Thanks to all the emails and requests, I am still trying to read and reply to them all – hang in there, I will get to you! For those of you requesting another excerpt, okay, your wish is my command:
ADD children need encouragement and personalized attention, and most importantly, they need positive, constructive feedback. A young ADDer must already deal with the fact he or she does not function like other children. An ADDer child often looks, walks, and talks just like any other typical child and yet they seem to stand out as an underachiever. There is nothing an ADDer child wants more than to do well and achieve. Really, when it comes to our interests, hobbies and talents, we are overachievers! When we constantly fail in a structured environment, we are not only punished, but we think less of ourselves. Nobody can punish an ADD child more than the ADDer child can do to him or herself. It is impossible to correctly treat the symptoms of ADD or any illness without a proper diagnosis, and if it is assumed that there is nothing wrong, that makes the suffering much worse. Denial can be detrimental to a child´s development. One of my major lifetime habits is to repeat myself. This might not be a direct ADD symptom, but I usually repeat myself due to the severe discipline I received for my actions as a child. I was often fearful and spoke softly, almost not wanting to be heard. As a result, I would frequently have to repeat myself. A child who is undiagnosed and is an unrealized ADD sufferer must contend with constant reprimands, and eventually develops habits to cope. Some of those habits make the child appear afflicted with other ailments. Depression and suicidal thinking is common in a person who has grown up with undiagnosed ADD. Having low self-esteem and depression in addition to having ADD, is a recipe for a disastrous life. Therefore, on purpose, I repeat myself. Denial can be detrimental!
This has been a paragraph from my book “One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir – Surviving life with Undiagnosed ADD”
~Bryan