ADHD / ADD Support Group

Hmmm...let's see:

Richard Branson of Virgin Inc has ADD

The founders of both Jet Blue Airlines & Kinko's Copy Centers have ADD

Walt Disney had ADD

For complete list check this out:

http://www.adhdrelief.com/famous.html

Mark Lowery (Christian comedian and singer). I love him. Also, St. Peter--no, I'm serious. I've heard that even though back in those days they had no way of knowing--the signs are pretty much there with him (lol).

I do believe that most children and adults with ADD or ADHD are very intelligent. My son is 8, and has ADHD. They say at school that he is unable to focus, when I know that he is simply hyper-focused! These type of kids, are very very good at things that interest them, if it doesn't interest them...forget it. My son cannot be stopped if he gets into something that interests him. He is very bright, but schools fail to see this quality. They expect all kids to be robot-like and have no individuality, to all be the same. Makes the teacher's job easier that way. Not slamming all teachers, cause some are awesome, and understanding of this condition. My son has bee on straterra for maybe 6-7 months now, he is on 40 mg, I refused to put him on a stimulant medication, again, not knocking that, it just isn't for our family. I don't know if he has built up a tolerance to it, but his teacher and us have noticed that it isn't working as well as it had previously. I refuse to let the school system single him out, like he is so horribly different. I know for a fact that he is going to make us very proud when he is grown. (He makes us proud now) He is special and is going to do awesome things one day. Read the books on the Edison trait child, many many popular scientists, actors, and inventors had the Edison trait.

Virgin Airlines ....the owner and founder has ADHD/ADD....(AUSTRALIA)
Good point C.C..most people think were' dummies!..but rather emotionally clever!!!(too)xo

albert einstein
mozart
see more people with adhd here:
http://add.about.com/od/famouspeop...

blessedwith4 that sounds like my childhood except no one ever thought of adhd being my problem...i was able to pay very close attention to what teachers had to say the first time around and that was all it took, the rest of the time i was a disturbance, never did homework(really, never) but always managed to ace 99%of tests, until my teenage years when i managed to spiral out of control during my last 2 years of high school...continue to help/support him and continue to learn about this condition. don't let it get the best of him...Good luck

Another famous guy with ADD (ahem- the Edison Trait) was Henry Ford, the creator of the Ford Motor Company and father of the modern assembly line. =)
I see someone else mentioned the Edison Trait linked with ADD. Most everyone with ADD/ADHD has the Edison Trait.
I am almost done with a book called "The Edison Trait" by Lucy Jo Palladino. I recommend this book to all of you. It's AMAZING.
My great grandfather, grandfather, mother, myself and my son all have the Edison Trait. I was diagnosed with mild ADD during my teen years and only recently came to discover the Edison Trait because of my son. He has the same thing going on as what others have described here: intensely smart but not doing so well in school. We fail because we are divergent thinkers in a convergent thinking world.
Kids with ADD do well in Montessori schools because they get to learn at their own pace and are not stuck listening to a rambling teacher for hours. While most kids can handle rambling, ADD kids can't. They need to hear it once then move onto the next thing.
Just thought I'd add my 2 cents. =)

GOOD GOD! Doesn't anyone over 20 know about Google? I just typed in ADD/ADHD + Famous + List. I forgive your age.

