I got up just in time to have breakfast and get dressed and then receive my guest this morning.
Karen C is an acupuncturist and a colleague or friend of my friend June, and is doing some research into acupuncture and ADHD. June contacted me, knowing that I self diagnosed with ADHD yonks ago. I explained that the experts had told me that although I had probably had ADHD as a child, I did not have enough of, or severe enough symptoms of the condition to be diagnosed with it. However, as Karen was having difficulty finding enough diagnosed adults, she altered her research parameters to include people like me, who are on that spectrum but not 'bad enough'(!) to merit the full label...
So, soon after 10, Karen arrived to do my history, which is standard practice before doing any complimentary therapy. I have done this several times for different people and it does take some time, in this case, over two hours. But it is, for me, the most important part of the work of the complimentary therapists that I've experienced so far (and I confess to have only tried maybe 4 or 5) as 'normal' GPs don't ever have this time for their patients.
I've never had acupuncture, but Gill has and it helped her painful back. I tried homeopathy with a good friend who is a very experienced and well respected homeopath, but I had no response to it whatsoever. I told her in the history-taking that I was skeptical and didn't believe that there was any active ingredient in homeopathic medicines. She said that didn't matter. But my expectations were realised.
I've also tried a couple of types of massage therapies, of which Indian Head Massage was by far the most wonderful and deep tissue Swedish massage was the most horrible.
Anyway, Karen was happy with the info I gave her, and I agreed to go and see her four times in the next month (in Harrogate) to see if having acupuncture helps me either become tidier (!) or more organised, more relaxed or any other improvements.
She had a quick tour down the garden and took a bag of dried fruit, and I had lunch.
Then we all had a good time in the garden... the boys played on the trampoline and Gill and I pruned a large lilac tree... Gill directed, I went up the ladder and sawed the branches off, pollarding the tree for a second time since we moved here. I then spent quite a bit of time shredding the large pile of stuff which resulted from this massacre, and then loading a pallet bin with layers of this woody stuff with layers of vegetable and fruit, surrounded with flattened cardboard boxes up against the pallet sides.
I picked another load of stuff including a courgette, a tromboncino squash, some Jack Edwards climbing pea beans, runner beans invading our garden from next door, bramley apples, James Grieve apples and assorted pears. Tea time!
And tea time was lovely with lots of good fresh veg... much of the above but also tomatoes from the conservatory, all mixed with noodles.
I prepared quite a bit of food tonight, including potatoes and sweet potatoes, which will get eaten tomorrow.
Showing posts with label ADHD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ADHD. Show all posts
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Tuesday 25th November 08
Up at about 7.30 as Ruth usually leaves the house at about 8, I had a shower and some cereal and we went. Ruth dropped me off very near Ealing Broadway and continued off to work.
I went to Oxford Circus, changed trains and went south to Brixton, which is only a short walk from Denmark Hill, along Cold Harbour Lane. Ruth had photocopied a page in her London map book so I knew where to go, and by 10am I was at the Maudsley.
I waited an hour, reading my NewScientist, and at 11 was collected by a woman who spent the next hour explaining what the day would contain, and doing some rather odd tests and questions and exercises in order to start assessing me. She asked a colleague in to observe and help her with the assessment. The exercises included going through a children's picture book and explaining what I thought was happening, and making up a story using 5 random objects pulled out of a bag, a task I found quite difficult. But she also asked lots of questions about my childhood, friendships, how I'd describe various feelings like happiness, etc etc, so it was quite an intense hour.
Then I had a two-hour session with a Dutch Doctor who did the clinical assessment, about my health and development and lots more. I was invited to explain why I thought I'd had ADHD and subsequently been identifying with some aspects of Aspergers Syndrome.
That finished at 3pm and I went for lunch just down the road, having a plate of very yummy chick-pea stew and rice, and got back to the Hospital for 4pm, as agreed, where I was seen by the whole team including the Consultant. He asked a few more questions and referred to his diagnostic manual a few times, and then asked if I'd have 5 minutes in another room whilst they had a talk, and when I was brought back in, he explained their decision.
