For All Abilities – The Podcast - Tim Irr

In this episode, I interview Tim Irr - Anchor WSAZ-TV in West Virginia. We discuss the challenges of his ADHD. Tim talks about his childhood and the challenges he faced in the classroom. He discusses how he ended up in television news and how it is the perfect fit for his strengths.

Read more about Tim here:

https://www.wsaz.com/content/bios/235415031.html

To connect with Tim, please follow him on LinkedIn (Tim Irr), email him at tim.irr@wsaz.com or connect on Twitter https://twitter.com/WSAZirr.

Please subscribe to For All Abilities – The Podcast!

Please follow me on Instagram @forallabilities, LinkedIn (Betsy Furler) and on Facebook (For All Abilities). Go to our website www.forallabilities.com for information on our software that enables employers to support their employees with ADHD, Dyslexia, Learning Differences and Autism.

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Transcription from otter.ai.

0:07

Hi, welcome back to for all abilities. Today I have another very special guest who's going to talk to us about ADHD and how it's shaped his life. So welcome Tim Irr to the for all abilities podcast. Well, thanks, Betsy. Thanks for having me. I'm honored to even be a part of this and to talk about this because obviously, it's something that affects a lot of people. Yes, yes, I started this podcast so I can let people with all different types of ways their brains work, whether it's whether they have ADHD diagnosed or not, or dyslexia or learning difference or autism, I want them and their families to know how successful they can be and how this really can be a superpower rather than having to be a weakness as sometimes our society interprets it. So let's try. I'm excited to

1:00

Have you? Will you please introduce yourself to the audience and tell us what you do and and then we can go a little bit into your background. Sure.

1:10

My name is Tim Orr and I am a news anchor and reporter at W sec TV. It's an NBC affiliate in the Huntington, Charleston, West Virginia market. And I've been doing this now I'm 54 soon to turn 55 and I've been I've been at the station for 25 years. And as as is typical with somebody who has ADHD, I didn't even realize that the Christmas party when they called me up and said, You've been here 25 years I thought, I thought it was 24 this year, but

1:43

I did the math, my head which I've never been very good at and I went Oh yeah, I had been here 25 years. So it's gone by quickly and it's been a great situation and I've been I work as the evening news anchor doing the four 536

2:00

10 and 11 so they've added newscast. Oh, wow. Yeah, it's it's a busy day. That's a long day. Yeah. We Well, my, my family and I love West Virginia. It's one of our favorite places to go on vacation too. Yeah, it's so beautiful. And we we really like it love the beach or just play friendly. And so you've had a long, successful career.

2:23

Tell us a little bit about your childhood and what it was like with ADHD? What kind of student were you? You know, give us the good, the bad and the ugly. Okay. And there's a lot of it. And I'll you know, to give you the Reader's Digest version, I grew up in Pittsburgh, born and raised in Pittsburgh. That's where my family's all from. I was the youngest of six. And as my mom and dad said, every single child is different as any parent knows. Whether you've had two children or 10 children, do you know that every child is individual in their own

3:00

unique way and you know the thing that I remember most about my childhood and an education and ADHD was back then number one, we didn't diagnose it that there wasn't a there. Nobody discussed Oh, he must be a DD or ADHD. It was just that every parent teacher conference, my poor mom would go to down the st. Sebastian school in Pittsburgh. Every single one she would come home from that disgruntled shaking her head, having the same conversation with my dad and with me about how it's the same story with every semester with every teacher year after year. Tim, he's a nice boy. He just doesn't pay attention in class. And he's, you know, he's, he doesn't pay attention. And he, especially in the classes, the thing that I had the most trouble with, were the classes that I didn't really feel had and I had an interest in

3:58

math class. I struggled

4:00

mightily in math, any type of math subject anything that was analytical and problem solving on that level on a mathematical level I really struggled with. And I tried. And I remember the thing I remember the most about that those post parent teacher conference meetings with my parents, is the next day, waking up and getting ready and going to school and and I remember clearly walking to the bus stop and thinking, it's going to be different. I'm going to change, I'm going to pay attention. I can do this. And I really wanted to convince myself that I would be a different student. Now the classes I had an interest in social studies classes, English classes, I was fine. I had no problem. I could generally pay attention, although I would drift a little bit. But I could generally pay attention to the classes that I was really interested in and apply myself in those classes. It was the difficult classes, the math and the science, the analytical classes that I really struggled with

5:00

And, and I made a solemn vow to myself every every semester every year after each parent teacher conference, I'm going to be different and I wanted to be I really didn't. It wasn't that I was like, I hate school. I don't like this, you know, that teachers stupid. It wasn't like that I really, in my mind, had a plan to go in and make things different and really try to pay attention and I tried. And then that breaks my heart would start and

5:29

I go in there and so I really did. I was in you know, for the classes I liked, I would say I was in. I was a B average B student. The classes I really liked that did really well in and I enjoyed, and I was engaged and I was a participant in all the discussions and classes. And that continued through through school through grade school into high school algebra, just geometry, same thing. Just struggle.

