<<Have you had ADD as a child and adult?...Many of the kids I follow are
highly athletic, but are diagnosed with bipolar disorder when they reach
adulthood with alarming frequency.  Many of them also have gross and fine
motor deficits.>>

Hi Mary Ann,

PD, ADD, Bi-P can all exist at the same time; behavioral problems like
opposition defiant disorder (ODD) can also overlap.  What you see as an
alarming trend in the adult diagnosis of Bi-Polar disorder is a correction
of initial diagnosis. Bi-polar disorder usually does not manifest until
adulthood. Currently many children are being misdiagnosed as ADD; much of
what  physicians are seeing as ADD behaviors are in fact early
symptoms-indications  of bi-polar disorder.  Researcher, Dr. Amen (Amm'mun),
I think his first name is David, has recently had another book on the NY
Times best seller list. He has done more research into ADD than anyone else
I can think of. He has divided ADD into 6 types each with its own
constellation of behaviors and symptoms. Each type is distinct and visible
in the brain scan research he does. There are about 16 new drugs "in the
pipeline" for the treatment of ADD. Fine motor deficits are so common in ADD
that I think they are considered to be  "normal ADD." There are numerous
"soft" neurological signs in ADD which look like PD. My notes on "soft"
signs are sketchy so your neurologist is the best one to talk to about the
"soft" neurologic signs of ADD. (example of "soft" sign:  the inability to
balance on one foot without hopping or continually moving.)

I have PD, ADD, & was dx bipolar in '91. My current doctor thinks 'bipolar'
is a possible mis-dx because earlier doctors did not consider my ADD history
of having been treated with Dexedrine when I was a teenager; also
unconsidered were the hormonal changes I was going through (menopause) at
the time of the bipolar diagnosis. ADD and hormonal changes look like the
mood swings of Bi-P. In my experience ADD does parallel PD and does need to
be ruled out, or if it is ADD, treated so life runs smoother.

Because of the failure of public schools to meet my daughter's needs, I
became a trained volunteer parent advocate (PA) for parents of ADD and LD
kids. I home school my 13 year old ADD (& possible Bi-P) 8th grader rather
than allow the public schools to focus on his short comings and fail to
educate him. He attends public school for music and art where his ADD
behaviors are considered "assets" rather than "character defects." He is at
school just enough time to socialize and not "blow it" with his freinds. On
standardized tests, he scores at the high 11th grade level and above, which
he would not do if he were in public schools. His handwriting will never be
considered "good" due to poor fine motor control, written work often is
incomplete, thoughts are not fully developed, lots of good ideas not
followed through. He has poor fine motor skills and fabulous large motor
skills. He is a very good (locally ranked; summer only) competitive swimmer,
(seasonal) soccer player, and snowboarder. He is Really Good at baseball
(catcher and outfield), but doesn't want to play that game because it is not
stimulating enough.

My daughter is 22, an EMT where the ADD is an asset. On medication, she can
pay attention to multiple important things at once. This multi-focus (aka
scattered attention) ability is an exploitation of an ADD  "defect"; it is a
survival skill that people who narrow-focus their attention  are incapable
of doing. She does some of the best patient care any one can do, she makes
high quality decisions about what her patients need, hospitals have praised
her ability to give reports they can use to speed diagnosis. She has made it
into the OR several times with her patients and found out the doctors yell
orders to her to go get things. She drives an ambulance at very high speeds
(only when absolutely necessary) in and out of bad traffic (this fast speed
driving skill also requires multiple-focus attention to keep aware of her
partner who is in the back with the patient, the road conditions, addresses,
and other drivers who don't know that lights and sirens mean "get out of the
way & move to the right). She is bossy, bossy, bossy (ADD); likes the
continual stimulation the excitement provides (adrenaline flow, ADD). She
also had poor fine motor skills, handwriting is a challenge (it is better
than mine now). She has great large muscle coordination, she was a good
competitive gymnast and spring board (1M & 3M) diver; she plans on learning
to snowboard this year.

As you can see, there is a lot of parallel-overlap of symptoms in my kids.
My concern is my kids will get PD. The only thing in common with all three
disorders is dopamine.