Focus

'W' was focused and attentive throughout the morning meeting, although he had to be redirected (x2) for chewing small bits of paper. During lunch 'W' acted out verbally in a conflict with the Secretary of Defense, who had cued him that it would be inappropriate to invade China at the present time. Afterwards, during Press Conference Time, 'W' displayed highly-inflated grandiosity and bizarre religious ideation, as evidenced by verbalizations such as, "We are in a war to eliminate evil from this world." After a few minutes of this, 'W' achieved focus once more and was able to play the Cue Card Game with no further distraction or evident distress. Patient 'W" refused his medications and so was hyperactive at Nap Time. Staff gave him a fountain pen and some paper before he could escalate, however, and he was quiet for the entire hour. After that, during Free Time, 'W' interacted well with peers and staff, remaining focused while playing Cowboy. Patient 'W' went to bed at Lights Out and appeared to be asleep by end of shift. His eyes were closed and his respirations regular. No accute distress was observed.

addendum 1-2-2002 10:pm

'W' denied all confabulation, although past history belies this and that sort of behavior is common in his family and social milieu. 'W' will be reviewed for possible discharge in November, 2004.

addendum 1/15/2002 by staff member R. Unfortunately, 'W' lost his focus yesterday, forgot to chew his pretzel completely and managed to choke himself into unconciousness. His two dogs remained by his side and unconcerned apparently. It was obviously a mistake to leave 'W' unattended but who knew that leisure time in front of the TV could be so dangerous. Maybe they gave him the pretzels to stop the drooling.

This is very timely as a number of careful observers have diagnosed President Bush II from afar as both dyslexic and having ADHD. (It is almost certain that if you are dyslexic you are also ADHD to one degree or another). This is what is most likely behind his relatively unengaged management style and his unwillingness to master the details of public policy – even his own administration’s policies. Bush obviously has to wrestle with the written and spoke word. But maybe he’s not lazy, just different. Diagnosing Bush by Jock Gill

Wheelchairs and special Ed. ------ a historical comment

When F.D.R. addressed congress a few days after Pearl Harbor, none of the major news media reporters mentioned his polio, or his wheelchair. They were carefull for nearly 12 years to avoid writing or talking about it on the radio.

Now, a similar phenomenon is occurring, but with a different malady. Aparrently most of the reporters for the major media outlets have been given orders not to mention that the current "commander in chief" has attention deficit disorder, or something similar.

The way they have decided to handle it is to say that they were suprised that "The president" could manage to remain "focused" long enough to deliver a speech or two last month.

David McCulloch, the historian, said that he found it challenging to talk to the public about Bush's speech on one occasion. He was able to put a positive slant on it by saying that; "before now, people were beginning to wonder whether Bush could focus, but he rose to the occasion."

One reporter said something to the effect that "it is OK that the president doesn't read books, he is busy doing things".

A couple of years ago, the courts ruled that law students taking the bar exam should be given more time than other test takers if the student has a recognized form of learning disability. I thought maybe the tests for people in medical school will be next.

In a related move, the administration has decided not to consider advice from the Bar Association when recommending right-wing fanatics for appointment to Federal Judge positions. ...of course I am making this all up, Al Gore is really president and he didn't stop the FBI effort to get Al Queda and he didn't call off the submarines posted in the Indian Ocean for that purpose and fanatics dinn't attack New York and the surplus was not allready spent and George didn't eat that pretzel.

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