I was called an ADD boy in school. (attention deficit disorder) While nowhere near as severe as some children, I still had trouble in school. I simply didn't find many lessons interesting enough to warrant my attention. That or I already knew it. Some classes I failed, others I made A's in. If something is uninteresting to me, I have very little willpower to make myself do it. If it is important or interesting to me, I have limitless patience with it.

The schools had trouble deciding whether I belonged in the "gifted" or "resource" class. In some ways I was years younger than my peers, in others years ahead. I was on Ritalin for a while and hated it, stopped taking it. Schools don't like to deal with kids that don't fit into their system, which is designed around the "normal" 90% of the population.

"David will not do his homework! Akk! Shoot him!"

Why would I refuse to do 100 simple, boring, repetitive multiplication facts? Because even in those early grades, I knew that when it came down to the real world, people use calculators. I have better ways to spend MY time after school than that.

"David watched the clock for 5 minutes instead of the `past presidents of the USA` filmstrip during history class!! He's so inattentive!!"

I was trying to figure out how the system that kept all the clocks in the school synchronized worked. I wanted to know if the minute hand moved slowly and constantly, or if it clicked along one entire minute mark once a minute. Systems of all types fascinate me.

"David gets up and starts to leave before the class is up!!!" I noticed that an electronic hum starts over the PA system a few seconds before the "bell" rings. I would get up the minute I heard this and by the time I was halfway to the door, the bell would sound. Boy this pissed off the teachers!

"David sat staring into space instead of reading his History lesson!! It was like he was in a trance!!"

It was just after lunch and I was being very still so I could hear/ feel my full stomach. We had just started learning about the digestive tract in science. I wanted to feel some of the mysterious and wonderful things that happen in there. As I said, any system fascinates me!

"David was drawing stuff during math class!!" I was designing a better way to connect the gas and brake cables on my go
cart. I already knew how to multiply and divide simple fractions.

"David didn't do his homework again!!"

I was too busy welding the bracket (the one I designed during math class) onto my go cart frame and connecting the new linkages I had constructed.

"David was running full-speed down the hall!!"

I had to go from one end of campus to the other after stopping by the office to pick up a paper. The secretary made me wait, after telling me not to be late under any circumstances. It was either haul ass, or be late in the face of such a dire warning. I wasn't running to be wild; and I was watching where I was going. I had made a carefully-deliberated decision that hauling ass as fast as my energy would carry me was the best way to handle this situation. And besides; I've never seen any speed limit signs in that hall!

Now, bear in mind these incidents happened during the 4th through 7th grades.

What to the school counselors seemed like a problem was actually my discovering and exploring the "gifts" God gave me for understanding things. I was only slightly hyperactive, but still haven't outgrown that endless energy, nor the metabolism to drive it.

From a kid who hated school, never fit in, and generally was considered unlikely to succeed; I have gone on to become one who can build, fabricate or repair almost anything. Show me an electrical, electronic, mechanical, and/ or hydraulic system; let me study it for a little while. I can most always "run" it in my mind and allow myself to "know" it, "feel" it and almost "be" it. Allowing my brain to emulate how it is working, I can try to predict the sounds or signals it might make if a certain valve stuck, gear chipped, relay shorted. I can listen to a machine running for a few seconds, and in my mind slow down the "roar" and pick out the noise of each part working then figure out what part is malfunctioning.

The only drawback is not being able to "turn off" this thinking. I might be in bed at night, and hear my stomach growl. "That felt good.... I must have swallowed some air.... I love the way that feels.... Or maybe it was some bubbles of CO2 from the DrPepper I had with the fish.... That fish was good, but did I remember to unplug the Fry Daddy?... If not the grease will be ruined my morning.... Oh well, I need to change that grease anyway..." Then as I am about asleep again the central heat kicks in.... "Hmmm, that sounded different. Have I oiled the blower motor this year?... Or is the run capacitor getting weak making it start up slower... I'll have to check that tomorrow... I think the One-Lube (blower motor oil) is in my car, or did I use it all up?..."

I'm so thankful my parents didn't force me to change. If my real personality had been hidden during my early years, I surely wouldn't have developed my senses to the extent I have now. I knew from the get-go my place in life would involve very strong sensuality and thinking in terms of how things (physical or otherwise) interact. Is this ADD? I don't know but I wouldn't change myself even if I could!