Communication Breakdown
If you are old enough to remember or you are a music fan, “Communication Breakdown” is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin. It was one of the first songs that Jimmy Page and Robert Plant worked on together.
I think we’ve all had some communication breakdowns at various points of our lives and in relationships. When I reflect back on my past, I can see where ADD affected the various relationships in my life, be it personal or business. However, there were both positive and negative ways my relationships were impacted.
Most people with ADD are creative, offer high levels of energy and are also spontaneous. These traits or characteristics bring many wonderful things into a relationship. What a person with ADD needs to be aware of, is that typical ADD’ers can lack communication skills, will interrupt others and can be forgetful. Ultimately, this impacts communication in any relationship.
According to About.com, the most often heard complaint about relationships with an ADD’er, is that person refuses to seek treatment. I feel fortunate for having sought treatment and developing the necessary skills and thought processes to communicate effectively. In my experience, I found there were a number of key areas that I worked on which have delivered benefits, such as:
- Learning to listen
- Listening without interrupting
- Being more empathetic
- Learning more about a situation or topic being communicated with an individual
- Learning that a slower well thought out response is worth the wait, instead of a quick inaccurately relayed message (a.ka. foot in mouth)
All simple things, but challenges that are typical for most ADD’ers to be aware of and work on. If an ADD’er can harness their creative, energetic and spontaneous nature, they can be hard to stop on the road to success!!