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Adhd/add

cheesiechanman
So aside from the one person that can take a conversation 40 different directions How many of you all have ADHD? I heard a while back that having ADHD/ADD is essentially a super power when it comes to programming of any kind and also ADHD people typically gravitate towards programming jobs.

I got diagnosed while I was in the military. When I separated I started a job at a calibration company. They had a CMM and I wanted more than anything to play with it. So I asked my boss what it would take to get me over there and he handed me a list of the GD&T symbols. He said "learn this and we will consider it."

I came back the next day after a 12 hour hyperfocus on learning GD&T and was programming by the end of the week. Fast forward a year later and my boss had said he had never seen anyone pick it up so quickly in his 40 years. Now this was still a more basic level of programming. Nothing like what you all are capable of. But I have since developed myself into a pretty confident (not arrogant like some of ya's) programmer.

Not trying to toot my own horn or anything just simply stating that ADHD is the sole reason I am a programmer and the constant hurdles and obstacles presented has kept me highly intrigued and motivated unlike most things I get myself involved in.

I am curious if any of you guys are in the same boat I am and maybe we could give tips and advice on how to tackle the more daunting stuff like the dreaded........ reprogramming a part already programed or waiting for the CMM to run through a 30 minute program.


  • Darn amateurs... Neutral face

    The Jack Links beef jerky sasquatch guy would be very disappointed


  • The Jack Links beef jerky sasquatch guy would be very disappointed

    oh me and him haven't been on speaking terms in years! Ever since we got into it over who's jerky is better.


  • Not sure if you're getting jerky with me here... I make jokes with people that I know on this forum. You made a comment about my intelligence a couple days ago and now you're insinuating I have ADHD. You've been here a very short amount of time. With all due respect, until you know me better I'd appreciate it if you'd watch your mouth if I am the topic you're speaking about.

    The above being said..
    I'm trying to increase my post count. In that spirit, I intentionally engage with MANY comments on this forum. Once I get to 2500, I'll be happy!

    Regarding past experiences since you shared yours:
    I believe I exhibit symptoms of someone with ADHD but I have never been formally "checked" for it or anything. I got into CMM work because I have always been fascinated with robotics and it was a good way to make a buck in my area without having a degree.

    At my first company, I was deburring parts and emptying rock tumblers. The company had a CMM, they sent people to training, nobody knew how to use it correctly or/nor did they trust it. It was the "$80k coffee table". I asked if they could show me briefly how it worked..was literally laughed at and as told to get back to work. I was 18, covered in shop debris, and had never seen a blueprint in my life so I don't really blame them. The shop closed at 4:00pm and I knew where the owner kept the keys..I'd stay until midnight at the CMM some nights just watching videos on youtube and running the few programs we had & did my best to read them.

    I never attempt to re-write someone else's program. IF you have worked with that person in the past & you're both on the same programming "wavelength"...that might work...but in general i have found it to be much faster as well as accurate to just re-write it.

    During my down time, I never allow myself to be bored. When the CMM is running I will either: watch GDT videos, read a mentally stimulating book, work out in my office, or come here and talk to you gavones!

    How long was the CMM being used as a coffee table before you came around and started putting it to good use?

    Also, did you ever take a formal PC-DMIS class from Hexagon or was it all self study for you?


  • How long was the CMM being used as a coffee table before you came around and started putting it to good use?

    Also, did you ever take a formal PC-DMIS class from Hexagon or was it all self study for you?

    that machine was never really utilized during my time at that company. i used it to learn on it and when I knew enough to sound like I knew what I was talking about i got a job at another place that agreed to send me to legit training for the first time.

    fast fwd ten years..I have been to three "one week" courses in RI for PC DMIS and one "one week" course for Quindos. i also took a bunch of those free courses Hexagon offered during the pandemic


  • that machine was never really utilized during my time at that company. i used it to learn on it and when I knew enough to sound like I knew what I was talking about i got a job at another place that agreed to send me to legit training for the first time.

    fast fwd ten years..I have been to three "one week" courses in RI for PC DMIS and one "one week" course for Quindos. i also took a bunch of those free courses Hexagon offered during the pandemic

    That is some pretty good bootstrap pulling! I always feel that the best way to learn this stuff is to just tinker with it a while. Pretty cool that you took advantage of the opportunity to do that at that nasty shop.

