Popular blog Adult ADD Strengths published an interesting article identifying the Top 10 Advantages of ADD in a High Tech Career. Now, I have a high tech career, and I was diagnosed with ADD, so I was especially happy that Digg picked it up. Perhaps some future employer is reading and will be ready to help me excel, and not just overcome my weaknesses.
I wasn’t diagnosed until senior year in high school. Until then (well, even afterward) my report cards always read the same: “Joshua is extremely bright, but until he buckles down he won’t reach his full potential.” But then my mom read Hallowell‘s book Driven to Distraction and passed it along to me. It was the beginning of a revelation. I had ADD, and it meant I learned and worked differently, and the methods and techniques that motivated and encouraged others might not be as effective for me. It wasn’t until college and the chance addition of Thomas Hartmann‘s ADD: A Different Perception to a Psychology term paper bibliography that I really began to see ADD as anything other than an obstacle.
Articles like Top 10 Advantages of ADD in a High Tech Career and Mediocrity by “areas of improvement” are good reminders of the many forms that excellence can take. They also remind me that ultimately it’s my responsibility to ensure that my job choices and career choices match my strengths and my interests.
So what are my strengths?
