A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning the flat and unpacked some of my boxes of books and things. Not to finally properly move in after two and a half years, just to douse the boxes with cockroach spray and repack them again. It's a glamorous life.
In amongst the things I've not been able to throw out, there's a high school report from July 1987. I've no idea why this is in my possession in the first place; I assume my mother has the rest of them, along with other cherished reminders of my childhood triumphs.
I think I must have seen it at Mum's place decades ago and pinched it for it's entertainment value. According to Wikipedia, ADHD (then called ADD) was known about in the 1980s, but clearly the Australian education system wasn't equipped to identify it. Here's a selection of insights into my temperament as a callow youth:
… poor attitude has been detrimental. - Year master
… lacks the competitive spirit… - English
… tends to neglect assignments and appears to daydream in class. - Chemistry
… appears to have a good practical ability but… is not using it to maximum advantage… - Art
… an aware, perceptive, and mature individual… writing style and command of the English language is one of the best which I have seen in many years of teaching. - Mass Media
Thanks, Barry. By the way, that "which" is redundant. Also, frankly, the "one of". The insolent cheek of the man!
To be fair, I don't know whether a little pill each morning would have helped much. It was such a grim, violent, dispiriting place, and the curriculum was so terribly boring. I think I was really only interested in getting to London to become a guitarist, or a writer, or script editor on Doctor Who. The only thing stopping me was lack of confidence, persistent misery and despair, and an intense self-loathing and chronic revulsion towards my body. Another red flag that in a more civilised time might have been noticed.