"Why did you do that?"

“Why did you do that?” is a question children with ADD get asked a lot.

“I don’t know,” is the answer children with ADD give a lot—much to the frustration and incredulity of the authority figure.

“What were you thinking?” is another question that might receive a blank stare or unrevealing answer from a child.

Adults with ADD give those same answers that – while true – aren’t satisfying answers.

The answer(s) lie in the question Children with ADD spend a lot of time asking:

“Why am I in trouble?”

Children with ADD don’t ask this question for very long. Eventually, they simply accept the fact that they are a bad kid and resign themselves to spending much of their life in trouble and wishing as much as adults wished they could stop.

You might ask yourself, others, and the child in your care, “Why does (s)he get in trouble for the same thing(s) over and over again no matter how many times (s)he gets punished for it?”

Simple. The impulse comes and they act. There is no thought – even if there was time to think it – that the action in question is “bad” or “wrong” or “inappropriate” or will get them in trouble. They don’t think of the consequences because … why would there be any consequences? All the child knows is the action will be fun and or funny. It will feel good. It will make people smile. Who wouldn’t want to do this? Who wouldn’t want to watch me do this? What could possibly be wrong with jumping from the roof into the pool? It’s fun!

From the perspective of a child or adult with ADD, they are always in trouble. Their boss, spouse, or someone is always mad at them.

It’s one of those things that makes us ADDers ask, “How do normal people act? What is it that makes them act so differently?”

As much as you don’t get us — we don’t get you. We really want to. We really don’t want to get in trouble any more.

When we say we’ll try — we really, really mean it. But … we have no idea that what we’re about to do or say will upset anyone … so it doesn’t occur to us that now is the moment to “try.”

We’re really very sorry.

Really.

[Via http://addtruth.wordpress.com]