Posted by katekite on April 12, 2002, at 11:18:00
In reply to ADHD/ADD and Physical Coordination, posted by IsoM on April 11, 2002, at 22:58:31
Hi,
I find this thread interesting, having started on ritalin yesterday, at the age of 30. I definitely have ADD but was undiagnosed as my energy comes out in disconnected/racing thoughts and internal restlessness.
Physical activity:
I am a veterinarian, and was nominated in veterinary school for the top surgery student award.... I have excellent sewing ability, basically, and am good under pressure. I didn't get the award because I had managed to find a way to get out of taking the advanced surgery coursework and so it seemed wrong to the faculty to give the award to someone who hadn't taken all the elective surgery courses. So my fine motor coordination was always excellent, like to fix things, etc.
However, gross motor coordination such as basketball has always been hard. I always thought of myself as a nervous person, so that the pressure of making the ball go through the hoop would make me jitter enough that at the last second I'd miss. Completely erratic performance, make some shots from such a distance that it was inspiring, and miss most shots completely. On ritalin, as of yesterday, I am suddenly a consistently good shooter, though I'm still intimidated by good defense.
Same with baseball.... I could see the ball coming, but would swing at the wrong time, impulsively. Its not that I was horrible, just it wasn't my game, I felt. People always would just tell me to relax and watch the ball and I would think, I am trying so hard why isn't it easier?. I imagine if I went out and played now I would just be better, feel more relaxed about it.
Conversely, I'm not bad at dancing, I think because there is a beat to help me. If I were to try to dance without music it would not be pretty.
I'm not particularly graceful but I've never thought of myself as clumsy. Good fine motor coordination but not so great on tasks requiring good timing.
There, LOL, that's my contribution. I'm curious about others.
Kate
poster:katekite
thread:102827
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020408/msgs/102865.html