ADHD as a 2nd type of fully functional nervous system with Bill Dodson, M.D.

Since the beginning of the concept of ADHD it has been viewed as 1) a disorder or deficit of 2) Neurotypical people who are broken in some way. This approach has failed completely to develop therapies that could show any improvement in the core symptoms of ADHD. Everyone with ADHD, however, knows that there are certain times and situations in which they can hyperfocus and “get in the Zone” during which there is literally nothing they cannot do. It has only been recently that people in the ADHD field have been willing to acknowledge that very little beyond medication has lasting benefits and that there is real merit to exploring what situations produce hyperfocus that can reverse most of the impairments of ADHD.

This presentation examines those conditions in which people with ADHD can do anything and applies them to every day life. The presentation conceptualizes ADHD not as a disorder but rather as a 2nd type of nervous system that works perfectly well but only by its own set of rules, methods and techniques. Neurotypical techniques based on importance and rewards have been shown to work very poorly if at all. The presentations likens this as having been given the wrong “owners manual” for your ADHD nervous system back in childhood. It then presents ways in which to start the lifelong process of writing a personal ADHD owner’s manual of things that get you in the Zone and able to do anything./.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the flaws that led to failure of previous therapeutic attempts
• Learn the 5 ways in which people with an ADHD nervous system get access to their abilities and strengths ON DEMAND as the situation requires
• Learn how to start the lifelong process of writing a personal Owner’ Manual for an ADHD nervous system