1. Ansel Adams (1902-1984) — Photographer
2. Ann Bancroft — (1931-present) — Actress
3. Alexander Graham Bell — (1862-1939) — Telephone Inventor
4. Harry Andersen — (1952-present) — Actor
5. Hans Christian Anderson — (1805-1875) — Author
6. Beethoven — (1770-1827) — Composer
7. Harry Belafonte — (1927-present) — Actor, Vocalist
8. Col. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington — (1912-1988)
WWII Flying Ace (Black Sheep Squadron Leader)
9. Terry Bradshaw — (1948-Present) — Football Quarterback
10. George Burns — (1896-1996) — Actor
11. Sir Richard Francis Burton — (1821-1890)
Explorer, Linguist, Scholar, Writer
12. Admiral Richard Byrd — (1888-1957) — Aviator
(Was retired from the navy as, "Unfit for service")
13. Thomas Carlyle — (1795-1881)
Scottish historian, critic, and sociological writer
14. Andrew Carnegie - (1835-1919) Industialist
15. Jim Carrey — (1962-present) — Comedian
16. Lewis Carroll — (1832-1898) — Author (Alice in Wonderland)
17. Prince Charles — (1948-present) — Future King of England
18. Cher (1946-present)— Actress/Singer
19. Agatha Christie — (1890-1976) — Author
20. Winston Churchill — (1874-1965) — Statesman (Failed the sixth grade)
21. Bill Cosby — (1937-present) — Actor
22. Tom Cruise — (1962-present) — Actor
23. Harvey Cushing M.D. — (1869-1939)
Greatest Neurosurgeon of the 20th Century
24. Salvador Dali — (1904-1989) —Artist
25. Leonardo da Vinci — (1452-1519) — Inventor, Artist
26. John Denver — (1943-1997) — Musician
27. Walt Disney — (1901-1971)
(A newspaper editor fired him because he had "No good ideas".)
28. Kirk Douglas — (1916-present) — Actor
29. Thomas Edison — (1847-1931) — Inventor
(His teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything)
30. Albert Einstein — (1879-1955) — Physicist
(Famous Tongue Sticking Out Picture)
(Einstein was four years old before he could speak,
and seven before he could read)
31. Dwight D. Eisenhower — (1890-1969) — U. S. President, Military General
32. Michael Faraday — (1791-1867) — British Physicist, Chemist
33. F. Scott Fitzgerald — (1896-1940) — Author
34. Malcolm Forbes — (1919-1990) — Forbes Magazine Founder & Publisher
35. Henry Ford — (1863-1947) — Automobile Innovator
36. Benjamin Franklin — (1706 - 1790) — Politician, Elder Statesman
37. Galileo (Galilei) — (1564-1642) — Mathematician, Astronomer
38. Danny Glover — (1947-present) — Actor
39. Tracey Gold — (1969-present) — Actress
40. Whoopi Goldberg — (1955-present) — Actress
41. Georg Frideric Handel — (1685-1759) — Composer
42. William Randolph Hearst — (1863-1951) — Newspaper Magnate
43. Ernest Hemingway — (1899-1961) — Author
44. Mariel Hemingway — (1961) — Actress
45. Milton Hershey — "The Chocolate King" — (1857-1945)
46. Dustin Hoffman — (1937-present) — Actor
47. Bruce Jenner — (1949-present) — Athlete
48. Luci Baines Johnson (1947-present) — LBJ's Daughter
49. "Magic" Johnson — (1959-present) — Basketball Player
50. Samuel Johnson — Author
51. Michael Jordan — (1963-present) — Basketball Player
52. John F. Kennedy — (1917-1963) — U. S. President
53. Robert F. Kennedy — (1925-1968) — U.S. Attorney General
54. Jason Kidd — (1973-present) — Professional Basketball Player
55. John Lennon — (1940-1980) — Musician
56. Frederick Carlton (Carl) Lewis — (1961-present)
Olympic Gold Metalist, American track-and-field athlete.
57. Meriwether Lewis (Lewis & Clark) — (1774 -1809) — Explorer
58. Abraham Lincoln — (1809-1865) — U.S. President
(Entered The Black Hawk War as a Captain and came out a Private)
59. Greg Louganis — (1960-present) — Olympic Gold Medalist (Diving)
60. James Clerk Maxwell — (1831-1879) — British Physicist
61. Steve McQueen — (1930-1980) — Actor
62. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — (1756-1791) — Composer
63. Napoleon Bonaparte — (1769-1873) — Emperor
64. Nasser (Gamal Abdel-nasser) — (1918-1970) — Egyptian Leader
65. Sir Issac Newton —(1642-1727) — Scientist, Mathematician
(Did poorly in grade school)
66. Nostradamus — (1503-1566) — Physician, Prophet
67. Ozzy Osbourne — (1948-present)
68. Louis Pasteur — (1822-1895) — Scientist
(Rated as mediocre in chemistry when he attended the Royal College)
69. General George Patton — (1885-1945) — Military
70. Pablo Picasso — (1882-1973) — Artist
71. Edgar Allan Poe — (1809-1849) — Author, Poet
72. Rachmaninov — (1873-1943) — Composer
73. Eddie Rickenbacker — (1890-1973) — WWI Flying Ace
74. John D. Rockefeller — (1839-1937)
Founder, Standard Oil Company
75. Nelson Rockefeller — (1908-1979) — U.S. Vice President
76. August Rodin — (1840-1917) — Artist, Sculptor
77. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt — (1844-1962) — First Lady
78. Pete Rose — (1941-present) — Baseball Player
79. Babe Ruth — (1895-1948) — Baseball Legend
80. Nolan Ryan — (1947-present) — Baseball Player
81. Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat — (1918-1981) — Egyptian President
Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1976
82. George C. Scott — (1927-present) — Actor
83. George Bernard Shaw — (1856-1950)—Author
84. Will Smith — Actor, Rapper, Entertainer
85. Tom Smothers — (1937-present) — Actor, Singer, Entertainer
86. Socrates — (469-399 B.C.) — Philosopher
87. Suzanne Somers — (1946-present) — Actress
88. Steven Spielberg — (1946-present) — Filmmaker
89. Sylvester Stallone — (1946-present) — Actor
90. Jackie Stewart — (1939-present) — Grand Prix Hall of Famer
91. James Stewart — (1908-1997) — Actor
92. Henry David Thoreau — (1817-1862) — Author
93. (Lev Nikolayevich) Leo Tolstoy — (1828-1910) — Russian Author
(Flunked out of college)
94. Alberto Tomba — (1966-present) — Italian Alpine Ski Champion
95. Vincent van Gogh — (1853-1890) — Artist
96. Russell Varian — (1899-1959) — Inventor
97. Jules Verne — (1828-1905) — Author
98. Werner von Braun — (1912-1977) — Rocket Scientist
Flunked 9th grade algebra.
99. Lindsay Wagner — (1949-present) — Actress (Bionic Woman)
100. Gen. William C. Westmoreland — (1914-present) — Military (Vietnam Era)
101. Robin Williams — (1952-present) — Comedian
102. Woodrow Wilson — (1856-1924) — U. S. President
103. Henry Winkler — (1945-present) — Actor (Fonzie)
104. Stevie Wonder — (1950-present ) — Musician
105. F. W. Woolworth — (1852-1919) — Department Store Innovator
(While working in a dry goods store at 21, his employers wouldn't let him
wait on a customer because he "Didn't have enough sense.")
106. Frank Lloyd Wright — (1867-1959) — Architect
107. Orville Wright — (1871-1948) — Airplane Developer
108. Wilber Wright — (1867-1912) — Airplane Developer
109. William Wrigley, Jr. — (1933-1999) — Chewing Gum Maker
110. William Butler Yeats — (1865-1939) Irish Author

There's many more who are famous and currently alive. Look at:
http://www.adhdrelief.com/famous.html

Ty Pennington from Extreme Home Makeover has ADHD.

Many of these people mentioned here are also speculated to have Asperger's Syndrome or Autism. They're all on the same spectrum.