It is clear that I did have ADHD as a child, but at that time it wasn't named and I was just regarded as a bit odd, naughty, disruptive and 'bright but lazy'. However, possibly due to growing out of it and/or all the self-development work I've done, I do not exhibit so many of the symptoms or diagnostic features now to be classed as having ADHD. There is a big overlap between ADHD behaviours and some Autistic traits. I do have some of the 'typically autistic' traits, but again, not enough of them to be 'labelled' with Autistic Spectrum Disorder or 'High Functioning Autism', known as Aspergers. So I don't fit any diagnostic criteria, which the Doctor described as 'good news'. There was some discussion as to where I might go from now, what I could do about continuing to improve my behaviour, and I will explore those. The medics will interview my mother when she returns from holiday, just to try to find out some more about my behaviour as a child, and I'l be sent their report in February.
I left feeling quite down as I really wanted to put my diagnosis 'in a box', labelled, so I felt I knew what I was and why I behave as I do, and had a clear way forward with definite outcomes. But as my unique mental set-up doesn't fit any one set of criteria and therefore isn't 'nameable', I feel a bit 'in limbo' or in no mans land. I sadly walked back the mile or so to Brixton and went right up to King's Cross, where I wandered round pretty aimlessly for a few hours waiting for my 10pm train. At 8.30 I waited at where the track-side pub used to be (shut for refurbishment) for a possible meeting with Diana from FlipSide Vision, but she'd been at an AGM and didn't turn up. So at 9.30 I went to the main hall and chatted to people whilst waiting for the platform to be displayed.
The train was lovely and warm and my fellow passengers were friendly and jolly.
Back into York just after 12.30, home just before 1am, really glad to see Gill.
I went to Oxford Circus, changed trains and went south to Brixton, which is only a short walk from Denmark Hill, along Cold Harbour Lane. Ruth had photocopied a page in her London map book so I knew where to go, and by 10am I was at the Maudsley.
I waited an hour, reading my NewScientist, and at 11 was collected by a woman who spent the next hour explaining what the day would contain, and doing some rather odd tests and questions and exercises in order to start assessing me. She asked a colleague in to observe and help her with the assessment. The exercises included going through a children's picture book and explaining what I thought was happening, and making up a story using 5 random objects pulled out of a bag, a task I found quite difficult. But she also asked lots of questions about my childhood, friendships, how I'd describe various feelings like happiness, etc etc, so it was quite an intense hour.
Then I had a two-hour session with a Dutch Doctor who did the clinical assessment, about my health and development and lots more. I was invited to explain why I thought I'd had ADHD and subsequently been identifying with some aspects of Aspergers Syndrome.
That finished at 3pm and I went for lunch just down the road, having a plate of very yummy chick-pea stew and rice, and got back to the Hospital for 4pm, as agreed, where I was seen by the whole team including the Consultant. He asked a few more questions and referred to his diagnostic manual a few times, and then asked if I'd have 5 minutes in another room whilst they had a talk, and when I was brought back in, he explained their decision.
It is clear that I did have ADHD as a child, but at that time it wasn't named and I was just regarded as a bit odd, naughty, disruptive and 'bright but lazy'. However, possibly due to growing out of it and/or all the self-development work I've done, I do not exhibit so many of the symptoms or diagnostic features now to be classed as having ADHD. There is a big overlap between ADHD behaviours and some Autistic traits. I do have some of the 'typically autistic' traits, but again, not enough of them to be 'labelled' with Autistic Spectrum Disorder or 'High Functioning Autism', known as Aspergers. So I don't fit any diagnostic criteria, which the Doctor described as 'good news'. There was some discussion as to where I might go from now, what I could do about continuing to improve my behaviour, and I will explore those. The medics will interview my mother when she returns from holiday, just to try to find out some more about my behaviour as a child, and I'l be sent their report in February.
I left feeling quite down as I really wanted to put my diagnosis 'in a box', labelled, so I felt I knew what I was and why I behave as I do, and had a clear way forward with definite outcomes. But as my unique mental set-up doesn't fit any one set of criteria and therefore isn't 'nameable', I feel a bit 'in limbo' or in no mans land. I sadly walked back the mile or so to Brixton and went right up to King's Cross, where I wandered round pretty aimlessly for a few hours waiting for my 10pm train. At 8.30 I waited at where the track-side pub used to be (shut for refurbishment) for a possible meeting with Diana from FlipSide Vision, but she'd been at an AGM and didn't turn up. So at 9.30 I went to the main hall and chatted to people whilst waiting for the platform to be displayed.
