I just came back from a session with a behavioral therapist I see on and off. Last time was months ago, before my autism/ADHD evaluation.
I Iet her know the psychiatrist’s conclusions (forgive my summarizing them here if you’ve seen an earlier post), which were: (1) lots of autism markers, but he sees kids who are worse; (2) lots of ADHD markers, but he sees kids who are worse; (3) the lifetime of feeling “odd man out” is from being bright and well educated and (4) probably also because of childhood trauma. Basically, then: You’re 69 y.o., and accomplished and respected by your peers, so you can’t be autistic or have ADHD. He also brought up the word “masking”—a term he’d heard of only a month before—I’m guessing to forestall any reponse I might make. Not that I can think that fast (a trait of autistic people, I’ve been told).
Note: That long paragraph is not the point of this post, just some background.
The point of this post is that when I told my counselor, “Things make so much more sense, and much of the past quits hurting, when I look back from the standpoint of autism and ADHD,” she nodded. And then she said something that brought tears to my eyes, “ADHD people are intense by nature. That passion is part of who you are.”
Something clicked.
I’ve never been satisfied with a half-assed job. Especially a half-assed work of art. “Good enough, close enough” makes me crazy. It’s why I’ve won awards in my various careers.
But more significantly, for some years now, I’ve been on the outs with my siblings—several of them pastors—because I cannot reconcile their professing service to Christ, with their service and praise for Donald Trump. Like them, I was raised Evangelical Christian, but if Truth is Truth, it shouldn’t be sacrificed for expendiency.
Our father says, “Be reasonable. Families sometimes disagree on politics.” I say, “This isn’t politics. It’s ethics. It’s morals. It’s finding a way to rationalize evil.”
I loathe bullies. And their toadies even more. Ever since childhood, I’ve fought for the disadvantaged, and in adulthood I’ve asked those victims to teach me when I overstep, how best to be an ally.
It’s not that I believe everything is binary black-and-white right-or-wrong. It’s that the best thing evident deserves my best efforts, and that includes striving to be better.
“Why can’t you just get along?”
Because that’s not how people with ADHD are made.
Hi Lester. My wife and I had two of our kids evaluated for ADHD and autism. The first place did the complete evaluation for each child in less than three hours. The other place took many hours of interviews, many questionnaires for my kids and my wife and I and the kids’ teachers, and so forth over the course of three months. That second set of evaluations yielded a thirty page report for each child with the diagnoses and justifications.
I can’t second guess the psychiatrist that evaluated you, and I don’t think it’s worth your time and money to obtain a second opinion. But I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that the psychiatrist missed something.
As for politics and ethics – I think most people and most societies raise us to become blind to ethical contradictions. I have a house with a roof, heating and air conditioning, and internet access. I have plenty of food in my pantry. I have a car and the legal right to drive it. And yet, I can walk down the street in the closest town and pass a homeless person. That’s unforgivable.
I can buy a latte and sip it on my couch while wearing comfortable pajamas, while someone else can’t eat and has to sit in the only clothes they own on concrete, park benches, or grass?
The first time a child sees homeless people and asks a question, they are likely to cry at the answer. But by adulthood, they’re likely to be like their parents and probably won’t even notice.
As for Christians and Trump… don’t get me started. Too late, I’ve started. The only possible way you can be a Christian and support Trump is if you selectively choose a few key Bible passages and categorically reject the Gospels. The only way Trump could be more diametrically opposed to everything Jesus said or did is if Trump declared himself the head of a new religion.