Comments on: Sorry, what was the Question?

By: auntiegrav

auntiegrav — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 03:13:29 +0000

I am ‘probably’ ADHD, and I didn’t even look at the copy to start laughing at the guy’s hair. Did somebody forget where he left his comb today?
Nature creates an environment, and we adapt to that according to a bell curve. The environment changes, and guess what? Everyone dies except the fringe. God, I love being outside the box. For the whiners, you are trying to hard to put your little geniuses in the box. Let the cats play, man…
Was I doing something?

By: RayCeeYa

RayCeeYa — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 00:24:47 +0000

They kept me on adderall and ritalin for almost a decade. I started when I was 10. By the time I was 18 the dose was up to 160mg of adderall every day. This is equivilant to a gram of methamphetamine every week. I quit cold turkey six years ago. The withdrawl was one of the most painful periods in my life, and I still suffer from long term damage to my heart. This stuff is nothing to laugh about.

By: Jacob Christensen

Jacob Christensen — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:22:30 +0000

Saint fnordius: You’re probably right, in the Scandinavian languages “letters” wouldn’t have any academic connotations.

But just to complete the lingustic line of argument – if you translate acronym kids back into Danish it becomes forkortelsesbørn. Bogstavbørn (as I think it should be on second thought – explaining how you connect words in Scandinavian languagues is rocket science) are a couple of syllables shorter – and of cause also implies that the acronyms are occasionally applied gratuitu… grati… oh, well.

By: nnyhav

nnyhav — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 11:50:04 +0000

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By: Saint Fnordius

Saint Fnordius — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 09:47:30 +0000

I think a better term for bogstavsbørn would be “Acronym kids”. “Lettered” sounds like they got a degree.

By: Jon H

Jon H — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 05:37:36 +0000

For me, the ADHD-er response to the ad is “What? They close up at midnight? Talk about not knowing your market.”

By: Chris Clarke

Chris Clarke — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 05:07:57 +0000

I have ADD. It’s made my life hellish, has brought me to the brink of suicide moe than once (in the dim past) and has colored every damn part of my life for a half-century. I can wave the bloody shirt of ADD as well as, or better than, anyone. (You think “dealing with” a kid with ADHD is bad? Try BEING the kind being “dealt with.”)

And this was funny. Get a grip.

By: derrida derider

derrida derider — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 02:52:01 +0000

Lighten up, Bryan – of course ADHD is serious, but that’s all the more reason for joking about it (“No comedy without a victim” as Woody allen said).

But yeah, we all are too keen on fitting “different” people into a recognised category – unfortunately medicalising things is one way we do that.

My son had a terrible time in primary school when he was just thought a weird, asocial and stubborn kid. But when he was formally classed as “Asperger syndrome”, suddenly all sorts of help became available. His teachers started treated him as something other than a particularly refractory unit and they did something about the other kids’ intolerance. It turned his life around.

By: tim

tim — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 02:20:48 +0000

hey, i have adhd, and i found it funny.

also, i totally forgot to call the hotline yesterday. and i can laugh about that too.

By: Timothy Burke

Timothy Burke — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 01:40:56 +0000

I had a private bet about how long it would be before someone said this was unfunny because it promoted stigma or some such. I guessed three responses. So close!

By: Bryan O'Sullivan

Bryan O'Sullivan — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 21:31:41 +0000

Yeah, ADHD is a bucket of laughs, all right, Kieran. Try dealing with a kid who suffers from it for long and see how many sketches you’ll feel like penning afterwards.

By: pp

pp — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 17:03:53 +0000

jacob,
our equivalent here in the US are called “homeschooled”.
BTW that is a joke but I am going to start using the danish term, especially for those cases that are parent diagnosed. Funny.

By: Bill Gardner

Bill Gardner — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 17:02:19 +0000

I have many concerns about direct-to-consumer advertising of medications, and about misdiagnosis of pediatric mental illnesses. The joke is funny, but jokes that exploit mental health symptoms reinforce stigma. Please refrain.

By: Jacob Christensen

Jacob Christensen — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 16:46:29 +0000

You have a very wicked sense of humour, Kieran.

Keep ‘em coming.

By the way, in Danmark the term “letter children” (bogstavsbørn) entered public discourse some years ago as a sceptic reaction to all of the “letter diagnoses” floating around in child psychology. Is a corresponding term used in English?

By: Chris C

Chris C — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 13:37:53 +0000

But wait… Ty Pennington wouldn’t be a star if it weren’t for his ADHD.