I was extremely excited to read Buzz to say the least. I had heard of the book and had considered ordering it several times, but as you may know I have ADHD. Sometimes I forget to order stuff that I want, no matter how much I want it! Well, a short while back I met Katherine Ellison and before I knew it we were emailing each other back and forth discussing ADHD and our memoirs. I asked Katherine if she would like to give a signed copy of her book away on ADDer World, the ADHD Social Network. She replied that she would love to and sent me a copy right away. Uhm, again remember that I have ADHD, because I gave Katherine a goofed up address the book went back to her and she nicely, and ever so gently, let me know. I admitted my goof and corrected it (I wonder if I reminded her of her son, Buzz, in that instance?). She sent Buzz once again and I finally received it and have read the spellbinding, delightful book. However, it took me a while to actually start reading it. The book’s design is so captivating that it took me a while to stop admiring it. Yes, I know, distracted much? ADHD!

Dr. Kenny Handelman has written an outstanding, educational and easy to read book about ADHD. I finish very few books that I begin reading that are written by doctors, they usually end up in a pile of other books next to my bed (you know the pile I am talking about), but Attention Difference Disorder was engaging and kept my attention throughout. It helps that Dr. Handelman and I share many of the same philosophies about true caring, strength based approach and that each of us has value. The thing about books written by doctors, not just about ADHD, is that the majority of them come across as uncaring at best and condescending at worst, without meaning to be. However, there are a few books by doctors which transcend the clinical style and Attention Difference Disorder is one of them. It’s one of the best written by a doctor since Driven to Distraction.

Change isn’t easy, not really, not for anyone, but especially not for people with ADHD. In David Giwerc’s new book Permission to Proceed David shows how change by cultivating healthy habits is possible, even for those of us with ADHD.

David Giwerc is a master certified coach, president and founder of the ADD coach academy. He knows a thing or two about helping people with ADHD become better equipped to manage the daily life of living in a non-ADHD world.

I highly enjoyed reading Permission to Proceed from start to finish and what I liked most about it was how David shares with us his personal stories along the way. You’ll want to read this book to get a better understanding of how someone like David, with ADHD, becomes not only a master coach, but also a leader and a person deserving of respect and admiration, which are not things we read much about when it comes to people with ADHD. There is an unfortunate stigma about ADHD that people are doomed to failure or that something ‘bad’ is always going to happen to them and most of us learn to expect this.

(This post was inspired by an email I received from a young lady who was attacked angrily on a forum because she talked about hyper focus. The other person claimed it doesn’t exist.)

I love to hyper focus and I do it on a regular basis, I’ve written many blog posts about it, I wrote extensively about it in my first book One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir and, I have additionally written an eBook about it in an effort to help others discover ways to hyper focus at will. However, although hyper focus is a well known ADHD trait, not everyone with ADHD can hyper focus easily, sometimes rarely and some seemingly not at all.

If you are in a relationship, especially in a marriage and you have ADHD, or your spouse has ADHD, or even if both of you have ADHD, Melissa’s book is one of the best books I have read for solving and overcoming relationship issues which are caused by, or influenced by ADHD. ADHD isn’t going away, but it is manageable and it doesn’t have to be the end all, be all of any relationship. However, to deny ADHD or try to ignore it, that my friends and neighbors leads to a never ending spiral of confusion, disillusions and heartbreak. Melissa’s book The ADHD Effect on Marriage can and will help you.

It is not a trivial thing to review a book you have enjoyed. It does my heart well and I continue to be touched deeply by what readers are taking from my first book. As time continues to move forward, as I write and publish more books, in true ADDer fashion I tend to worry more and more about the inexperienced writing of the first book I wrote. However, readers continue to validate that which I have shared with the world. It does my heart and soul good to know that my story continues to be of meaning to so many. Special thanks to my readers everywhere. You’ve done more for me than I could ever do for you.

Recent reviews of One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir – Surviving Life with Undiagnosed ADD:

To be beat down, criticized, punished and live with regret and guilt all of our days?

 No.   There is another way – a positive, self fulfilling way.  I am going to share that way with you.

Life is more than we give it credit to be and yet too many of us live within a shell of fear and anxiety. We walk the halls of our life flinching from the slightest sound which echoes within our minds, on and on, and on. We fight against it, we try to be strong and we try to walk tall. We try to show confidence and strength. We go day to day wearing the mask of life as strong courageous human beings. But why does it have to be a mask, why does it have to hurt so much, why can’t we just be understood and accepted for who we are? Why do others try to hurt us and tear us down? Why do we want to give up and yet still continue?

A few weeks ago I came upon a very interesting book called Wishcraft. I didn’t have a clue what it was about; I was simply caught by the title itself. I had never heard of it before, but it had a sticker on it saying it had sold more than 650,000 copies! (Hey, I am an ADDer – ohhhh Shiny!) Must be good then… right? I had no idea just how good it would be. When a book sells 650,000 copies it’s not a fluke. So I picked up the book and started reading through it. It not only caught my attention, but it held it tightly and led me along as if by an invisible string. This book caused me to hyper focus on it for hours.

Today I found an online review of my book that touched me so deeply and emotionally. This is part of what drives me to continue writing, to be a voice and meet new people each and every day. To help a mother and daughter bond through the words I wrote, what a humbling treasure that is.

Cixous39, if you happen to read this: Thank you! Seems we have helped each other. I hope you don’t mind that I copied your review of One Boy’s Struggle: A Memoir here:

What makes this book special? On a personal level, my Mom and I BONDED over it. While reading it, my mother found me crying and asked what was wrong. I told her what this memoir was about, and let her read it. Once she finished, we cried together. We also laughed because it helped make sense of my own experiences with AD/HD, which went undiagnosed until I was 35. Though Mom had read a few of the “popular”, recommended AD/HD books, she had never before understood my behaviors or my feelings.

Don’t wait until you aren’t scared. You’ll be dead. Most of us are scared all the time! Change does not require fearlessness, but it does require courage. Courage is not being fearless – it’s doing what is right in the face of fear. Without fear, there’d be no courage.

Dr. Nancy Irwin from her book, You Turn

Dr. Irwin doesn’t waste any time in her book You Turn to let you know getting to where you want to go is already within you. The problem is that most of us are too darn scared to move, change and take advantage of opportunities that come our way. The thing is, as she explains in the quote above, many of us are fighting our fears and hoping, praying that a day will come when we are not so darned scared anymore. That day may never come, because, fear is what it is and is a part of human nature.