So, here we go. This is the first time I've talked about this topic in public. I've always been a "wired up" kind of guy. When you spend any amount of time with me, knowing I have ADHD is not a big surprise. One of my children decided they wanted to be tested for Adult ADD. The statement that sticks in my head is when they said "OMG dad! You HAVE to get tested. It's so clear that you have some of the same issues". At 50 I thought, what's the point, but decided to get tested anyways. Not that I was surprised when they told me I had ADHD. I knew this, but now it's official.
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I understand that not everyone learns the same way. I think it's amazing that there are people in the world, like my wife, who can commit to college and get a degree. I barely passed high school. It's not that I didn't try. I would spend hours studying for a test but always did poorly. My goal was to study as hard as I could just so I could get a C in the class. I got some A's and B's in school but these were in things that didn't involve traditional learning. I did great in Band, Choir, Shop. I was terrible at English, History, or anything that required memorizing. I just couldn't do it.
Over the years I've learned how to deal with my learning disability. Don't take on jobs that require a lot of paperwork. Focus on application, not memorization. Even writing this takes a huge amount of effort. In the time I write a single sentence, you can probably write a paragraph. So instead of fighting these issues, I learned how to work around them.
I don't teach in a traditional manner where you memorize the 5 steps for this or the 4 ways to do that. I usually teach backward. There is someone hurt in front of you, this is what you remember right at this moment. Take a breath. Take 1 step and begin. I teach by learning how to apply what you're taught, not how to memorize the steps. Most people forget a lot of what they learned in class within a few days anyway. I teach WHY you do something, not HOW. Once you understand WHY you need to do something, the HOW just falls into place. I am less concerned about HOW you do something and more concerned about WHY the way you do something works. I had a person who was born with the inability to bend his wrists. If you take a CPR class, bending your wrist to compress the chest is pretty important. He stayed after class and we found a way for him to successfully compress the chest of the manikin without bending his wrist. It's not HOW you do something, It's WHY you are doing it.
So, when you come to my class, don't worry about being perfect. Don't worry about passing the test. The way I teach, for most people, it just sticks. You're learning without trying to learn. I will do everything I can to help you figure out the best approach to a medical emergency in a way that works for you, not just the way you see it on the TV. You're the one helping the person in need. My job is to teach you the skills to offer assistance. The way I teach helps you to understand WHY you do something, not just HOW to do it. Besides, the person who is in need in front of you probably cares less about HOW you tried to help them and more about the result.
And this is why I teach the way I teach.