Robert Tudisco, Executive Director of The Edge Foundation (an organization whose mission is to provide specialized coaching for college students with ADHD), is also a practicing attorney, freelance writer and an adult diagnosed with ADHD. He is an avid runner and shares that running helps him cope with his ADHD. Since his diagnosis, Robert has researched and written extensively on the subject of practical coping mechanisms and systems for adults with his ADHD. His most personal and close to the heart writing, however, is a poem entitled The Wonderfulness of Me. I am very excited to be able to share this poem with you.
The Wonderfulness of Me
If you took all of the things that were special about me, you could put them all together and call it AD/HD. No better, no worse, just different that's me. I'm really not crazy, please try and see. Like a talented wizard in a world full of "Muggles," it's no wonder all you see is frustration and struggles.
As I daydream and drift, you think no one's there but nothing could be further from the truth, believe me, I swear. I see your impatience as my mind starts to wander. But, you don't know the depth of the thoughts that I ponder. For creative thinkers, get lost in deep thought, which leads to the illusion that they cannot be taught.
I know trying to reach me can give you the blues, but I wish for just once, you could walk in my shoes. To see things through my eyes, you would be amazed, at the speed and sheer volume my thoughts seem to blaze.
I'm not lazy or stupid, if only you knew, how truly difficult it is to limit myself and think like you do. But, I can see things that you'll never see; it's like second nature, because I am me.
With lightning fast reflexes, I can switch gears. To be firm and inflexible is the worst of my fears. I'm calm in a crisis and know just what to do for I'm in great company, Mozart , Edison and Churchill to name just a few.
So show me some patience, as I'm patient with you. Just a little tolerance, it's long overdue. Please try and understand me, along with my AD/HD. It's a very big part of the wonderfulness of me.
-- Robert Tudisco
Thank you Mr. Tudisco for writing your beautiful and very personal poem. As a mother raising a child with ADHD, I can often lose track of the ” wonderfulness” of her very special qualities. Thank you for reminding me. I am printing your poem and framing in her room so it reminds me when I so often forget.
Robert,
Your poem is very thoughtful and insightful. If you don’t get the patience, tolerance, and understanding you are asking for just practice directing your thoughts more to the present moment and everything is always OK there. The best thing about this world is that we become or perceive whatever we believe and “wonderfulness” will take you a long way.
Nothing is farther from the truth than what this poem implies. I know ’cause I have a grandson with a tint (not full blown though) of ADHD. I love this poem. I will share this with my grandson’s teachers.
Love the poem! I am a mother raising a daughter with ADHD and Bipolar. I know she is unique and has special qualities. I hope for her sake she will learn to work with and develop her talents.
Hey! this poem comes just in time!!!
I got my AD/HD late in life (or more apparent shall we say). And I need this poem to send my long-suffering partner. He’s getting frustrated and beginning to lose his patience. Thanks a mil Mr. Tudisco………
Thank you all for your kind words about the poem. When you write something like that from your heart, the best reward you can get is knowing that it touched someone else’s.
Robert,
I am a 41 year old father of 4 girls and facing the most difficult and painful experience of my life…DIVORCE!!!
It’s a real shame that so many wonderful families are having their lives torn apart with such little attention to this already attention deficient “disease”. It’s not fair to anyone involved. I hurt deeply for my personal loss of no longer being the one to make my wife laugh like I always did, and not being there to watch my children grow. Those are just 2 of the many personal losses. But that’s only half the pain. The hardest pain to overcome is knowing that the one’s that I love the most in this world are suffering because of what I was deficient at. My future ex-wife has been through so much, that to see her leave, after 16 years of being together, means that this woman who was so indescribably in love with me, must have been destroyed inside. I only hope one day that this “family killer” will become more focused on in the medical field to reduce the number of family fatalities.
Thank you so much for the poem. I really says it all.
Wow, your poem is fantastic and literally brought tears to my eyes because it reminds me so much of my daughter. As the parent of a child with ADHD, I feel like I constantly have to be reminding, redirecting and modifying behavior so that my child can be successful. However, your poem reminded me that my daughter is pretty wonderful and although she must learn to function within society, I can’t let that wonderful, rapid thinking creativity get squashed. As Carin stated, I am going to print and hang this poem to remind me that I need to celebrate the wonders of my child. Thanks Robert.
Hi Mr. Tudisco,
My name is Nicole and I am 15 years old. I just read your poem and all I have to say is that it was the most inspiring thing I’ve ever read in my life. The message of it is so powerful and comes across so well in your poem. Although I don’t have a personal relationship with anyone that has AD/HD, this poem has helped me to realize what it’s like for people who do. Thank you for opening my eyes to the struggles and challenges other people must deal with in their life but that those are just the things that make them such a wonderful person=)