Introduction

Once you have been diagnosed with ADD, it is useful to get a snapshot of your functioning. This program was designed to help you target specific areas which are particularly challenging for you so that you can begin to prioritize your path through the rest of the ADD Skills Series. The questions fall into nine different categories, the mastery of which could be useful to ADDer and non-ADDer alike.

Instructions

These are basically true/false questions where you target the degree to which you identify with the particular issue. Answer these questions on a scale from 1 to 10.

• An answer of 1 means "This is never true for me, or is so rarely true it might as well be never."
• An answer of 10 means "This is very true for me -- it describes me so well it might as well be always."
• An answer of 6 would mean it was true more than half the time, etc.

Answer each question with the number that matches the degree to which you feel it describes you. There is no way to do this wrong. The answers are totally subjective. In fact, some clients have found that their scores change depending on what is going on in their lives when they take the test. The results merely point the way to the areas in which some focused work could mean a major difference in your functioning. As you work with the companion programs in particular areas you will notice a difference in the degree to which these areas affect your life. You will be more in control.

1. I have a terrible temper.

2. I have at least five unfinished projects right now.

3. I sometimes wonder if I'm manic/depressive.

4. I often work through lunch.

5. If I can push past my "tired zone" I can work all night.

6. If I don't get an A, it might as well be an F.

7. As a kid people called me space-cadet or said things like "Earth to John" a lot.

8. I have trouble sitting through an opera.

9. People tell me that I interrupt a lot

10. People often tell me I'm over-reacting.

11. I love beginnings and/or endings, hate middles.

12. Bad news can ruin my day.

13. When I'm on a roll I hate it when I have to stop to go to the bathroom.

14. I can never find my keys when it's time to go.

15. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right.

16. I lose my train of thought completely when someone interrupts me.

17. I bite my nails.

18. I have a tough time waiting in line.

19. When I was a kid I got in fights a lot.

20. Planning is my downfall.

21. When something great happens my mood can change on a dime.

22. I have a problem estimating how long a task will take.

23. I am definitely not a morning person.

24. Better never than late!

25. I have a hard time with written material unless I'm really interested.

26. I'm a chronic foot jiggler, pencil tapper, doodler or hummer.

27. When I want a special food I have to have it now.

28. My ADD symptoms are worse when I'm really stressed.

29. If I'm leaving for a trip I'm always up late the night before -- packing.

30. My anger is like a summer storm in Florida--gone & forgotten as quickly as it arrives.

31. It's really important to finish what you start, but I can't seem to do it.

32. The hardest thing about cooking is having it all come out at the same time.

33. If I'm going to do something, I have to be the best.

34. My mind feels like a radio station broadcasting from a noisy room.

35. When I'm nervous pacing helps.

36. I often "put my foot in my mouth" or say something I wish I hadn't said.

37. It doesn't take a lot to upset me.

38. It's almost impossible to get out of the house the first time I try.

39. The way I feel depends on the events of my day.

40. Once I begin a project I sometimes work for hours.

41. I can only do one thing at the time effectively.

42. A job worth doing is worth doing well.

43. When I'm fully engaged in a project it takes a lot to get my attention.

44. I was a hyperactive child.

45. If it's on my mind, it's out of my mouth.

46. I get really anxious when I'm talking on the phone and somebody in the room talks to me at the same time

47. The thing I hate most about doing the laundry is all that sorting before and folding afterward. (Sometimes I even wash it all in cold water and leave it in piles for days.)

48. If I'm in a great mood, I can't stand to hear bad news.

49. I'm always surprised at how long things take.

50. I have been divorced more than once (or have had a steady stream of intimate relationships).

51. No matter how much I accomplish I still feel like an underachiever.

52. I seem to think many thoughts simultaneously.

53. Its really hard for me to "just relax".

54. I answer the question before the person asking it gets to the end.

55. When I get really stressed I snap at people.

56. I never get all the items crossed off my todo list.

57. I express things vary dramatically.

58. I look forward to free weekends, but often find that I really haven't done anything with them when Monday rolls around.

59. It took me longer than the other kids to get used to changing classes (make sure I have the right book, go to my locker, etc.)

60. I am a chronic procrastinator.

61. If I have to much too do I have trouble doing any of it.

62. Even when I want to, I can't seem to slow down.

63. I finish other people sentences for them.

64. I get sick a lot.

65. When I have several important things to do I boggle.

66. Sometimes I'm the life of the party and sometimes I'm a bump on a log.

67. I seldom get all the way through my todo list for the day.

68. I have a self-help section in my personal library.

69. When I do something that's important to me I pay such close attention to detail that people jokingly call me "obsessive".

