Job Discussion Forums

[JimDunlop2]

callmesim: Not at all true. As I mentioned, my wife has ADD and she wasn't diagnosed until I brought it up a few years after we started dating. I was the first person to ever mention it to her, even though she had all the symptoms since childhood (that part IS necessary in order to be diagnosed)... It took several trips to a psychologist, required a number of diagnostic tests, including a standardized IQ test. Many people go through life and never get diagnosed for it, as it can be an elusive condition to nail down -- the way it manifests itself relies heavily on an individual's personality so many people (especially the ones who know you best - like your family may not spot the symptoms).

XMizer: The reason why it's a good idea to get diagnosed is because you can begin to get support and treatment for it. There exist many opportunities for people with ADD/ADHD in the way of medication, support groups, government-funded programs, employment assistance, etc... But the key is -- you MUST have it on paper that you have this condition.

In my wife's case, being diagnosed meant additional help when she was styudying in college. It meant she could write her exams alone in a quiet room or request extra time to complete her exams or assignments, for instance. It also meant that she could get prescriptions for medications aimed to help her concentration levels -- medications which normal doctors could not perscribe with normal prescription sheets (as they are highly regulated in the province of Alberta)... For a senior-level beahvioral psycholgoy class in uni, I actually did an analysis and study of resources available to learning-disabled students at post-secondary institutions in Alberta. The entire report was almost 50 pages and very detailed.

In any event, everyone's situation is different, but knowing (and having a doctor confirm) that you have ADHD is the first step in getting support in areas that you are having troubles with. For my wife, getting diagnosed was a huge burden lifted. It allowed us to start looking at specific strategies to help her cope with and function in a regular, full-time job (it's unbelievablly difficult for someone with ADHD to get and hold down a good job for any length of time) , and just improving her life in general.

[tokyo story]

I was also rejected by NOVA. It was partially my fault. My heart wasn't really in it and it probably showed. But a NOVA interview is no reflection on whether you can teach or not (whatever that really means), it's about filling the certain requirements they have.

[OnTime]

Some one on page two of this thread mentioned that many that pass interviews with JET, Nova etc have no right to be near a room of learners. I would absolutely agree.

Just because you have been declined by these enterprises doesn't mean anything really. The JET scheme are mostly interested in your social background; university attended, parents occupations etc. This sounds odd, but it also sounds like that well known Japanese concept of social pretence. Nova and other McDonalds style edu-businesses don't even pretend to be schools - heavens no! If you think you're being judged on your ability to teach you're not. Very popular and skilled teachers are rejected by Nova and all on a regular basis. In fact if you do consider yourself a teacher you probably wouldn't stay at Nova too long or even apply there. Also, if you think you're being judged on any deep aspect of your character...well...once again, you're not. Don't take rejection from these set-meal serving fast-food joints personally at all. In fact take it as a commendation and once you have feasted your eyes on Japan, take off to a country where English language learning actually matters.

[Dipso]

JET are interested in your parents' occupations? I don't quite understand what you're intimating there. I was a JET participant for three years and no enquiries into my social background were ever made, neither at the interview nor in my schools. I am not from a remotely privileged background, btw.

As for the eikaiwa, at the same time as I applied for Aeon (for whom I now work), I also applied to Geos. I didn't so much as get a reply from Geos, let alone an interview. (I have a CELTA plus several years EFL experience, as well as my three years on JET.) Who knows what the eikaiwa are looking for sometimes? An Aeon recruiter also rather candidly told me that the company sometimes had problems with experienced teachers "who think that they have nothing to learn from us, but I am sure you won't be like that". Hmmm!

[earthmonkey]

[callmesim]

JimDunlop: Not at all true. ADD and ADHD are two completely different conditions. Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperctivity Disorder. It sounds to be like you're getting the two mixed up.

