Don't fence me in

When Thom Hartmann's 13-year-old son, Justin was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), the devastating predictions for his future with this so-called "brain disease" prompted Hartmann to search for a positive understanding of the problem. Now, almost eight years later, Hartmann is a well regarded authority on the whole range of behaviours that are sometimes lazily referred to as Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder or simply "hyperactivity".

In fact, in his native country, the United States, it could be said that Hartmann has helped to lift the lid on the huge over-diagnosis (and sometimes under-diagnosis) of ADD - more than three million American schoolchildren are on the main anti-ADD drug, Ritalin. He can also provide Europeans with some useful insights, before we make some similar mistakes. Meanwhile, his son Justin is in third year in college, majoring in physics.

So, what is Hartmann saying that is new? Well, the central tenet of Hartmann's theory is that sufferers of ADD are simply "hunters in a farmers' world". In other words, they have characteristics which would be more suited to a civilisation that hunted for its survival rather than one which corralled animals and grew crops annually in designated places.

According to Hartmann, successful hunters think visually, constantly monitor their environment and are capable of changing strategy on a moment's notice. While they can throw an incredible burst of energy into the hunt, they are easily bored. They also face dangers that "normal" individuals would avoid and they are hard on themselves and those around them, he claims.

"If you compare the list of classic ADD symptoms and the characteristics of a good hunter, you'll see that they match almost perfectly," writes Hartmann in Attention Deficit Disorder - A Different Perception (just published here by Newleaf), his sixth book on ADD.

According to Hartmann, farmers - by contrast - sustain a slow and steady effort and see the long-range picture. As team players, they attend to the details, are cautious and patient with others. Such individuals are, the theory goes, non-ADD people.

He applies a retrospective rationale for the numbers of ADD sufferers in various places: for example, ADD is relatively rare among Japanese people, whose ancestors have lived in a purely agricultural society for at least 6,000 years. Some of this is a bit farfetched, but the metaphor works on its own.

Viewing ADD as a continuum of behaviours rather than a "you have it or you haven't" condition, Hartmann believes a large percentage of so-called sufferers can, if they understand themselves and make certain adaptations, live without drugs or special diets. He does, however, acknowledge the value of drugs such as Ritalin, behaviour-modification programmes and/or special diets in some cases - but not necessarily as a first and only answer.

Before we look at how his theory can help parents who believe their children suffer from ADD, let's be frank about some of our own adult personalities. According to Hartmann, "if you are an adult who has experienced chronic issues with restlessness, impatience, poor listening skills or a difficulty doing `boring' jobs like balancing a chequebook, you already know what it feels like to experience some of the challenges associated with ADD." Stand up anyone who can identify with the above.

So, once you have recognised or accepted some of these characteristics yourself, you may then begin to understand them better if you see them in your child. Either ways, Hartmann does make some worthwhile suggestions to help children diagnosed with ADD survive and even thrive in a "farmers' world".

Parents or teachers working with such children should, he advises, create a weekly performance template for each child to be checked daily and encourage special projects for extra credit and more-project-oriented rather than classroom-oriented work. Hartmann also suggests that such children should be labelled as "hunters" rather than ADD sufferers.

"When I told my son that he was a `hunter' and he came from noble lineage (Hartmann's ancestors hail from Norway), it provided him with a context to accept himself and keep his self-esteem intact. It was a turning point for him after having being told that he had a brain disease and that college was out of the question," Hartmann told E&L. "Justin still has to work much harder than his contempories and it is difficult for him to keep his attention, but he is doing well.

"I'm not suggesting the hunter-farmer concept is good science. What's important to me is the stories people have in their heads about themselves. It's important to acknowledge that people with ADD are different and there are challenges - sometimes a need for special education and medication - but the hunter-farmer theory helps them keep their self-esteem intact," he adds. Hartmann's tips for "hunter" adults could also be easily adopted by teenagers. They include the following:

organise your time around tasks;

train your attention span; break your work (or home) responsibilities into specific "goal units";

create distraction-free zones;

exercise daily;

know what you do well and stick to it.

And then, when it comes to choosing a job, "hunter" types should select carefully. Police officers, private detectives, freelance writers, reporters, airplane pilots, disc jockeys, salespeople, consultants and entrepreneurs are among the occupations which, according to Hartmann, have a high number of "hunters" among their ranks.