The train was lovely and warm and my fellow passengers were friendly and jolly.
Back into York just after 12.30, home just before 1am, really glad to see Gill.
Thursday, 29 November 2007
Wednesday 28th November 07
A really interesting day. I woke at 8 and had a fairly normal breakfast which was nice. I checked Anna's cycle map and memorised how to get from her house to Denmark Hill, and left at about 8.40. I was quite amazed to see a small mistletoe plant growing out of a street tree in London, not the usual place to see mistletoe, surely?
I got to the Maudsley Hospital at 9.10, some time before my appointment, and was seen by a psychologist to undertake a battery of personality and psychological assessments. Some were pretty straightforward, simple questions about my behaviour, others were more obtuse, stuff like timing how long it took to define a word (what is a bird? what is enthusiasm? what is a niche?) and a similar test, to see if I could say how two things were similar, such as a bus and a plane. I also had to do the different coloured words test, first saying the word (they were the colours red, blue, green and tan) and then to say the actual colour the word was printed, which was mostly different from he colour of the word's meaning.. this was recorded for accuracy and speed. Also a test with plastic blocks which if arranged in different positions would make various patterns, and I had to make patterns which was displayed in a book, again, timed.
We finished at about midday and I phoned a student researcher who was doing some work on empathy and ADHD basically to say that I didn't think I'd be able to do the research after the day at the as I was meeting someone at 6pm at Kings Cross. However the message I left with her department was that I'd collect any message from her from the main info desk at the Out Patients Department. I went to have lunch and chatted to some people running the 'Bedlam Gift Shop' (I decided not to buy a mug.) and when I got to the Out Patients at 1pm, the researcher was there waiting for me, saying we should be able to get the study done in an hour if I wanted to do it. So went with her and after filling in another sheaf of forms, she got me sitting comfortably with electrodes on my fingers, and I had to watch a screen with faces flashed up on it and then click on the mood correlating to the expression. These were: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and neutral. I then had to do the same type of thing but this time identifying an animal: cow, goat, bison, bear and horse. I did well with the animal ones, I think all correct, but the emotions/expressions I found really difficult. I found sitting so still for so long the most difficult. I look forward to seeing how well I did on that task.
At just after 2pm, I got back to the reception area and was immediately ushered into a tiny room with a female doctor who asked me a lot of medical history questions, stuff about early childhood, experiences at school, problem behaviour then and now and a lot of very interesting and personal stuff, about anything which might inform their diagnosis. At 4.30 I was given a break and at 5, I was asked back to see the senior doctor, who had a few more questions, things which weren't completely covered in the previous sessions, and he offered me his initial thoughts on my diagnosis. Apparently my concentration span is too good to be a 'typical ADHD' and I have some traits seen in Autistic Spectrum Disorder. So, although the diagnosis will be a few weeks away, after the psychology tests have been scored and analysed, he thinks that I have a mixture of Autism and Hyperactivity. Wow. My Mum was right, she thought that I might be slightly 'Aspergers'. I await my final diagnosis, and if I am on the Autistic Spectrum, they'll suggest another set of tests, specifically to look at Autism, either in York or back at the Maudsley.
I was released at 5.50, and found a train to King's Cross fairly easily. Finding Mary from DANDA at King's Cross was less easy. She'd said the pub on Platform 1, but there was no pub on Platform 1, it was on 8. She'd described herself as very very short and fat, and when I did find her she was just ordinarily petite and nicely rounded, not fat. Peoples' self images can be quite odd. We had a cider each and chatted about Neuro-Diversity and her desire to set up a branch of in the Yorkshire area. I said I'd assist but not be the main person. She left at 8 and I found a filling pastie and baguette, and waited for my 9pm train.
Spent most of the journey back writing up this blog on wordpad, which I hope I'll be able to copy and paste into my blogspot page. I was able to copy and paste but then not publish, getting an 'Error' message about post labels or some such rubbish.
