ADHD: Questionnaire and Diagnosis By Miranda J. Gardner

Background: I am astonished with how much this poem has transformed. When I first began writing it, I did so for my ENG: 565 Advanced Poetry class, taught by Professor Whitcomb in the Winter of 2024 via Central Washington University. The truth is I struggled to find a way to write about what it is like to have this disorder. It wasn't easy to do so because I was too close to it. However, with advice from Professor Whitcomb, who suggested I try to create a list of sorts, I had the direction of where to go. I used a standard questionnaire: The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) Symptom Checklist." This helped me create a list. It did, but I still had more work to do. I decided to refer to a poem in Eugenia Leigh's Bianca for guidance. I referred to "Bipolar II Disorder: First Evaluation." This poem is found on pages 17-18 in her book. Though I got the idea of dashes from her poem, this poem is not an imitation. It is more about finding the proper structure for my poem. So, I referred to Leigh's poem and created another draft. I had a fair share of dashes; I got rid of the ones that interrupted the structure of a list but kept the dashes for the rest of the poem. Then, I was fortunate enough to receive more feedback from Professor Whitcomb, and I decided to keep the list aspect with dashes only on my answers to the questions from the questionnaire, as you can see below. For the final draft, I took Professor Whitcomb's most recent advice and included what looks like an actual questionnaire in the poem. And my last change to draft 6: I put the questionnaire in bold! Thanks for all of your help, Professor Whitcomb!

ADHD: Questionnaire and Diagnosis by Miranda J. Gardner

My French Professor in class snaps—her fingers—in my face—
I immediately—re-focused—

I sat up—in my chair—and answered—her question—
“Ca Va?”—I said—“Je suis bien”—

She asked to—see me—after class—I went to her office—she didn’t—
mince words—“Miranda, do you have a learning disability?”

“I’ve never been asked that—before”—I said, with rosy cheeks that betrayed—me—
“You should get tested”—she said—and—sent me off—

to disability services—at University of San Diego—where they referred—
me—to—Dr. Linda Altes—

It was a cloudy spring day—in La Jolla, CA—when I—
stepped into her office—

She greeted me in a navy blazer—and Khaki pants—
She told me—“You may not get a diagnosis—at all”

“You might only receive—a message of normalcy”—
Then I—sat down—and answered—

1. Do you often start various projects but don’t finish them?
- Yes

2. Do you struggle with organizing tasks and get overwhelmed easily?
- Yes

3. Do you struggle to remember appointments and obligations?
- Yes

4. Do you procrastinate on a daily or weekly basis?
- Yes

5. Do you fidget and squirm with your hands and feet often?
- Yes

6. Do you feel like a train raging down the tracks and you can’t get off?
- Yes

7. Do you make "careless" mistakes such as surface errors in your writing?
- Yes

8. Do you struggle to pay attention to what people say to you?
- Yes

9. Do you sometimes speak rapidly with an inability to stop?
- Yes

10. Do you interrupt others while they’re talking but don’t mean to?
- Yes

11. Do you misplace keys or other items needed for daily use?
- Yes

12. When you’re focused on a task, do you think about everything, everywhere, all at once?
- Yes

13. Are you extremely empathetic and understand where others are coming from?
- Yes

14. Are you abundantly creative but have a hard time showing it?
- Yes

15. Do you have rejection sensitivity disorder where you feel others don’t like you?
- Yes

16. Are you a good student now but struggled with school in K-12?
- Yes

17. Are you able to hyper-focus and complete tasks in an insanely short time?
- Yes

18. Do you have multiple talents—such as singing, dancing, piano?
- Yes

“After reviewing the questionnaire”—

Dr. Altes said—“you might have—ADHD”—Then I was given—
the continuing performance test (CPT)—X’s—come up on a—computer—

screen—I had to hit—the space bar—every time—I saw—
an X—Let’s just say —I missed—a lot of X’s—

results: I have ADHD—and whiteknuckled—
it—until—finally at 25 years old—a diagnosis—to explain—

why I’ve struggled—

“Thank you”—I said, to Dr. Altes—who said—“Don’t—thank—
me—I’m doing my job—good luck to you”—

Citation: "The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) Symptom Checklist." (2012). Retrieved from [http://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/adhd-questionnaire-ASRS111.pdf