6:00

Tried,

6:02

I'd work hard. I just couldn't get over that it was like a mountain to try to comprehend. And I couldn't, I kept slipping down that mountain, it was like, my feet would fail. And I'd slip and I try to get back up and I just, I could never climb that mountain of information that seemed to be just impossible for me to learn. And I remember when the, you know, the drift would kick in, and I'd start to look out the window and, and then I try to snap myself back in and pay attention and then I start to be lost. And it was it was it was frustrating, but I didn't know why. And there was no, I never saw a doctor about it. There was never much discussion other than boy, Tim, you better pay attention in school, you know, and I have been hard on your self esteem. It was, you know, in those classes, you know, I remember and I'll be very candid about it. I remember looking over during tests in those classes and trying to copy off somebody who was next to me to try to see what answers they

7:00

Because it was just, you know, and then in the classes I liked, I never maybe people were copying off of me. I had read, write, blast. I love those classes. And those are the early grade school science classes that weren't as analytical and work informational. So I was able to process information and store it and repeat that information in testing and in classroom discussion. I just could not process the analytics. It was just difficult was always an always an issue with me all the way through college.

7:32

What did you major in in college? majored in the subject at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh was Media Arts and I started it I went to Duquesne because I got an internship and my senior year of high school. Bye, bye. My final semester senior year I only need three classes. So that's what I mean. I did I did find in school I ran on subjects I need, I got everything out of the way. struggled, you know, and by then I knew and my parents knew that, you know, there wasn't

8:00

Going to be a a future career in anything having to do with doing any kind of

8:07

forget it and you got a business degree now that was off the table. But I majored in media arts and senior year got an internship, senior of high school got an internship at a radio station, and it happened to be on the Duquesne University campus. And then they offered what amounted to basically like a scholarship where I would get a student a job and be paid through the university to work at the radio station. So I started applying myself and communications right away and did did plays, you know, memorizing lines, again, no problem. I could do plays, I could memorize it, and I was the lead in a number of plays in high school and college. So the memorization was not a problem. And the problem was, specifically those those analytics and that's where that's where it kicked in. And that's where I really noticed that I had a problem paying attention

9:00

But it all it went to other levels of my life. And, you know, as I look back on that, and it still affects me today as an adult.

9:10

I'm on the Autism Services Board, local autism Services Board. And the board of directors and the Board of Directors meetings when we have the finance meetings. I'm literally biting. It's kind of like funny when I think about it, but it's kind of sad. I'm literally biting my lips or squeezing my fingers to pay attention to the Financial Report. Because Right, right, it's like being back in math class, I the same thing, and I and I struggle, I pay attention. I drink coffee. I've got to stay awake. I'd have to stay with this thing. We get through the financial report, and then the rest of the board meetings about

9:48

things that I can comprehend, but it's still to this day, and my wife will tell me the same thing. She'll say, I told you that and I'll say I'm sorry. And you know, I guess I wasn't

10:00

I didn't hear I didn't pay attention it didn't process properly in my brain. And that's interesting to to think about the the processing piece of it rather than that just not paying attention. Right? Yeah, it's like your brain is turning off

10:17

because it's you're struggling so much to process that then you kind of end up turning it off and and not really getting the information at all right? It's like the the Charlie Brown teacher in the old Charlie Brown cartoons, TV, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, that's what I would hear what just like Charlie Brown's teacher at that. It just kind of went right through me and you know, to borrow the phrase in one ear and out the other. That's That's right.

10:45

Well, how cool that somehow you got into a career. Yeah, that works perfectly for your brain because I I'm not even sure I told you this information, Tim, but

10:59

for

11:00

abilities is also a software. So we've developed software to help employers support their employees with ADHD, dyslexia learning differences and autism. Yeah, and I'm really passionate about employers being able to support their employees, especially early.