I got to the Maudsley Hospital at 9.10, some time before my appointment, and was seen by a psychologist to undertake a battery of personality and psychological assessments. Some were pretty straightforward, simple questions about my behaviour, others were more obtuse, stuff like timing how long it took to define a word (what is a bird? what is enthusiasm? what is a niche?) and a similar test, to see if I could say how two things were similar, such as a bus and a plane. I also had to do the different coloured words test, first saying the word (they were the colours red, blue, green and tan) and then to say the actual colour the word was printed, which was mostly different from he colour of the word's meaning.. this was recorded for accuracy and speed. Also a test with plastic blocks which if arranged in different positions would make various patterns, and I had to make patterns which was displayed in a book, again, timed.
We finished at about midday and I phoned a student researcher who was doing some work on empathy and ADHD basically to say that I didn't think I'd be able to do the research after the day at the as I was meeting someone at 6pm at Kings Cross. However the message I left with her department was that I'd collect any message from her from the main info desk at the Out Patients Department. I went to have lunch and chatted to some people running the 'Bedlam Gift Shop' (I decided not to buy a mug.) and when I got to the Out Patients at 1pm, the researcher was there waiting for me, saying we should be able to get the study done in an hour if I wanted to do it. So went with her and after filling in another sheaf of forms, she got me sitting comfortably with electrodes on my fingers, and I had to watch a screen with faces flashed up on it and then click on the mood correlating to the expression. These were: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and neutral. I then had to do the same type of thing but this time identifying an animal: cow, goat, bison, bear and horse. I did well with the animal ones, I think all correct, but the emotions/expressions I found really difficult. I found sitting so still for so long the most difficult. I look forward to seeing how well I did on that task.
At just after 2pm, I got back to the reception area and was immediately ushered into a tiny room with a female doctor who asked me a lot of medical history questions, stuff about early childhood, experiences at school, problem behaviour then and now and a lot of very interesting and personal stuff, about anything which might inform their diagnosis. At 4.30 I was given a break and at 5, I was asked back to see the senior doctor, who had a few more questions, things which weren't completely covered in the previous sessions, and he offered me his initial thoughts on my diagnosis. Apparently my concentration span is too good to be a 'typical ADHD' and I have some traits seen in Autistic Spectrum Disorder. So, although the diagnosis will be a few weeks away, after the psychology tests have been scored and analysed, he thinks that I have a mixture of Autism and Hyperactivity. Wow. My Mum was right, she thought that I might be slightly 'Aspergers'. I await my final diagnosis, and if I am on the Autistic Spectrum, they'll suggest another set of tests, specifically to look at Autism, either in York or back at the Maudsley.
I was released at 5.50, and found a train to King's Cross fairly easily. Finding Mary from DANDA at King's Cross was less easy. She'd said the pub on Platform 1, but there was no pub on Platform 1, it was on 8. She'd described herself as very very short and fat, and when I did find her she was just ordinarily petite and nicely rounded, not fat. Peoples' self images can be quite odd. We had a cider each and chatted about Neuro-Diversity and her desire to set up a branch of in the Yorkshire area. I said I'd assist but not be the main person. She left at 8 and I found a filling pastie and baguette, and waited for my 9pm train.
Spent most of the journey back writing up this blog on wordpad, which I hope I'll be able to copy and paste into my blogspot page. I was able to copy and paste but then not publish, getting an 'Error' message about post labels or some such rubbish.
Saturday, 27 October 2007
Friday 26th October 07
The boys declared that they didn't want to go anywhere or do anything today. So they played and I spent some time building a logpile on the right of the door (looking out) and spent a bit of time doing some work with the new 'compost mate' tool which is really good at mixing the compost heaps. My neighbour had spotted a rat so I did a lot of mixing of some sit and wait heaps, which makes them less hospitable to rats. I saw no evidence of rats though, none ran out. There are rats in the area, and I think that the neighbours are blaming my composting activities for them as a way of getting at me, because I'm different.
For lunch I went to St Nicks and said hello to Catherine the head Rotter, who asked me to help out at a green market next weekend on the Rotters stall. I met up with Jo and had a sandwich whilst hearing about her week at work, and told her about my weekend away.
During the afternoon I did a bit of emailing and a bit of cycling around, visited Martin's Country Fresh for fruit/veg and compostables, and enjoyed tea of parsnips in baked beans with the last of Gill's quiche from yesterday.