There are too many cases of incorrect diagnoses out there but if someone suffers ADHD, they would have been a hell of a child at school and been near impossible to teach. Thinking "hmm, I might be ADHD" is like saying "I might be a manic depressive" because you are sad one day and laugh at a joke the next.

Doing my best to ignore it, living with a psychologist for 10 years taught me some things.

As far as I am aware, ADD can possibly go undetected like Dyslexia but ADHD cannot.

So XMixer, that's why I don't think it would be ADHD. If you passed High School and university without treatment, the chances of you having ADHD are slim to none. Though stranger things have happened.

[XMizer]

ADHD is the new term for ADD.

I did pass school and university. In fact, I still managed to get above average in university but that's cuz I worked much harder than most people.

But when I study, it is highly ineffective. When I read a textbook it may take me 30 mins or 1 hr to read a page. And sometimes, I would read 15 pages without realizing it. For example, I could be page 210 and then page 225 the next minute without realizing what I read in between but I remember what I was thinking during that time and it got nothing to do with school.

[ripslyme]

[guest of Japan]

XMiser wrote:

[XMizer]

The only difference is the hyperactivity. Otherwise, it's the same.
And just cuz I can read a book for 5 minutes doesn't mean I don't have ADD. I may look like a person reading my book from a third person perspective but my mind is not. I don't call that reading.

And when I read a sentence, it usually takes me around 5 times to read it before I grasp what it means.

And there are people that tend to do well in school with ADHD.

[JimDunlop2]

Thank you very much, I haven't lived with a psychologst for 10 years, but my degree IS IN psychology and I've done enough reading of the DSM-IV to know this condition -- all the more so since I do live with someone who has it and was diagnosed having it later in life.

ADD and ADHD are very similar. The first two letters: AD (Attention deficit) may be of either the hyperactive type or the inattentive type. If there is no hyperactivity, merely ADD should be used. ADHD is the term used when there is also hyperactivity in addition to the attention deficit. The two conditions are similar enough and thought to have the same root cause, so even the DSM-IV treats them as a collective whole rather than dedicating separate sections to them.

callmesim, your statements are completely off-base and incorrect. It shows how little you know about the topic. It is completely possible for people to remain diagnosed for a long time. Just because someone gets through school means nothing. If ANYTHING, living with a psychologist for 10 years should have shown you by now is that psychological illnesses are NOT like a common cold -- you don't either have it or not... Each and every illness has an extremely wide range of symptoms and to what extent they are present or not. The same way, not everyone with major depression wants to commit suicide, and not everyone with psychopathy wants to kill you. To say that if you had ADD/ADHD you wouldn't have even made it through school is just plain false. The only place age has in making a diagnosis is WHEN did the symptoms start -- NOT when they were first recognized for what they were.

In fact, in some individuals, the condition changes over time. It is completely possible to have ADHD as a child, but later in life to lose the hyperactivity. This is not a set condition. I also know enough people with ADHD who have no formal diagnosis -- that is very common. Everyone's situation is different. I spent enough hours in my "abnormal and clinal psych" classes to know that.

[kdynamic]

I am sure we could go around and round about ADHD vs ADD for several more pages, but getting back on topic: XMizer, if it makes you feel better about yourself to rationalize your repeated rejections with claims of a learning disability, that's fine. But if you really have such problems, I can see why they don't want to hire you, and it seems like it would be a disservice to the students to have you as a teacher if it's as bad as you say. Many people overcome learning disabilities to do whatever they want with their lives. So either pick yourself up and get it under control and realize your goals, or else reasses your goals. But don't have a pity party for yourself.

There are thousands of people who want to come to Japan and teach, and they get picked for employment for a reason. Either you make the cut, or you don't. Either you can do the job, or you can't. No one owes you a job in Japan. Instead of focusing on past failures, why not spend your energy working to improve yourself to become qualified and suited for the job you want?

Sorry, I don't want to see harsh, but this thread made me feel like this:

[callmesim]

[movinaround]

[shuize]