70. My teachers used to complain to my parents that I didn't seem to be listening in class.

71. My body feels like an engine with the idle set too high.

72. My long distance phone bill is outrageous!

73. Sometimes I just can't cope at all.

74. I have trouble starting a big project.

75. I laugh a lot -- more than most people, it seems.

76. Free time depresses me.

77. When I'm on a roll with a project I really hate to be interrupted.

78. When I accomplish something that's difficult to do, it "counts more" than an easy accomplishment.

79. I often forget what I was going to say, sometimes in the middle of a sentence.

80. I can't stand waiting in long lines.

81. It's really hard for me to be sexually faithful.

82. If something becomes a chronic problem there's a point where I may express rage.

83. There are times when every dish in the house is dirty.

84. Sometimes I'm not sure what "sets me off".

85. Often the second notice on a bill seems to come right after the bill.

86. I often have trouble getting started on things.

87. If I were totally normal I'd be boring.

88. Unless I'm fascinated, I often have to re-read a paragraph or an entire page because I just can't remember what it said.

89. I hate activities where I have to sit still (church, lectures, recitals, etc.)

90. If I don't agree with something I have to express it strongly.

91. When someone takes a long time to get to the point it makes me crazy inside.

92. There are times when I eat out, order in, or have cereal (or peanut butter, etc.) for dinner just because there is nothing in the house to eat.

93. I have "black" moods more than most people.

94. Hours often seem like minutes.

95. When I'm stopped at a red light the other cars notice the light changing before I do and start honking.

96. When I'm writing something and have to erase or cross out, it bothers me if I don't copy it over.

97. Most books don't hold my attention enough to make me want to finish them.

98. My favorite activities are physically active (running, basketball, rollerblading, aerobics)

99. I have a lot of credit card (or other) debt.

100. When I see a long line I start feeling frustrated before I'm even standing in it.

101. I often don't notice I'm hungry until I'm famished.

102. When I'm feeling on top of the world, nobody is more fun.

103. There's nothing unusual about staying up all night to complete a task.

104. Sometimes I stay where I am longer than I meant to, even if the place I am supposed to be is more fun.

105. If I am really careful I can turn in error free work any time.

106. Paying attention is a chronic problem for me.

107. My favorite activities involve high risk (bungee jumping, parachuting, fast driving, gambling).

108. Hardly a day goes by when I don't say something I wish I hadn't said.

109. I have a really hard time tolerating frustration.

110. I rarely take the time to balance my checkbook -- I let the bank do it.

111. A bad hair day really bums me out.

112. Time feels like something that happens to me -- I never really feel on top of it.

113. I'm afraid to stop because once I do it will be so hard to start again.

114. My rough drafts are better than most people's final copies.

115. When I'm reading I have to follow with my finger or use a straight edge or I lose my place.

116. People "joke" that I am going to wear out the TV remove control.

117. If I see something I want on sale I have to buy it.

118. If I can't find something easily it really upsets me.

119. I can't seem to get it together to pay all of my bills on time, even when I have the money.

120. Other people lead boring lives.

121. I often start getting ready about the time I should be leaving the house.

122. I have trouble going from waking to sleeping or sleeping to waking.

123. Even if there's no way I could know, I feel as if I should have known.

124. If I change tasks for a moment it may be hours or days before I get back to what I originally started.

125. Car trips are torture unless I'm driving, even if the other person's a better driver.

126. I swear a lot. It helps me blow off steam.

127. I hate it when I can't control the TV remote. It really makes me fighting mad.

128. Sometimes when a project is over I get depressed.

129. My energy fluctuates wildly -- periods of high activity followed by periods when all I want to do is sleep.

130. When people want me to do something for them I say yes even when I'm really very busy.

131. I have had more jobs in my life than most people.

132. If I really tried I could "get an A+" all the time in my areas of strength.

133. I'm having trouble focusing on this questionnaire long enough to complete it.

134. Most of the people in my family are really active.

135. As a kid, I had real trouble keeping a secret.

Please provide the following information

Thanks for taking the time to complete this assessment. Please provide the following information about yourself before submitting your answers. Thanks.
Email:
Name:

Optional Email Destination

You may specify an address to email a summary of your test results. Enter the email address below.
OptionalAddress:

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NOTICE These programs, concepts and attendant wording are intellectual property of Madelyn Griffith-Haynie and the Optimal Functioning© Institute. You may not repackage or resell them without express written authorization and royalty payment. You may make copies of this program as long as you make no changes, additions or deletions of any kind. If these programs were obtained as part of the course materials for ADD Coach Training (ACT), you may deliver them to single individual clients without authorization or fee. If you lead a workshop, or develop or deliver a program to a group or company based on or including this material or these concepts, authorization is required and royalties may be applied.