Hello, Rick Swope again, (Ortando). The subject of todays blog is belief, especailly as it pertains to AD/HD/LD individuals and their efforts to have good lives. It is my experience that one of the first orders of business in my therapy practice with AD/HD/LD clients is to find out then restructure as needed, beliefs about themselves and about their AD/HD/LD. If a person finds themselves in a therapists office, it is likely that life in some sense is not working well. Often AD/HD/LD individuals harbor beliefs about either their brains or about themselves that are counter productive toward successful living. It becomes our task to restructure that belief about themselves. For example "lazy crazy and stupid" are the three classic negative evaluations which can become beliefs for the person. If their lives for example, inclusive of parental, peer and academic influence reinforces these negativive assessments without understanding, They may be trapped with negative self assessment. Beliefs about who they are, how smart they are, how worthwhile they consider themselves is then vulnerable to lifelong unnessessary limitations. Part of the "Ortando's Way" approach is a "joining of the tribe", that they have strengths and (barriers) and that it is alright to share in common talents and abilities and to celebrate those talents. In other words to see not only the negative (beliefs) about themselves but their positive attributes which can result in a generalized positive belief about who they are. This is then reinforced as "tribe members", sharing these attributes with other AD/HD/LD individuals for reinforcement, one to another. A recounting of AD/HD/LD luminaries can help with this choice of belief shift. Reminding them that Leonardo DaVinci, Thomas Edison, JFK, Winston Churchhill, Cher and Magic Johnson experienced AD/HD/LD or some form there-of can assist their choice to change their minds in their own enlightened self interest. I am interested in the reaction of AD/HD/LD people in the blog-o-sphere about these ideas and look forward to rational and intuitive diaglogue about them.