I have explained to you before that I have had ADHD my entire life. One of the numerous problems is that this disorder causes memory problems. Often I was forced to over learn everything and how to severely focus my attention in order to remember something I had to regurgitate on an exam. I came up with several tricks to trigger my memory. The following is just one of many.
(I COULDN'T COME UP WITH ART FOR THIS ONE.
READ ON AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND).
Studying for my Masters exam caused me some anxiety and a great number of long nights trying to drum information into this brain of mine.
Finally, I came up with a scathingly (I love that word) brilliant idea. It was noticed by me that I always seemed to remember stuff I wrote on my hand when I couldn’t find a paper. So, I ran an experiment and wrote my grocery lost on my belly. Sure enough, when I got to the grocery store I remembered what was on my list and picked up everything (and, back then, I had an ample belly for even very long lists). There is no way I can begin to explain how this managed to work, it just did.
Therefore, the day before my Masters Exam I wrote all pertinent information (in a shortened form, of course) on my abdomen, my belly, my thighs, my upper arms and, yes, my boobs. I was sure to write this list on parts of my body that I could not see, because this wasn’t to be used as a cheat sheet just a memory jog.
When a question would come up about best practices I would think belly, and voilà, the information would pop into my mind (so on and so forth). I was a little paranoid on the way to and from the exam. What if I was in an accident or something....how on earth would I explain this to the ER people? Not only that I failed to consider how difficult the magic marker ink might be to remove (it took me 3 days).
When a question would come up about best practices I would think belly, and voilà, the information would pop into my mind (so on and so forth). I was a little paranoid on the way to and from the exam. What if I was in an accident or something....how on earth would I explain this to the ER people? Not only that I failed to consider how difficult the magic marker ink might be to remove (it took me 3 days).
When I left the exam I felt as though I had done a thorough job, but when I, later, talked to my counselor about the results he said that I ACED the exam. It was a first for them. When he asked me how I did it I simply said, "Well, sir, I studied so hard that the information became as familiar to me as my own body."
I haven’t used this method since because life does not have written exams. But, it did prove to myself that I could come up with unique, practical, and successful ways to solve problems, which is a skill all good mothers and teachers need.
POST SCRIPT: I did try to come up with art. I actually wrote some educational facts on my tummy and photographed it.....well, let me just say that it a sight that no one would ever want to see.
(By the way, I have a serious problem. That horrible picture is on my image folder and I .....WANT....IT....OFF! How on earth does one delete one of those uploaded images? Why did I even up load it in the first place? Did I actually consider using it? STOP SMILING....I'M SERIOUS!)
POST SCRIPT: I did try to come up with art. I actually wrote some educational facts on my tummy and photographed it.....well, let me just say that it a sight that no one would ever want to see.
(By the way, I have a serious problem. That horrible picture is on my image folder and I .....WANT....IT....OFF! How on earth does one delete one of those uploaded images? Why did I even up load it in the first place? Did I actually consider using it? STOP SMILING....I'M SERIOUS!)
kt 6/2011