    I had never seen or heard of a CMM until a company I worked for was looking to get one and asked me to learn to program it. The Level 1 course in Elgin IL was the first time I touched one. I was lucky that all my group members in the class where just there to learn what they already knew from the job and they let me driving through all the class exercises with their guidance. I was also lucky that our quality manager was very patient in letting me get the hang of it. He knew me well by that point so he knew his patience would pay off.

    I had a recruiter ask me at some point how someone gets started in CMM programming. I basically told him it is an on the job sort of thing. There may be some technical colleges out there that offer a certificate on it, but I think most people just kind of fall into it in one way or another.
  • Another thought about CMM tinkering... And ADHD...

    At some point I was training a fella at work to program the CMMs. He had actually taken a course on it at a technical college, that was his foot in the door. I guess the class was really basic because he still didn't know how to do the most basic alignments. I worked so hard with that guy but it just didn't click for him.

    What really bothered me is that there was about a 3 month period where the show was so slow that one of the CMMs could just sit idle for him to learn and practice on it. The guy was paid to play with the CMM for 3 months. There were no expectations of him other than to learn at his own pace. I would visit him from time to time throughout the day to give him some 1 on 1 training time or to help him with questions here and there. They guy just goofed off and read web articles most of the time. Believe it or not, he was caught sleeping a few times. Not at the controller desk, I could see that. He laid flat on the floor in the same pose used to place bodies in coffins, or so I'm told, I didn't witness it first hand. It was amazing what that company would put up with. The bummer is that he just wasted such a rare opportunity. Didn't learn a thing. I'm not saying this is a glamorous line of work, but it was defiantly a step up for him.

    More and more I think he may have suffered from some form of ADHD. He genuinely wanted to learn, but needed to be constantly engaged to do it. It is also possible that he just did not have the aptitude for it.

    Eventually that fella found a job somewhere else as their one and only CMM programmer. I was happy, not my problem anymore, but I can't imagine that it worked out for him or that company. But who knows, maybe he is the sort to work best under pressure and got over the learning hump.
  • Eventually that fella found a job somewhere else as their one and only CMM programmer. I was happy, not my problem anymore, but I can't imagine that it worked out for him or that company. But who knows, maybe he is the sort to work best under pressure and got over the learning hump.

    Maybe he's on here... You never know Rolling eyes
  • Deep down I really thought there were mostly " normal " people on here...... Not even close on the ADD here. I always thought I was more OCD ? Going over everything with a fine tooth comb and looking for perfection. Nothing is perfect but if you shoot for 100% you will settle for 95%. IF you shoot for 90, you taking 75......Something about OCD and spatial relations ??

    I was machinist that got into quality at a new company and realized that most of the CMM programs we were using were a bunch of banged out points that may / may not be checking the part correctly. Sometimes close and sometimes miles off. Well, nothing was going to fix itself... I can see how ADD might help focus on stuff in a way and really get into this ? Sure, that would make you a good programmer. In my head, I see alot of comments for programming issues that are just completly elaborate pieces of esquisite programming very impressive...... and I just scratch my head and stick to the KISS method. I have worked with inspectors and programmers that could do wonders and were smart as hell, they also couldnt tell me how to adjust the CNC or give me any manufacturing feedback because they had never been on the other side of the door. Go ask a manufacturing Engineering intern a question and see how par you get if its not a " book " question. I have a friend that could design any type of computer system and programming it to do any dang this you could think off. In fact, he could program a robot to walk across the room and pick up a screwdriver walk back over and turn in the screw. the reason he does that is that he is soo smart he is too stupid to use a screwdriver....... so that make him a good programmer ? Sure, but he has also lost sight of the task and the best way to accomplish this. Its not all done by code. Kinda the old wisdom vs. intelligence. I'm not anywhere close to being as smart as I am wise.
  • I'm not anywhere close to being as smart as I am wise.

    It's amazing how many people don't know the difference. Book smart vs. street smart.

    I feel like I'm like you with OCD and I think it's a part of ADD. At work I am extremely OCD, everything has its perfect place and it should return there after use. My home... not so much.
  • in reply to A-machine-insp
    I was totally thinking that as I was writing that up. Yup... You never know
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