In the evening our friends Simon and Jonathan came round, Si has been helping Jonathan with his computer and when they were finished they came and chatted as Gill and I continued to play Scrabble. The conversation became very frank, as it often does with both S and J, and my odd behaviour was analysed, with reference to my forthcoming trip to the Maudsley Hospital to see if I have ADHD. My 'compulsive' composting activities are giving Gill some problems, as the neighbours find me rather odd and Gill feels she has to defend me, although she wishes I didn't do so much of it on such an 'industrial' scale. She finds herself in a difficult position as she loves me and supports my desire to prevent stuff being landfilled, but she doesn't think it is appropriate that I do so much in the garden.
Anyway, I was happy to have such an honest exchange, I didn't feel attacked, I just feel as if I'm actually quite a 'vulnerable' person in some ways, for instance, my willingness to take recyclables for certain businesses means they get the stuff recycled (not possible commercially) and for free or cheap. I have a lot of processing to do about this, and hope Gill can come down to London next month with me to voice her observations about my extreme lifestyle.
For lunch I went to St Nicks and said hello to Catherine the head Rotter, who asked me to help out at a green market next weekend on the Rotters stall. I met up with Jo and had a sandwich whilst hearing about her week at work, and told her about my weekend away.
During the afternoon I did a bit of emailing and a bit of cycling around, visited Martin's Country Fresh for fruit/veg and compostables, and enjoyed tea of parsnips in baked beans with the last of Gill's quiche from yesterday.
In the evening our friends Simon and Jonathan came round, Si has been helping Jonathan with his computer and when they were finished they came and chatted as Gill and I continued to play Scrabble. The conversation became very frank, as it often does with both S and J, and my odd behaviour was analysed, with reference to my forthcoming trip to the Maudsley Hospital to see if I have ADHD. My 'compulsive' composting activities are giving Gill some problems, as the neighbours find me rather odd and Gill feels she has to defend me, although she wishes I didn't do so much of it on such an 'industrial' scale. She finds herself in a difficult position as she loves me and supports my desire to prevent stuff being landfilled, but she doesn't think it is appropriate that I do so much in the garden.
Anyway, I was happy to have such an honest exchange, I didn't feel attacked, I just feel as if I'm actually quite a 'vulnerable' person in some ways, for instance, my willingness to take recyclables for certain businesses means they get the stuff recycled (not possible commercially) and for free or cheap. I have a lot of processing to do about this, and hope Gill can come down to London next month with me to voice her observations about my extreme lifestyle.
Friday, 13 July 2007
Friday 13th July 07
A day. The best thing was going on a time trial on my bike, 7.9km, organised by Clifton Cycling Club. It started at 7pm, actually a little later, and I was 18th to start, with people starting every minute. I was soon overtaken by the 19th, a large young lad, and after that by the 20th, which spurred me on to go a little faster. I came 35th out of 40 riders, not suprising as I was on my ordinary bike with lights/dynamo, bell, mudguards, and non-aerodynamic clothing. However I did take off my trailer and panniers! My average speed was just over 19mph or 30kmh. I kinda didn't enjoy the cycle as it was tough, but enjoyed the camardarie afterwards.
Earlier in the day I did a cycle through town, collected my compostables, popped into Cycle Heaven and got home for lunch.
Did only a small amount to try to rectify the YGF situation.
Feel depressed about it. Anyway, I have done my best.
The only other thing of interest was that on breakfast TV there was a short report about the lack of services for 'adult sufferers of ADHD, many of whom are condemmed to a life of chaos and even prison'. It made me cry, I feel that wobbly. Not a good feeling, and the 'condemmed' and 'chaos' feel very close to the truth right now.
Earlier in the day I did a cycle through town, collected my compostables, popped into Cycle Heaven and got home for lunch.
Did only a small amount to try to rectify the YGF situation.
Feel depressed about it. Anyway, I have done my best.
The only other thing of interest was that on breakfast TV there was a short report about the lack of services for 'adult sufferers of ADHD, many of whom are condemmed to a life of chaos and even prison'. It made me cry, I feel that wobbly. Not a good feeling, and the 'condemmed' and 'chaos' feel very close to the truth right now.
Friday, 13 April 2007
Friday 13th April 07
Woken up by our boys fighting outside our door, shouting and throwing things at each other. Oh dear!
