<p>Recently I've been having weird quirks about me that I've noticed for a while but have been getting worse: I've been having difficulty concentrating and I seem to be hypersensitive to stimuli (the high-pitched sounds from TVs, glare from the overhead, anything shiny, music).</p>
<p>It's messing with schoolwork because in one class the overhead glare bothers me so much that it's really, really hard to copy notes. The only spot where I could avoid it was right next to the overhead but when I started sitting there the overhead's whirring sound started bothering me. Playing music is starting to bother me, even the music I like, and when the class is watching a movie and sunlight is coming in from a window it'll bother me . . . a lot. People think I'm going nuts, because they can just ignore stuff like this. Does this sound like ADD?</p>
<p>no- but it does sound like somethng affecting your nervous system
Im not a neuropysch, but ADD presents much earlier generally than high school- however it does sound like a good eval is in order.</p>
<p>I think you'd be wise to talk with your doctor about all this, particularly if you're noticing a change. It sounds as if it's becoming harder to focus, and perhaps a medical eval could help you get to root of the problem.</p>
<p>It sounds more like Lyme disease to me. All of the symptoms you mention are common ones for lyme. Most people don't rememeber ever even having a tick and certainly not the "bullseye". I was sick with it for 3 years- still have lasting issues. I remember needing to wear sunglasses in the grocery store because it was too bright for my eyes. They treat it with a fairly aggressive round of antibiotics. Good Luck</p>
<p>Difficulty in distinguishing sounds from background noise. Tendency to be over-sensitive to noise </p>
<p>Over-sensitive to light </p>
<p>Difficulty with concentration. May be easily distracted </p>
<p>The above are symptoms of Dyspraxia. Are you someone who avoids sports? Do labels in the back of your shirts bother you? Did you skip crawling as an infant and went straight to walking?</p>
<p>I think the best thing you could do would be to go to your doctor or other mental health pro. As well meaning as these intentions are, being diagnosed by people you have met only on the internet is never a good thing.</p>
<p>chaz90 is correct - however, I would recommend you find a good neuropsychologist who is familiar with learning disorders.</p>
<p>Most universities have a skills support group or counseling center. You might call and see if there is anyone on staff who works with students who have learning disorders. You might even be able to be evaluated by university staff or they might have a recommendation for someone you can be evaluated by off campus.</p>
<p>I was being tested a couple years ago for verbal problems and I did well on every part of the test except one part. They read paragraphs out loud while there was a lawnmower outside that prevented me from hearing them. As a result of that, they wrote that I "cannot understand spoken paragraphs." Anyone who talks to me knows that I can understand spoken paragraphs, but that didn't stop them. My mom tried to blame it on hypersensitivity to noise. I think it was because the lawn mower was too loud.</p>
<p>In other words, special needs specialists don't always know what they're doing. If you go to several different professionals, there's a good chance you will get the same results you found on this message board. Every person will give you a different diagnosis. Sometimes it's easier just to tough it out.</p>
<p>When I read anecdotes like the above, it makes me want to scream.</p>
<p>There are far too many kids walking around with ridiculous diagnoses, based on a single test, with a huge conclusion drawn from it. I wish this were rarer than it is, but I have seen it many too many times.</p>
<p>The goal is a multi-disciplinary evaluation, so that different professionals can see recurring behavior or patterns in different kinds of settings, with different subtests, over different days.</p>
<p>A single test determining a diagnosis is just a huge red flag.</p>
<p>I've been tested for all sorts of things for my entire childhood. I've had at a lot of multi-disciplinary evaluations. According to my mom I got my first one when I was 3. </p>
<p>As a result of the way my life has gone, I'm cynical about the mental health business and I think people who put a lot of faith in it are naive. I feel like I have to say this because nobody else seems to be representing this side of the issue. Mental health is like art, it can be subjective and everyone has their own interpretation. Even if you do get the correct diagnosis, there's still a good chance nobody can help you. I'm sure some people feel like they've received a lot of help from professionals. I'm not one of them. I've known one or two sped people that have been helpful, but for the most part I've felt trapped in the system. The special ed system is designed to turn people into low wage workers, and they don't handle people with real goals very well. They try to discourage people from doing anything "unrealistic." Do you see why it might not be a good idea to get involved with something like this?</p>