I Should Have Read This Earlier...

My son was diagnosed with ADHD almost 2 years ago. When we finally got the "official" diagnosis from his pediatrician, I began to tell family and close friends. I immersed myself in research, reading anything and everything I could get my hands on. The book I found most useful, relevant and eye opening was Driven to Distraction by Dr. Edward M. Hallowell. I would recommend this book to anyone with ADHD or with someone in their life who has ADHD. I read studies, researched the internet, spoke with Michael's psychologist. I got as much information as I could about the "disorder" (for the record, I hate that it's identified as a disorder) in order to help Michael in any way that I could.

Recently, while looking through a drawer in my bedroom, I came across an article out of the Buffalo News that my mother had sent me a year and a half ago. It was about the book ADHD & Me - What I Learned From Lighting Fires at the Dinner Table. The book was written by a 17 year old Blake E. S. Taylor. Well, I read the article again, and headed down to Barnes & Noble to pick it up. I don't know how I missed it before. I can only guess that I was so immersed in so many other books on the subject that I must have put the article away and forgotten about it.

I came home with it yesterday afternoon and started to read it. Needless to say, I had finished it before dinner. The book is an easy read but it's so interesting to read something that is from a kid's point of view. I've said it before, I do not understand how Michael's brain works. I read about it but I can't fathom it. This book was the first book that really gave me an inside view of how it feels. I even read chapters of it out loud to Michael and he found it interesting enough to sit down and listen. That's unusual for him. He asked questions and it actually started some really good dialogue between us on subjects we really hadn't touched on before.

After reading it, I walked away with two really important things.

1. There's so many positives about Michael that I often forget to focus on. I get so caught up in what he's done wrong that I forget to celebrate the little victories. Reading this book reminded me of those positives.

2. This is a book I'd recommend to anyone who's young and dealing with ADHD and anyone who's older and dealing with a child with ADHD.

And after Michael realized that the author of the book was a teenager, he's decided that he should write his own book. I can't wait to read it!