Certain impairments or disabilities come and go at different times. Today, ADD (and to a lesser degree ADHD) is in fashion. It's in to be diagnosed with ADD - and in many casesit carries no stigma.

This is a somewhat positive development. Science can now offer therapy with Ritalin in order to benefit those who suffer from an attention deficit disorder.

However, there is another aspect to the problem.

Students with <"http://www.oocities.org/jsnlinks/1ADD/Intro.html">ADD or other impairments are given extra time and consideration on tests. Their marks are raised artificially without considering the actual work that they perform.

As a result some students feel that it is not necessary to invest the requisite effort. After all, they will receive extra points, and as a result, they will do well with less work. Thus, what started off as an impairment continues as a secondary disability affecting their study and work habits.

They sometimes bask in the sympathy that they receive from normal students and even teachers.

Overcompensating

The opposite effect takes place as well. Some people who have been labeled with disabilities have been able to compensate or over-compensate for their handicap. They have refused to be held back because of their condition. They are determined to make something of their lives. They want to be successful. They will not let these disabilities which are sanctioned in society hold them back.

They realize that this artificial boost will not allow them to maintain their feeling of worth in the long run. It will not let them prove to themselves that they can prove what they are worth in society.

A bright individual may not want to rely on any artificial advantages being labeled. She may not want to be tested. They may not want to know if they actually did have ADD or to what degree. they may work together with an educational psychologist inn order to learn how to best use their own abilities and compensate for problems. They may study ways and techniques for pacing themselves in class and during tests and projects so that they can achieve more in a shorter amount of time.

Will they be able to achieve as much as a child who did not have ADD? Probably not. They will have to work more in order to achieve the results that others can achieve with less work.

However, their feeling of self-worth and determination will strengthen their character so that they will be ahead of others in a wide range of areas. True, they will not receive superior grades - but grades are not everything.

This means that psychologists now have a double and quite contradictory job.

On the one hand, they must diagnose children or adults for their disabilities to send them on for further testing by others.

On the other hand, a good psychologist may be of greater assistance to the patient by saying as follows:

Yes, I could send you on for testing or I could diagnose you myself. As a result I would give you a label. That label will give you certain benefits as compared to the general population.

On the other hand, the doctor could say as follows, "Look, I may well be able to label you with a disability. As a result, you may get the benefits that I described.

However, you will have to pay a great price for that label. You will lose a certain amount of your independence and your determination to succeed. Other people will do things for you. You will receive things, but you will know that they are not deserved. You may even be able to bask in others' sympathy.

When you look back at your life after 120 years, you may have to consider the following:

Do you really want to be able to say that you received favors from society without achieving a great deal, and without contributing very much? After you leave this world do you want to look down and realize that the time that you passed on Earth left no mark, because you were given too many things?

Your alternative is as follows:

You can do what is needed in order to achieve what you want. You will have to work - harder than others to achieve things, but this over-compensation will help. You make something that you can be proud of. You will be able to hold your head up high. You will be an asset to mankind.

Which is more important to you? To overcome this disability or to sit back? Do you want to achieve something substantial in life? Do you want to do things on your own? Do you want to have everything given to you? Do you want to go through a meaningless life?

If I would have been in your position, I know what I would have chosen.

I also know what many other successful people have chosen when they were in a similar position.

Now it's your turn to decide.

The choice is yours.