before you go to bed to say two words to your parent or parents or whoever it is who changed your diapers, worried over you year after year, gave you birthday cakes and occasional reprimands, stayed up late when you were sick, took you to doctor’s appointments, ball games, museums, dances, and parties, reminded you to kiss grandma and to look a person in the eye when you shook hands, take a moment to say to that person or those people, the one or ones who made the smart decision for you to come to this covert operation of a school and paid the money as well, take a moment and say two words. You know the words. Thank you. You have no idea how happy it will make these simple people. We parents are so very simple. We love you insanely. Indeed, the day you were born we entered into a permanent state of psychosis, falling madly in love with you. Seeing you grow, seeing you find and develop the secrets in your magnificent minds, watching you come to like life and like yourselves, this is reward enough for us. As I said, we’re simple. But, if you would say thank you, and really mean it, well, then you would see us glow. Just watch. After you say those two words, just stand back and watch. You’ll see it. The glow. Probably some tears, too. It’ll make you laugh.

The rest? Well, now that you’ve lived in this magical kingdom for a while, your mission becomes to share with the less-enlightened rest of the world all the wonders you’ve discovered. Don’t worry. This will come naturally to you. One of the great qualities of the society of the magnificently-minded is that once they have spent time in a place like this, they-you- become irrepressible, unstoppable, and undefeatable.

As you listen to my words, if in fact you are listening, I hope you feel as good about yourselves and about life as you ought to. You are magnificent. The world will open up to you more and more as you go. The magnificently-minded are what the ordinary world calls «late bloomers.» That is to say, your most unusual and spectacular achievements lie years away. These years of work-and it takes a lot of work to develop magnificent minds-will pay off big time later on in time. Trust me. I know. I’ve been there myself and I am in the business of helping develop magnificent minds.

You deserve tremendous credit now for your hard work. People with ordinary minds do not have to work as hard as you. Learning is easier for them. Sometimes you might have wished you could have been born like them. That’s understandable. But, I am here to tell you, you are the lucky ones. What you have can’t be bought or taught. You have to be born with a mind like yours, a magnificent mind. Each of you has a special talent. It just takes work to develop it. It is one of the paradoxes of life that the most talented people almost invariably face the most formidable challenges. I guess God wants people to pay a price for talent. But you all have paid the price. There is still more to pay, more work ahead, but I bet one of the great discoveries you’ve made here is that you can actually like the work, because work can be play. Indeed, that’s what a great career truly is. It’s finding some form of play that someone is willing to pay you to do. And believe me, you all are uniquely equipped to find some such play. Your problem will likely be in choosing which of many to pursue.

So revel in your differences. Exult in who you are. Tough as it may have been, it is worth it to be you. And this world really needs the real you, not some altered version being forced to fit an old mold.

So, be glad. The world is now your oyster. And if you don’t like oysters, it’s your pizza, your hot dog, your Eggs a la Russe or whatever you especially adore. This covert operation, code name Eagle Hill, has turned you all into special agents of goodness, creativity, positive energy, and joy. Wherever you go, you’ll carry these great qualities with you, loving life and helping others to love life, as you so delightfully live it according to the dictates of your own magnificent minds and hearts.

One last secret. I can now reveal to you the true identity of your good-natured head. Mr. McDonald, good old P.J., is in fact the direct descendant of Albus Dumbledore, head of the Hogwarts School. Because the good folks who support schools do not like to think of their Heads as being wizards or masters of magic, P.J. passes himself off as the affable, normal man you know and love. But underneath, his genius hovers over this place, connecting you all to the legion of predecessors who have developed the talents of special, magnificently-minded youth since the dawn of time. Welcome to their midst.

I know you all will thrive and surprise. I send you off, be it on broomsticks or in Volvo’s, with my heartfelt wishes for everlasting good will, good luck, and joy.

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