App Review

Diagnosis with ADHD last year gave me an explanation as to why even with the knowledge of my Asperger's diagnosis I had been unsuccessful in establishing structures and strategies that enabled me to function fully and get things done. Contrary to popular belief (it seems) many people who have a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD or autism spectrum condition do actually want to be as independent as they can be and do as much as they can to "help themselves" - I am one of those people and it just wasn't working for me and I couldn't work out why.

I am a highly intelligent person but I do struggle significantly with some simple and fundamental activities many take for granted and my writing style gives false impression that such things could not possibly be a challenge for me - things like communication, understanding and adapting to change. I can see the kind of things I need in order to increase my independence but to implement these alone is a cause of great frustration as it just fails for reasons I don't fully understand no matter how hard I "try". 

After the ADHD diagnosis I had a renewed sense of knowing I needed something in place that kept me organised, reminded me of my daily responsibilities and as far as possible aided me in carrying these things out. One of the most useful tools I have is my iPad and iPhone - to me these are not luxury items, they are necessary. Paper organisation systems become overwhelming and get lost. Everything in one place, accessible at any time - out of my head is such an attractive proposition and if you spent any time inside my head you would totally get why.

So I set about finding apps and tools I felt would be able to help me manage some of the areas I face challenges in to free up my mind to be able to learn and concentrate on skills that were missing. To me this was a logical approach and in the absence of support and guidance from professionals it has been all I have had to go with. I have plans for a whole app based system to help with some of my challenges - this is not fully set up yet so there will be lots to work out to make sure it works as best it can although I know too that this system on its own is only going to be a foundation as on its own it will not be the answer or solution to all the difficulties and challenges I face. 

In the next few blog posts I am intending to cover various different applications I have discovered that may be useful to people who have a diagnosis of autism or ADHD or both and their families. Each app or part of the system I have devised will have its own post and I will update this blog with a content list and link to the blog. I am always on the look out for any apps which may be helpful so please feel free to suggest any in comments. Take from this what you can, different things work for different people and I'm just sharing what I have found in the hope it might help someone else.

Blog Post 1 - Carezone - co-ordinate and manage the health and care of yourself and your family