How does your AD/HD manifest?
How do your symptoms show and how do you cope? I'm simply curious and looking for things that I haven't thought of.
I have the inability to pay attention. I have to reduce the amount of things I'm working on, which sometimes slows me down. I have set patterns on when I do what that prob resembles OCD. I'm only allowed three projects at a time. And I can't shut my house or car door without the keys being in my hand. (And I am still capable of loosing them anyway.)
I have the hyper form. So I fidget and sorta dance in place a lot. I work a job that allows that. I have trouble sleeping. So I use weight lifting for the physical. I build Sims 2 style buildings in my head instead of counting sheep, layout, decorations and all. That sometimes turns into storytelling, but thats ok since the point is to mute the constant mental chatter.
I have no concept of time. I use a timer for things like chores and leave ten mins early to get somewhere.
I also have a hard time with numbers in any form. Math nearly kept me from graduating and I can't hold phone numbers. Like a numerical form of dyslexia. I haven't found a way around it yet. Any ideas?
I lack social skills. I have trouble reading people. I rely a lot on body language and work hard to appear harmless to avoid looking like a complete crazy. Also, under the same heading, I have trouble comprehending speech. It sorta blurs into sound. I imply that I'm hard of hearing because its easier than explaining. My own words will fail me. Sometimes they don't come out in the right order (even when the thought itself is worded correctly), I skip words or don't finish a sentence, or I lose common everyday words and the thought won't translate. So I use hand gestures to help myself be understood. I'm working on ASL signs that work for the hearing population too. (Oddly, my verbal skills fail in the handful of Spanish I have, too.)
I'm sound sensitive. Some people can't stand to be touched or handle bright light. I can't take loud sound. I live in the country and enjoy the silence. Listening to music helps distract me from the little sounds. The few concerts I've been to were physically painful.
I don't have much concept of visual distance. I tend to touch objects and people as I pass them to make sure I don't go plowing into them. I make huge detours around strangers and any space that looks remotely smallish. I can't label a mile, but I can still make my car stop on a dollar. (Its just too old to stop on a dime anymore.)
And there are more, but these are the main ones. Also, this getting long.