The day didn't get much better really, as they were bad tempered and we sent them out into the garden and we went back to bed, which was nice, but one of them came back in and disturbed us and rather spoilt the moment... oh dear.
Anyway, we got up and on with parental responsibilities. I popped out on the bike to get some groceries and when I got back a bag broke and a bottle of perry fell and smashed all over the kitchen floor. Oh dear again.
At 1pm a photographer, Simon, was due to come to get some images for the Community Care mag to use, he was late and we spent nearly 2 hours getting a wide range of shots, including woodchopping (axe and saw) posing by woodpile, riding bike with load of compostables, compost heap posing, riddling, digging up parsnips and more. He was nice enough but I had a headache. I hope it doesn't show on the pictures!
Then I had to go to see my GP who has had a message from the Primary Care Trust, who are willing to send me to the Maudsley in London for a diagnosis to find out if I have ADHD (or if I'm just a Great British Eccentric!) IF the Maudsley wants to see me! A bit odd but I'll go with the flow, I don't really mind either way at the moment as my life seems to be going well and I'm using my high energy levels productively.
Did a short Sainsbury shop for cereals and some wine and visited Out Of This World for my recycling pick up.
Still headachey but a productive evening with various paperwork accomplished and the usual e-communications.
The day didn't get much better really, as they were bad tempered and we sent them out into the garden and we went back to bed, which was nice, but one of them came back in and disturbed us and rather spoilt the moment... oh dear.
Anyway, we got up and on with parental responsibilities. I popped out on the bike to get some groceries and when I got back a bag broke and a bottle of perry fell and smashed all over the kitchen floor. Oh dear again.
At 1pm a photographer, Simon, was due to come to get some images for the Community Care mag to use, he was late and we spent nearly 2 hours getting a wide range of shots, including woodchopping (axe and saw) posing by woodpile, riding bike with load of compostables, compost heap posing, riddling, digging up parsnips and more. He was nice enough but I had a headache. I hope it doesn't show on the pictures!
Then I had to go to see my GP who has had a message from the Primary Care Trust, who are willing to send me to the Maudsley in London for a diagnosis to find out if I have ADHD (or if I'm just a Great British Eccentric!) IF the Maudsley wants to see me! A bit odd but I'll go with the flow, I don't really mind either way at the moment as my life seems to be going well and I'm using my high energy levels productively.
Did a short Sainsbury shop for cereals and some wine and visited Out Of This World for my recycling pick up.
Still headachey but a productive evening with various paperwork accomplished and the usual e-communications.
Tuesday, 3 April 2007
Tuesday 3rd April 07
An active day, a fair amount of housework during the morning, and a SUMA delivery. Gill and I have for several years been running a food co-op for ourselves and some friends, and we get a few regularly-used items like peanut butter, loo paper, muesli base, pasta. As we buy it in bulk it means we can afford to buy organic, supporting agricultural practices which do less damage to the environment and are better for wildlife, and fair trade, which gives a better deal for the producers.
After lunch went to St Nicks as agreed with John the Centre manager, to chop some logs. I'd suggested I could do this for St Nicks, as I sometimes take logs off the pile which is regularly added to by tree-surgeons offloading their unwanted tree wastes, and it is only fair if I give something back. A poplar had come down and been sawn up into rounds, and needed splitting.
The centre has many visitors, today it had a group of youths, teenagers, who had come into contact with the authorities through anti-social behaviour or misdeeds, and were under the care of 'Crossroads'. I know nothing about this, they seemed like fairly ordinary young adults to me, and I was assigned several volunteers to teach how to split logs and stack them. These tasks may seem simple but there is a knack to both. For instance, rounds with a side branch split best when done in line with the side branch, so it splits too, rather than at right-angles to it which can be more difficult as the knot may extend into the log. Rounds with side branches also split best from the lower cut surface, ie with the log upside-down as the branch leaves the round at an angle and having the split start where the branch begins to leave the trunk seems best to me.
Also stacking a logpile is quite an art if it isn't to fall down. The activity attracted a queue of participants, male and female, all wanting a go at smashing the rounds in two. Even the leaders had a go. We also had to use the centre's 'log grenade' too, a wedge in a sort of pyramid shape which is incredibly effective at blowing apart difficult to split rounds.
