I was told by a high school science teacher that I would end up working at a gas satation for the rest of my life. If I ever do work for an airline, I hope that b is one of my passengers! I guess I showed her! As for the ADD thing-- I was "diagnosed" with it as a kid, but my father refused to belive it, and preceded to give me regular arse whippins when I would step out of line. I was the typical boy that would rather be on te play ground than listening to my boring/mean teachers. If the teacher has no tolerance for kids, than what are they doing in a school?

I never took the ritilen, but it was still an expensive fight to get my 1st class med.

 

You said it about the teachers. We sure do have some pretty incompetent teachers even in the "high test" scoring schools. They may have been teaching for 25 years, they may know their subjects, but what the h-ll are they doing pretending to love teaching kids when they have no patience for normal 6,7 and 8 year old behavior (the kind that doesn't hurt the other kids) and cannot protect other kids from bullies? Sad.

 

A good friend is a teacher. Today's teachers have to let kids get away with murder because of restrictions placed on them. You'd probably be the same way if you had to deal with their tantrums and outbursts without the ability to discipline them.

 

Just as an update, I thought I would come by and give a status update on what happened. Originally filed on 8/22/2008 and was deferred to the FAA, they gave me a letter on 10/3/2008 with a list of I believe 4 tests that I was required to have completed within a month. I asked for an extension and was granted a 1 month extension making my deadline 12/3/2008. I asked for the extension since it took forever to find someone with experience with the issue/tests that they required, the lady was very professional and methodical about doing the tests. She required (said it would be a good idea) me to get my own drug test panel done on the morning of the tests and together they took about 8 hours to complete (yes 8 hours without the breaks). Along with all my educational history ( transcripts, progress notes from when I was a youngster, standardized test scores ...ect) she produced a report in about a week. A good chunk of change later, I mailed the report to the FAA by 12/3/2008 and they reviewed it, responding to me on 2/17/2009 with approval of my class II medical. I would like to thank everyone in this post and the other post I created for your help, support and information that you all provided for me on how to solve this issue.

 

Congtaulations!! I can't imagine having to go through that, kind of like the military "jump through the hoops"

 

Ditto. That sure was a lot of work for something the rest of us don't have to address.

Btw, did you all know that if you have a 2nd class medical, you can always upgrade that to a 1st class later by just taking the separate EKG test? The AME transmits the EKG test to the FAA and you send a letter explaining you want to upgrade your medical to a 1st. The effective date of your new 1st class medical will extend back to the original test date and expire counting down (either 12 mo.<40 yrs. age or 6 mo.>40 yrs. age) from the original test date.
Just thought I'd add that.

 

Strange, my earlier reply was deleted by the mod I assume?

No idea why, as all I said was...

"Congrats! Stay out of Ritalin for the next couple for years and you should be able to get a first class medical if you ever need one..."

 

All those parents today that are medicating the hell out of their kids are going to limit the pilot pool of the future. It would be a lot easier in the long run to give the little rat bastards a swat in the ass when the screw up when they are young. But, with kids threatening to call 911 on the parents it can be kind of tough. I risked it. Its worked out just fine.

 

I am not sure this will be of any value since these emails were written in 2008. Besides being a long time private pilot I am a research scientist who has an ongoing national project on ADHD and problem solving style. I am at a major university and am IRB approved for the study. I would love to have any pilots or potential pilots who have been formally diagnosed in this study. It can all be done via online and by mail. You might find the results useful in understanding the importance of the way you problem solve and the use of strategies. The study has just completed its first year and the results so far may change the way we look at ADHD. This will be my only email on this subject. I can be reached at [email protected]. The study is confidential. Only you would see your results.