The only thing I meant was that you initially had a username with a GLO in it and you seemed unsure if you were really terminated from membership. You definitely weren't trying to have any sorority affiliation with the new user name. Sorry if that came across wrong. :)

For a while, I've been thinking about telling my story on GC. The earlier narrative about my experiences with KD was somewhat incomplete, and it sounds like some people were hurt or offended. So I'll add some clarification.

Psychologists apparently use the term "twice exceptional" to describe people like me. It's sort of a sugar-coated way of saying that someone is bright but also has some kind of disability. Lauren's story (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoo...eetlauren.html) is a little similar to mine, but there's a major difference. She was diagnosed in fifth grade, but it didn't happen for me until well into adulthood. Like Lauren, I wasn't hyperactive, but there were some significant problems, particularly the ability to develop social skills. I found some ways to compensate, and was able to get through high school with some friends and decent grades.

There were high hopes for me in college, but I was scared. It seemed like something was wrong, but nobody knew what it was. I'd been able to compensate well enough to get through sorority rush, and I'd hoped that this was a sign that the problems had gone away, and I might finally be able to be like other people.

Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened. The Kappa Deltas were generally nice people, and may have arguably been more tolerant than any of the other sororities on campus. But the problems were a big strain, both for them and for me. It was impossible for me to "read" social situations, the way others seemed to do naturally. This meant that I often made other people angry, without having any idea why. Then I'd get frustrated and tired of trying, and the downward spiral continued. Academics were also difficult, since it was hard to do things like follow lectures. Actually, even social events could be a strain, since it they often confused me.

If this was a movie, maybe it would end with some kind of silver bullet that fixed everything in one easy-to-swallow pill. But that wasn't what happened. I ended up graduating from a different school, getting a job, and working on a master's degree. It wasn't a matter of not making any more mistakes, though; it was more like falling a lot and getting back up. Gradually, I developed better strategies to get along with others and function better. A doctor finally diagnosed me and prescribed some Ritalin, which makes it easier to focus. It's also been a matter of consciously thinking about things.

Sometimes, it's frustrating that I wasn't able to get help earlier in life, and I mourn the wasted time and opportunities. Then I realize that my life is still pretty good and I'm luckier than a lot of other people.

Q, thanks for sharing your story.

You know, earlier when posters seem to think that I'd discredit any organization that I appeared to be affiliated with .....

I almost posted, "Bush/Cheney 2004!"

For the record Ktsnake has not insinuated that tlnancy was you, tippiechick, anywhere at all.

soooo......does anyone know where the log out button is? this site might be taken a little to seriously by some people.

See: Song Lyrics

"You're so vain, you probably think this thread is about you, don't you?"

Just kidding tippie :D

To be honest, I did think it was possible, but I wasn't ready to connect those dots.

Maybe I was a little too high-horsed in this thread. I take GC fairly seriously only because I know that my behavior and the behavior of anyone showing their letters for better or worse reflects upon their organization. I would be angry at myself if I found out that someone decided to join something other than Sigma Nu because of something I said or did on here.

It would probably be a lot more of a hold-hands and sing Kumbayah type place if everyone at least tried to operate like that.

What has it come to? Some of us would rather remove their letters from their signatures than behave appropriately. I personally believe it should be the other way around.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own stupid opinion, right?

Nah, it would have been pretty obvious to John and possibly the mods that it was probably me. The way it works is that GC logs IP addresses when users post. This is imperfect but it will often give admins a good idea which users might be the same. Here are the limitations:
1) it's possible that different users might have the same IP address if they're both on the same network, and that network is set up a certain way (using NAT, for example).
2) If someone's really determined, they can generally find a way to connect to GC from a different IP address.

However, in most cases, I'd guess that looking at the IP data does yield useful information. They could also compare writing styles if they found an IP match to get more information about whether the posters were the same person.

I know where it is, Iown know bout er'body else. lol

Imperial1

Yeah, the impression I got was that you were thinking it was me. :) Then, after I posted about it, I thought MAYBE you were talking about someone I had no clue about. So, I deleted it.

No, if I have something to say about someone, I usually just come right out and say it. I never have and never will have another username to hide behind. I REALLY did not know who could have been posting as TLnancy.

Check your PM box.

Is this what the guy from the Rainman movie had?

-Rudey

Actually, no. The brother in "Rainman" was autistic. The CDC has a page on autism at http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/aic/about/default.htm
Based on reading, I would be inclined to guess that autism is generally a more severe impairment than ADHD. (I'm not a psychologist and I don't play one on TV.)

In the film Rainman Dustin Hoffman played a character called Raymond; who was autistic.

Autism is not really related to ADHD. For example, the average college student who has ADHD does not generally display symptoms like Dustin Hoffman's character.
However, autism is related to "Asperger's Syndrome". Asperger's is not really "like" autism - they're very different conditions, just kinda technically related.

Sometimes people who feel they have (or are observed to have) ADHD symptoms are actually found to have Asperger's Syndrome rather than ADHD. There's a lot of crossover between various conditions - dyspraxia, ADHD, Asperger's etc. One can have Asperger's and ADHD or, since some symptoms can be similar it may initially appear they have ADHD but more investigation (assessment) might show they actually have Asperger's Syndrome.
That's why when someone's having an assessment an open mind is needed to take all possibilities into account. Perhaps too one might be diagnosed with autism after initial suspicion they may have ADHD; I've no idea.

From what _Q_ said and the story of the person in the article she linked, I'd be more inclined to think that both people had Asperger's rather than ADHD on the basis of the notable impairments in two-sided social interaction and non-verbal communication ( ASPEN of America Home Page http://www.asperger.org/ ).

All that said, I don't have a secret Ph.D I've been hiding and no mental health sector experience whatsoever so I'm sure any diagnoses were correct. Thus what I 'think' is *solely* an uninformed $0.02. To _Q_, I hope no offence was caused to you by my own thoughts in this post - let me know via PM if there was and I'll delete it.
Just thought I'd clarify though - in my own layperson's capacity - the relation/crossover between the various conditions.

I agree, it sounds more like asperger's than ADHD. On the other hand, the inattention and impulsivity with ADHD can also cause serious impairments in social interactions.

Dionysus - correct and I agree.
The impulsivity in ADHD is a definite impairment in those situations yep; I hadn't mentioned it as my rambling was getting lengthy but it's a good point with a solid basis so I'm in agreement with you.

Thanks, and I'm not offended at all. You're right; there is apparently some crossover between ADHD and Asperger's and the doctor initially considered Asperger's in my case. However, there are apparently some other issues with both ADHD and Asperger's. ADHD people seem to have a hard time with executive functions that control things like planning, managing time, etc. These areas have also been problems for me. It sounds like people with Aspergers can be a little more rigid about some things, like schedule, environment, etc. In my case, traveling and doing non-routine things don't generally bother me that much. So maybe for those reasons, I ended up in the ADHD bucket. There's really a broad spectrum of symptoms, though, so ADHDers are quite diverse. In my case, the social skills deficit was very pronounced, but I wasn't hyperactive and the academic difficulties didn't start until college.
Maybe this raises some good questions about how GLOs can deal with members who have problems like this. I don't think that there are easy or obvious answers to this.