ADHD

MyBunjee Strap-on for the accident prone and adrenaline junky phones

04/12/2012 by brain-e

The other week my wife and I were discussing iPhone insurance, having hers stolen on the London Underground (mothers of small children, looking flustered due to pushchairs and baby accessories are targets for predatory gadget hunters with no scruples or courage).

When the iPhone 5 came out, along with the new iPod Touch, a feature the iPod touch came with was the… iHook, iTag or was it iStrapOn… let me check… the iPod touch loop… (hmmnn, there already is a product called iLoop). This is great if your an iTouch user, especially since there has been recognition and recommendations for the use of iTouches as a PDA (Portable Digital Assistant) for recipients of the Disabled Student Allowance (DSA). Unfortunately the iPhone 5 didn’t have “the thing that sticks out” that allows for the iLoop attachment. I was looking into alternatives, as I liked the idea of it being attached to me. Some may think that this is a little obsessive, however use of a PDA is essential to help anyone with executive function difficulties to fit into contemporary society.

Whilst watching Dragons Den last month, I saw something that I thought would help with the not getting it stolen and more. MyBunjee was a product pitched by duo Emma Jones and Mark Ferguson, which got the interest of the dyslexic dragon Duncan Banotyne and the essential winning bid from dragon Peter Jones (a Telecommunications Business expert). The MyBunjee product is essentially something that stops your expensive and delicate smartphone hitting the deck accidentally. With regard to my own smartphone, I had dropped my iPhone 3GS numerous times on wooden floors, pavements and even face planting the phone as it fell out of my pocket, onto the road whilst putting my kids in the car. The amazing thing is, it has never had crack… good luck I think, as luck is a state of mind.

The product solves the problems of it getting lost, misplaced and even as a theft deterrent. With an ADHD diagnosis, an explanation to working memory difficulties is provided; the constant loss of things like keys, pens and the all essential smartphone, can cause a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety. With dyspraxia the same can apply about losing things, but you also have the higher risk of accidentally dropping these delicate devices, due to motor difficulties. With the above risk factors and their frequent occurrence, insurance can be a costly, unfortunate yet necessary thing to have.

The MyBunjee isn’t a new concept. There are of course those springy key-rings that can be attached to a bunch of keys so that:

They are less likely to get lost or misplaced
They can be lifted to a height that allows them to be used.

It’s the patent-pending rubber band and link to the spring attachment that allows the MyBungee to be adaptable to any PDA type device. They retail around £6 from most websites including postage and packing. I think they are well worth the price as they give you an extra peace of mind, and you can also watch your smartphone do death defying adrenaline junky bunjee jumps, while also looking like an 80s break-dancer or tennis player wearing a head sweatband.

ADHD = Attention Deficit Hyperactivity and Disorder or Attention Difference Hyper Drive

23/08/2012 by brain-e

There are many people who have done exceedingly well due to having a diagnosis of ADHD or to have been presumed to be or have been ADHD. Prominent individuals who have “come out” as having an ADHD diagnosis include: Michael Phelps, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Jim Carrey and Rory Bremner to name a few. Those that have been presumed to have had traits that would fit symptom traits include Sigmund Freud, Richard Branson (who is dyslexic so far I have not read from a reliable source or heard him mention he has had a diagnosis of ADHD, please comment with a link if you have found one), Thomas Edison and Steve Jobbs etc etc etc.

It is said that many people with an ADHD diagnosis have many positive attributes including: copious amounts energy, creativity in many fields, a high IQ, divergent and quick thinking, a good sense of humour and the ability to hyper-focus. Having a diagnosis of ADHD myself, I can say from an observation of my skill set that this is true (yes I know it sounds smug). However in this world of two poles, for every positive there is probably a negative. One could ask, how strong is the negative pull, if there are any strategies to help pull in the opposite direction; this all depends on what life has served up for each individual with an ADHD diagnosis. To get a better perspective there is a study at the Institute of Psychiatry entitled “The Advantages of ADHD”.

ADHD is usually described as an impairing condition and most research has focused on understanding the causes of ADHD and the associated problems often seen in clinics. For this reason ADHD has come to be understood from mainly a negative perspective. However some evidence suggests that children and adults with ADHD may also have certain advantages (specific strengths, talents or resources) that occur because of their symptoms. Through a series of research interviews with adults with ADHD, the aim of the study is to determine whether some people consider their symptoms to be positive, as well as negative, and to better characterise any advantages associated with ADHD.

Neurodiversity Non-linear thought how School kills creativity

02/03/2012 by brain-e

I thought I would start this blog by talking about where a lot of the difficulties start, looking at the education system. My PG cert thesis 6 years ago, was on dyslexia and creativity; explaining that dyslexic individuals are more likely to be creative, whether in the arts or sciences. To many dyslexia specialists use the term lateral thinking to describe the thought process of people with these different styles: ADDers, dyspraxics, Aspies etc that fall into the Neurodiversity spectrum. Essentially, an individual with executive functioning difficulties would lean away from convergent sequential thought processes and more towards divergent/tangental/holistic thought. The term lateral thinking was coined by Edward DeBono as mentioned I believe in this video (I havent seen it in a while). Lateral Thinking is a process that DeBeno devised to promote creativity amongst convergent/linear thinkers, it is a way to allow a conventional thinker to think out of the box or to think out of the linear way into a new direction… Divergent thinking just happens… like a eureka moment, non-sequential and unpredictable.

The Lateral Thinking process probably works well for sheep who go the same way and can be herded. The education system and society expects everyone to be a sheep, to fit in to the pen or box… but some of us are goats that jump around and is difficult to herd (using Will Self’s analogy for Why prison’s fail), which is why schools fail and why essentially why society fails to be able to deal with people thinking differently. Why just eat grass… when you can eat loads of other stuff. Its funny how the education system and society has to put people into boxes, whether you black, white, brown, dyslexic, ADHD etc…. Then there are those that say… To progress there is the need to think out of the box then why is it then those who think out of the box are the one who are always the first to be excluded in education and society, by failing the education system, being institutionalized and undermined.