I couldn't go through that entire checklist--too depressing.

I am ADD. Was on ritalin as a child and everything, not that I remember it helping much.

I've come to think of it this way: it's not so much as a short attention span... our brains work differently. We process information in a different way--faster, I like to think. If it's boring, or if we've got it, we move on. It's like training a terrier: you have to mix up the exercises, because if you make them learn "sit" (or "down," etc.) more than 5 times in a row, they get bored and stop paying attention.

At least, this is the way I look at it.

But, yeah, you've just described me. I'm not neat or organized--actually, I am, but it only looks organized to me. To everyone else, it looks like a cyclone rearranged things. My skin is a disaster because I pick at loose flaps of skin (though that's slightly more OCD much of the time... but I do it as a nervous(?) habit, too). Everything distracts me. I tune people out when they're speaking--I'll end up examining the wall while they're talking to me.

I was a fidget-y kid. I'd play with my pencil and fall out of my chair and not be able to listen in class. In college, I couldn't sit down and write a paper, I'd have to have 6 other windows open and take a break every three lines. Annoying, kinda counter-productive, yes. But it's how I worked, and you learn to work with it. I'm sure there are support groups or "study skills" methods and what not... there's actually a LOT of information out there now. There's a little less stigma, I'm told, but I refused for YEARS to believe that I had this "problem." And it wasn't helpful.
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Are you familiar with Myers-Briggs personality typing? VERY roughly, the "types" are categorized by how you take in information/process information/make decisions/relate to people. This site here has some cute "daily prayers" for the different types. It's very funny if you know what the types are... but they're also organized by how likely they are to be ADD.

The top two are NFP's, followed by NTP's (that's iNtuitive Feeling/Thinking Perceivers). NF's are intuitive feelers--the most sensitive, empathic types. They also tend to be strong writers.

I'm an ENFP (though not such a strong writer, IMO), and the prayer-thingie is: God, help me to keep my mind on one th -Look a bird- ing at a time.

If that's not ADD, then I don't know what is. ;)
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Man, I hope you can follow this.......

Man, I hope you can follow this.......

Actually, I can. :D That's often my concern too when trying to explain myself... I'm always afraid people will sit back and go "Quoi?" when I'm done.

When I was in sixth grade, a neurologist tried to diagnose me with ADD and even prescribed medication. But my father decided that I didn't exhibit any of the symptoms (particularly poor grades) and never had me take it. Flash forward six years... the school psychologist says I might have ADD, particularly because impulsive behavior (like self-harming) is sometimes associated with ADD.

Try to explain this to father? No, no, no. "You do just fine in school. You concentrate just fine. You don't have ADD." Oh, but I don't concentrate, I don't do schoolwork, it takes me five hours to write a 1500 word paper because I get distracted every ten minutes. In almost every class, including ones that I actually enjoy, I zone out and accomplish nothing. I've stopped listening to other people. If I am going to listen, I have to be doing something at the same time. Usually drawing.

I think we do think faster. I know I absorb information more easily than other people and that's where my good grades come from. I'm also a fairly curious person who is perfectly willing to learn, but gets hung up on the structure. And sitting still. And working on just one thing at a time. I'm usually thinking about five different things at a time, let alone working on just one.

I took a free Internet Myers-Briggs test just now and got INTP. So I guess I'm up there in the ADD-ness. *sighs* And the little prayers are great, even though it's the one for ISTP that suits me best: "God help me to consider people's feelings, even if most of them ARE hypersensitive." :D That's very much something I would say.

Thank you so, so much for sharing. I'm feeling a bit more confident about this and maybe I'll be able to bring it up with parents/counselors...