We all had a lot of fun, I gave lots of positive feedback and encouragement, and just occasional direction, mainly putting the rounds in the right orientation for easiest splitting, and getting out of the way quick. I was pleased to meet a friendly leader, Chris from Crossroads, who seemed fascinated by my lifestyle and told me he'd invite me out for a drink, I hope he does. He said that the youth service should be paying me for the help I'd given, and I gave him my Professor Fiddlesticks card as I may get some paid work with the group.
I'd cycled to St Nicks with my boys, my mate Simon and his son. Simon spent time with the three boys, playing, exploring, keeping the peace. I am very grateful to Simon for being a lovely responsible grown-up with my boys, I couldn't have done the logsplitting work without his help.
Got home and quickly made a nutloaf with bread, peanut butter, onions, rice, grated carrot and seeds, bound with egg and microwaved and then put in the oven along with a chocolate cake Gill was baking. Had this with a cheese sauce and new potatoes.
Put the boys to bed early as we've a busy day tomorrow with an early start.
Enjoyed learning about the connection between Tourettes and creativity. I have an interest in such disorders as I have many of the traits of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and I am a very active, enthusiastic and creative person. I haven't had a diagnosis but I would love to know if I do have ADHD. Lots of the people who know me think I do, and I feel more comfortable with that label than what I have previously been called, such as 'eccentric'. ADHD is thought to be connected with lowered levels of dopamine in the frontal lobes of the brain, and Tourettes is also connected with dopamine, but increased levels in temporal and frontal lobes. Interesting stuff.
After lunch went to St Nicks as agreed with John the Centre manager, to chop some logs. I'd suggested I could do this for St Nicks, as I sometimes take logs off the pile which is regularly added to by tree-surgeons offloading their unwanted tree wastes, and it is only fair if I give something back. A poplar had come down and been sawn up into rounds, and needed splitting.
The centre has many visitors, today it had a group of youths, teenagers, who had come into contact with the authorities through anti-social behaviour or misdeeds, and were under the care of 'Crossroads'. I know nothing about this, they seemed like fairly ordinary young adults to me, and I was assigned several volunteers to teach how to split logs and stack them. These tasks may seem simple but there is a knack to both. For instance, rounds with a side branch split best when done in line with the side branch, so it splits too, rather than at right-angles to it which can be more difficult as the knot may extend into the log. Rounds with side branches also split best from the lower cut surface, ie with the log upside-down as the branch leaves the round at an angle and having the split start where the branch begins to leave the trunk seems best to me.
Also stacking a logpile is quite an art if it isn't to fall down. The activity attracted a queue of participants, male and female, all wanting a go at smashing the rounds in two. Even the leaders had a go. We also had to use the centre's 'log grenade' too, a wedge in a sort of pyramid shape which is incredibly effective at blowing apart difficult to split rounds.
We all had a lot of fun, I gave lots of positive feedback and encouragement, and just occasional direction, mainly putting the rounds in the right orientation for easiest splitting, and getting out of the way quick. I was pleased to meet a friendly leader, Chris from Crossroads, who seemed fascinated by my lifestyle and told me he'd invite me out for a drink, I hope he does. He said that the youth service should be paying me for the help I'd given, and I gave him my Professor Fiddlesticks card as I may get some paid work with the group.
I'd cycled to St Nicks with my boys, my mate Simon and his son. Simon spent time with the three boys, playing, exploring, keeping the peace. I am very grateful to Simon for being a lovely responsible grown-up with my boys, I couldn't have done the logsplitting work without his help.
Got home and quickly made a nutloaf with bread, peanut butter, onions, rice, grated carrot and seeds, bound with egg and microwaved and then put in the oven along with a chocolate cake Gill was baking. Had this with a cheese sauce and new potatoes.
Put the boys to bed early as we've a busy day tomorrow with an early start.
Enjoyed learning about the connection between Tourettes and creativity. I have an interest in such disorders as I have many of the traits of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and I am a very active, enthusiastic and creative person. I haven't had a diagnosis but I would love to know if I do have ADHD. Lots of the people who know me think I do, and I feel more comfortable with that label than what I have previously been called, such as 'eccentric'. ADHD is thought to be connected with lowered levels of dopamine in the frontal lobes of the brain, and Tourettes is also connected with dopamine, but increased levels in temporal and frontal lobes. Interesting stuff.
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