ADDA Virtual Peer Work Group – Retired Persons Weekly Check-In

Scott Baird

I am a 75-year-old ADHD (inattentive) and dyslexic person who tried to ignore my learning differences most of my life. Capitalizing on my unique gift at troubleshooting technical devices, I had a very successful technical support career, working 10 years in the medical field as a field service technician followed by 24 more years as an electronics, network, and desktop computer support technician at the University of Michigan. In 2002 I took a full retirement and devoted myself to providing technical support and teaching computer skills classes to our local Senior Center population. I’ve been coming to terms with my unique brain wiring. I manage my symptoms through exercise, nutrition and a plant-based diet, and connecting with others like me who are also learning about themselves and their gifts. Recently I’ve been meditating to enjoy a calmness and renewal I’ve never known before.

Katharine Oehmann

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 67 and have spent the last three and a half years learning as much as I can about ADHD and how it has affected my life. I did go through a period of grief over the many things that went wrong in my life due to undiagnosed ADHD. For forty years I was told that I suffered from depression with no real improvement from antidepressants. After I started taking ADHD medication, my life started turning around. As I began to understand what ADHD did in my life, I learned to have compassion on myself for the myriad mistakes I made with my children, my career, and my friends. I have seen a great improvement in my life because of using the many tools I have learned about through reading, videos, and in ADHD support groups. I want to share my experience with others who are on this journey so I have become a facilitator for the Retired Persons weekly Check In Support Group.

Ian Walker

W. Ian Walker is a musician, singer, and writer. Ian was diagnosed with ADHD in his mid-thirties while completing his BA Arts degree. He wrote his autobiography which took 10 years to write and was published in 2018. Ian’s book “Stirring My Soul to Sing, Overcoming ADHD Through Song” is currently available in 43 international bookstores and websites. Ian is married to Elaine, they have been together for over twenty years.

Ian has been involved with ADDA since January 2019 and was a co-host with Annette Tabor, and the cherished “Retired Persons Check-In Group.” Ian is not retired. He was also a sessional speaker at the 2020 ADDA international online conference. That summer ADDA formed a Mastermind Group, and Ian was a part of this special international group that was featured for ADHD Business Professionals. In 2021:s “Talent Show” Ian sang and performed with some other amazing talent from our ADDA family. In the winter of 2021, Ian has taken a break as co-host, due to health issues and other ongoing work opportunities. Ian drops into the group when his schedule allows him to do so.

Annette Tabor

My name is Annette Tabor. After graduating from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I moved to Florida with my husband. There we raised two daughters and we are now the proud grandparents of 3 grandchildren with one more on the way! Two years ago, I retired after teaching, a 40 year career. Now I am tutoring part time and enjoying my grandchildren the rest of the time!

After I was diagnosed with ADHD late in life, I became a Volunteer Coordinator for CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder). I led a local group for over 20 years which offered support, education and advocacy for parents and ADHD adults. Now I am looking forward to Volunteering for ADDA. As an Adult with ADHD and an adult with Sleep Apnea I am relish the opportunity to sharing my knowledge of how Sleep issues correlate to ADHD.