interesting about he parallels with narcolepsy, I had never heard that...

I wonder if others with ADD also have a tendency towards lucid dreaming or being very light sleepers? I never fall asleep very deeply (it's rare for me), but sometimes if I am just sitting down and close my eyes I can lapse into waking dreams quite easily. I can be awake and aware of sounds etc. around me but nevertheless having a "dream" experience which does not allow quite the amount of control a "daydream" or fantasy does, but which allows a bit more interaction with/awareness of the dream state that, say, the dreams I have at night or just before waking...

I also tend to not be able to keep my eyes open in certain situations (like an hour after lunch when I worked at a desk job). I think this is linked to my low blood sugar, and also to the fact that in the American workplace taking a few minutes out for a nap is seen as some sort of freakish behavior, like lying on a bed of nails or bloddletting.

I also want to say, I teach a lot of college students with really bad attention span problems. I think this is just a growing trend. They also can't write effectively, and some cannot bear to hold a pen! I think a lot of this stems from the fact that very few of these kids grow up reading books with the same frequency of kids in generations before...the inability to engage in an activity and give it one's full attention might just be improved by encouraging reading...I know it was one of the only things I was able to focus on as a kid... and it just may have saved me from being a "dreamy ADD kid" who does poorly in school, instead making me one whose grades and reading/writing skills were near the top of the class. I think I was merely lucky; certainly my parents did not go out of their way to treat me as "gifted" (though maybe they should have and thank goodness a couple of my teachers did) the way so many do today.

I often wonder if treating every "average" kid as "gifted" (in the hopes they wil become so) isn't part of the problem...along with all the emphasis upon competition from very young ages...seems to me this puts too much pressure on kids, rather than allowing their natural talents or interests to develop. I also have found a lot of college age kids are spoiled brats who think they can do no wrong and think their creative endeavors are highly original and represent the highest level of skill/technique; when quite the opposite is true. I wonder if this is a result of schooling that rewards the mediocre? I know I was always worried my work did not measure up and was perplexed when it was singled out for being good. Maybe this is also linked to formation of good self esteem (something I most definitely did not have then, and have trouble with now).

The more I think about this in terms of my students's problems, comparing it to my own development, I think the preponderance of "disorders" we impose upon our kids will eventually lead us to understand the things we are doing wrong...and also to yearn for the "good old days" when kids' development was not such a big deal and parents were not so concerned that their kid be made to "measure up" somehow. Being supportive and offering choices and freedom of expression seems the best thing. Of course I haven't much idea what it's like now to attend an average American middle school.

peg