Nobody's answered you yet so I'm going to add a few pennies...

Some of what you describe could have been describing me in high school, except that I wasn't willing to just not turn things in so I did everything at the last minute. I had a couple of teachers who thought they would "teach" me: in homeroom, said one, I'll mark you tardy if you're not in here when the bell rings (result: lots and lots of tardies per quarter, with detention after school accordingly); in (advanced) math, said another, I'll take off full credit for the problem every time you make a careless arithmetic mistake (result: test results on conceptual units like geometry, A, on units with arithmetic, F)... I couldn't stop being 2 or 5 minutes late, and I couldn't stop making "dumb" mistakes. Nobody knew about inattentive ADD in those days and nobody ever diagnosed it in girls, they didn't even worry too much about "potential" as long as a kid was doing ok.

Fast forwarding to my 40s, when a recently-diagnosed friend said I should read some of her books on it, she thought I had it too (of course not, said I) -- well, suddenly, a whole new paradigm, a new way to think about all the patterns. I inhaled ADD books.

So to you I would say first, keep reading and talking to people, you know your son better than anyone else and you and he together need to figure out what works and what doesn't. Don't take any one authority as the end of the story unless life is all around better. A sampling:

1. have a look at Daniel Amen's work, which puts huge emphasis on the biological and chemical workings of the brain, and how often issues from ADD to tackle football have actual physical effects on brain activity and inactivity. It's a good antidote to having been called "lazy"! Neurotransmitters don't have character flaws and moral failings :-)

He also emphasizes that different meds are going to work or not work or partly work for different brains (he says there are 6 different kinds of ADD). His web site has some info and pictures of brain scans (and also a "store"), the book that really made me think about brains was _Healing ADD_, but I have to say the brain scan images are pretty powerful.

2. Read Ned Hallowell's stuff, if you haven't. Start with Hallowell and Ratey, _Answers to Distraction_. He is ADD himself; he likes to emphasize all the good aspects of the ADD brain (from creativity to compassion). He has all kinds of suggestions that aren't "just" prescription meds.

3. If your son's doc is not willing to vary dosages and try different meds (you didn't say what your son is on now), get a consultation with a different doc. I'm pretty sure I would rather be a decent human being than be able to finish my homework on time -- if the meds he's on are the culprit, he himself might want to try some other options. I

4. Maybe your son himself would like to write about how it feels to live in his brain -- lots of adults in these forums live in similar brains! Some of us might have helpful experiences.

5. There are some folks out there who say that being "gifted" can look alot like ADD all by itself -- a bored kid doesn't try very hard, etc. Fair enough. True enough! But I'm a happier adult if I pay my bills on time even if it's boring, and I'm a happier adult if I actually finish some of my projects instead of endlessly getting great ideas for new ones... have a look at http://borntoexplore.org/index.html.

Good luck!

lupin.

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