11:17

You know, for instance, if you were, you know, doing a radio show when you were in, in college,

11:23

and then they might want you to do the accounting for them on the side, you know, that that would be a terrible use of your of your strengths, right? It would be right and you'll probably would have failed at the job because of that add on, at that add on task that's has nothing to do with what you're actually doing. Right. Um, so So it sounds like you got you got into exactly the right thing you needed to be into and started I'm sure started succeeding at that and you were, you know, amazing at it and

11:57

that probably helps so much with selfless

12:00

And your purpose in life. I really think that's true and I I learned a lesson in my 20s when I got out of business. The job that I had my first job in TV out of college was in Clarksburg, West Virginia as a TV reporter and anchor and, and I seem to be, you know, I did well, I think, you know, when I look back on it, and I, I took another job, moved to Charleston, West Virginia and worked at a TV station there right at the time I got married. And so my wife moved from Pittsburgh where we both went to high school together, and she helped me by the way and classes sometimes.

12:41

She was there for me in the final semester senior and we finally met. So

12:47

we moved to Charleston, West Virginia. I took a job there at a TV station. Then I had an opportunity to move back home to Pittsburgh and work at a station there. WETA in Pittsburgh as an assignment editor, so I

13:00

was off the air and doing assignments, didn't really like the job because I liked storytelling and I liked reporting and, and I liked what I really, I think, enjoyed and and flourished and was the reporting aspects. Because in this job and the job that I currently have anchoring and reporting, at the end of each day, that day ends and you go home, and then you come in the next day and everything's new again. There's, you know, it's like, I don't need to the desk is wiped clean, everything's gone and you start fresh the next day. So

13:38

everything and it's all new when I was when I got out of that job in Pittsburgh, because I really didn't enjoy it and I thought I'd try public relations and I worked for a hospital in Pittsburgh.

13:49

And it was more

13:52

task oriented and I again, I would have while I was sitting in my office working on what I consider to be kind of

14:00

Boring menial tasks. Compared to what I was doing in reporting, I would have given anything for somebody to have run into my office and said, We need you to pick up a camera and run down. Drive two hours, there's a huge fire in a warehouse. Because not to do that means it's a break in the day for me.

14:20

I pick up a camera and I you know, in that, that rough description of a job, pick up a camera, run to an event, whether it's a planned event, or a breaking news event, run to the event and and record that event and tell the story now, that's that's what I can do. And that's what I enjoy doing. won awards doing it it's, it's, it's, it's what I really enjoy doing. And when I got out of that business in my 20s and tried public relations, I realized this isn't for me. And I kind of knew I had to get out. My wife knew I wasn't happy doing that job. More task oriented again. I wasn't you know,

15:00

I wasn't doing what I enjoy doing. And an old boss of mine got in touch with me. And I got back into the business and I ended up in this at this station. He hired me back. And within a short amount of time I started anchor in the morning news. And then the evening news anchor job came open when there was a retire, retirement and I got that, and I've been doing that for more than 20 years now. Yeah, that's amazing. So how has your ADHD superpower and your ability to do the job that you're doing now as a news anchor? I think you were right, Betsy, it's it's like the perfect job for me. And you know, that's what I was alluding to. It's just

15:40

that my ability to be able to, I found the I found that superpower that ability to be able to, to get information, process that information, and then tell the story. So being a storyteller because that's the bottom line with being a reporter.

16:00

You're telling a story. If If you walk outside, and you see your neighbor on the sidewalk, you're as a storyteller, you're naturally going to you listen to it, listen to what somebody tells you, you process that story. And then you tell that story. And so you are a storyteller. And that ability to to process certain information and and then relay that story to another person or in this case to an entire audience.

16:31

I've been able to do that, to a level that if somebody asked me too, when my kids asked me, for example, to help them with math, I just defer to my wife because even it you know, took me back to those days of grade school and I wasn't able to do that very well. That really the story of telling the story of numbers is not something I'm strong at but I found what I was able to do tapped into it and and I've been able to do it

17:00

I think to extraordinary measure and and it's been, it was really funny when I think back on in back to grade school in seventh and eighth grade we had something called the junior Academy of Science in Pennsylvania. And what you would do is you could create a project that would be either a visual project like I'm going to make a volcano on a table and and show how the volcano erupts. Kind of like Peter Brady did in the Brady Bunch. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Or you could prepare a subject you could research a subject, do your project on your own, and then report that project. And so then you would stand up in front of this this group of judges, a roomful judges, and you would report your findings and I thought, well, that's what I'll do my I remember my teacher in seventh grade Mr. gessle. birdie, encouraging me to do that. He said, You're a good storyteller. You can you know, you get up in front of the class you tell a good story. I think this would be good for you do this research. Come up, come up with a project

