So far I've given you a sense as to what a typical day can be like in our home. Today I'd like to explain why this blog is titled "Hunter in a Farmer's World".
Let me start off by saying that I am sure I will not do this true justice and the person who had coined the phrase is Thom Hartmann. This blog's header has a link to a page in Thom's site. I highly encourage anyone dealing with ADHD or interested in the topic to read his book, Thom Hartmann’s Complete Guide to ADHD. I have not met Thom. I receive no personal financial benefit from recommending Thom, his website or his books.
I have ADHD, as do my son (11) and daughter (9). I have done a tremendous amount of reading on the topic to understand the obstacles that I have faced all my life and that my children are haunted by today. Thom's description of ADHD is presented as a hunter living in a farmer's world.
About 7,000 to 10,000 years ago, cultures began their transition from Hunters/Gatherers to Farmers. They recognized the efficiency of producing their food rather than searching for it. At the time, the Hunter would need to chase down its food. If the Hunter's keen eye saw a squirrel, it was time to drop everything and launch into the hunt. While chasing the squirrel, if a boar presented itself, the Hunter would have to quickly change gears, leaving the squirrel and pursuing the boar. Oh look! A deer! and so on.
The ability to quickly abandon one thought and change direction into another was rewarded with better food and longer, healthier life. After the kill, all work would stop while the Hunter enjoyed their rewards, eating and resting. At some point, most likely days later, it would be time for the next hunt.
Now contrast that with the Farmer. The Farmer's routine was one of methodical, daily, patient work towards a distant goal of the harvest. The Farmer who had the mental aptitude of doing the same routine task, day in and day out, good weather or bad, was the one who thrived. Patient, repetitive tasks of nurturing crops assured the best harvest and the healthiest Farmer. The Farmer would not be distracted by the activity around him. He had work to do and would be rewarded by his narrow focus.
Enter the time machine - move forward to the year 2000 A.D. The bulk of our society is found working in an environment of daily constrained thought and processes. The ability to focus on moving that stack of paper from one bin to another is often regarded as the "hard worker". This kind of work is the equivalent of torture to the ADHD individual. School's that expect children to sit quietly and plod through hours of routine work are not the place where an ADHD child can thrive.
Commonly, someone with ADHD is intelligent, loving, resourceful and artistic. Estimates are that approximately 1-in-10 has ADHD. We may not fit the typical perception of how children and adults should operate. Thankfully, many of today's best companies recognize that creative employees who are given much latitude in the work environment can make for tremendous assets in their teams. Opportunities to free-form ideas and to work in non-traditional environments are exploding with positive results. One such example can be found in an article by Fortune on Zappos.com ( http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/15/news/companies/Zappos_best_companies_obrien.fortune/index.htm ).
Once again I would like to acknowledge Thom Hartmann for painting ADHD in a way that is clear and closely resembles the reality faced from within.
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