18:00

do the research. And then basically what I was doing was reporting on it. So I, I came up with a plan to, to test

18:09

the effects of companionship and sound essentially,

18:14

on plants and how plants would grow. Right. So I had three test plants one would be in a room that had loud music playing I used I think the kiss destroyer album. So I played loud music one, I played softer classical music to another. And then I the other plant was in total silence. They all received the same amount of light. But they were tested by this companionship, this this music. The two plants that received the music did the best. The plant that was in total silence didn't grow very well. So I reported my findings. I did research through the library at the time, there was no internet back then. So I did library research on psychological effects of

19:00

companionship and relationships to humans and to animals. Then two subjects that were left alone. And I realized that, that it all kind of coincided with what I had learned about these plants. So I recorded my findings and put together a, I think five to 10 minute speech it was with cue cards and slides at the time. So I use presentations and my my presentation that I put together for these judges at one first place, so on to the States, I went and then I won first place there. And wow kid who is probably getting a C or a D. And that same science class back. Yeah, it's a Sebastian's and I won the state title un state. Yeah. Because I was able to tap into something and, and, and I, it's like I found myself. Yeah, use your strength.

19:57

Yeah, and imagine what so imagine

20:00

If same project, but you had to do a written report with all of the formulas and variables and all of that, imagine the different outcome he would have had. And yeah, that's a great story about strengths and how how, you know, I reports in school or projects in schools as well as things in the workplace and things I'm adult life can be tweaked a bit to allow that person's strengths to really shine. And it doesn't mean it's unfair or less work, right, you probably more work than a lot of broken record. Right. I put a lot of work into it. And I can only imagine the eggheads, the super brainiacs. Super analytical brainiacs in school who were like, they were probably thinking like, how did he win state

21:00

barely passed this class. How did he do that? But you know, I found a strength and I, I tapped into it. And I found that's what I was good at. And that's what I did. And I, I won a science project that was best. But it really wasn't a science project when the turn when it came right down to it. It was a reporting project. And I found I found the strength then, and tapped into it. And little did I know that that that was kind of the foundation and formation of what would be success in life for me. Yeah, that's, that's a great story. That really, that really shows the power of using someone's strength. Yeah. So thanks for sharing all of that with us. You're so thanks for asking. Yeah, this is this has been great. How can my listeners connect with you further? They can find me on Twitter. I'm at ws AZ that's the call letters of our station w sec IRR is my

22:00

ws AZ ir and same thing on Facebook at Ws h er, or just a Google search of my name which is six letters, ti m IRR. Most people just call me Timmy or they don't even call me Tim they call me all my kids friends when I was little I was I hate Timmy or hates me, it was like,

22:20

people can find me through that and, and also through the station website through ws eysies. website and I, obviously I have no problem talking about it. So I'd be happy to share and help parents of children or

22:37

family members of adults with ADHD who might be struggling to try to help them in whatever way I can. Whatever way I could, even through encouragement, I'd love to be able to help people. That would be awesome. And I think it's so important for people to hear these stories like yours where you've been so successful, and I'm sure there were times when you were young.

23:00

When your parents were like, oh no what are we going to do with this one is

23:04

going to be living with us for the rest of his life. Are we ever going to get him out of school?

23:10

Oh, I'm sure probably was a real concern for the minute it was. You know if I would have gone if life would have gone in a different direction and let's say I would have

23:19

followed in my dad's footsteps and gone into the business world. I might have been a colossal and I hate to say it but like professionally, I could have been a colossal failure. I could have, you know, maybe made you know,

23:34

and not if not, and the other thing is not have been happy doing it. When I had a chance to get back like this business. I was very fortunate. It was like getting a second chance at love when you when you've lost that love and I got back into it and, and it gave me now my best day, my worst day and on the job, and this job is better than my best day when I worked in private industry, in an office and so on.

24:00

A song what I want. Yeah. Well, and that's so to me, it's so important that everybody is feels valued and as also happy and what they're doing. And so that's it's, I love hearing these stories. Well, Tim, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for eligibility podcast. Yes, great. And to my listeners, please reach out to Tim if he can help you in any way and watch him on the knees in West Virginia. And please subscribe to my podcast and on anything you listen to your podcasts on. And contact me at Betsy at portal abilities. com If you'd like to get in touch. Have a great day and I will see you all later.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai