FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q.  What inspired you to write this book?

A.   I believe that I had ADHD as a child and still

       have symptoms today as an adult, although I

       was never formally diagnosed.  I had a hard

       time as a child in school because in the 1960’s

       in Bermuda, no one knew about ADHD.  I was

       very bewildered and frustrated.  I was also lucky

       because I had parents who believed in me and

       fought for me.  I also learned compensatory type

       strategies that enabled me to succeed.

       These strategies I taught myself.  For example,

       while I was in college, I would write

       everything and I mean everything that the teacher

       said.  I became a speed writer.  This helped me to

       stay focused and I had very comprehensive notes. 

       Today, I watch my son and my students struggle

       to navigate through the challenges of school with

       some of the same difficulties that I faced

       as a child.  I am also an educator and I’ve seen

       how insensitive, untrained, and stressed out teachers

       can ruin children’s  self-esteem and academic success

       because they do not fully understand ADHD. 

       Often they personalize the behaviors and come

       to dislike the child.  Don’t get me wrong, it is a

       challenge to teach children who have ADHD,

       especially those whose parents have opted not to

       use medication. However, once a teacher realizes

       that the behaviors are not directed at him or her,

       personally, and that the child has an impulsive

       disorder, they can begin to separate the behaviors

       from the child and begin to empathize. Empathy

       then leads to action.  Action leads to teacher

       strategies that can best help the child to learn. 

       I wanted to write a book that would help

       educators empathize with and understand children

       who have ADHD better. Who better to write such

       a book than an educator who understands how

       it feels to have ADHD?

Q.   What are your goals for the book?

A.    My goals for this book are to inspire empathy

        in educators, to show children who have ADHD

        that they are not dumb and they are not alone, 

        to give a voice to and reasons behind the

        behaviors of ADHD, and to remind educators

        that there are parents at home who love these

        children just like they love their own children. 

        I also wanted to show children who have 

        ADHD that they can have successful lives and

        they can learn to compensate for the areas

        that they are weak in. I’m a living example of that. 

       I also wanted to show that ADHD is not a

       disorder of the poor or uneducated..  It can

       occur and does occur in middle and upper

       middle class families as well.

Q.    Why did you add a clock companion?

A.     Children who have ADHD have difficulty

         managing time and time concepts. At first I

         planned to have a clock on the wall in each

         picture so readers could view how time passed

         as Nicholas was distracted.  As I continued

         writing, I got the idea to make him animated.

         It turned out to be so much fun.  I wanted kids

         and adults to be able to laugh while they read

         about a serious and sometimes sad disorder.

  Q.   The book ends on a sad note.  Why?

  A.    I really struggled with how to end this story

          and many colleagues wanted me to make it a

          happy ending.  I decided not to because often

          this story really is a typical day for children who

          have ADHD.  I also wanted adults to observe

          that even when we make decisions that we feel

          will facilitate academic success, and they may,

          from the children’s perspective, it can be another

          hardship. 

Q.  What exactly is ADHD?

A.   I will defer to Dr. Russell A. Barkley, the leading

       expert in this field, and his definition of ADHD

       from his book, Taking Charge of ADHD, The

      Complete, Authoritative  Guide For Parents. 

      “Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or

      ADHD, is a developmental disorder of self-

       control.  It consist of problems with attention

       span, impulse control, and activity level.”

       There are 3 types of ADHD:  inattentive type,

       hyperactivity type, and combined type. 

       I would love to elaborate further because

       ADHD is so much more, however, please

       get this book for more information.

Q.  What are some of the symptoms of ADHD?

A.   Children with ADHD are often distracted and

       unfocused, talk excessively, act before

       they think, will grab things that don’t belong to

       them,  have difficulty completing  tasks, often

       avoid complex tasks, need immediate rewards

       which is why they can play video games for hours,

       have trouble making friends or maintaining

       friendships, have poor listening skills even when

       they are looking at you their minds can be

       somewhere else, have difficulty with reading

       tasks due to an inability to produce

       images in their minds, have difficulty waiting

       their turn, it drives them crazy to

       have nothing to do and they have significant

       working and language memory deficits.

       They also have difficulty with time management

       and the concept of time, poor organizational skills,

       and can develop low self-esteem because they

       don’t understand why they can’t control themselves

       even though they try hard to. They also have poor

       control over their emotions and can have severe

       tantrums and often over react to situations that

       would not bother their peers of the same age

       who do not have ADHD.

       Basically, poor impulse control affects every

       aspect of their lives.  Forgetting homework,

       textbooks, projects, where he/she put the textbook,

       waiting until the last minute to complete a major

       project, and procrastination are common  

       problems. There are also varying degrees

       of symptons so each child is different.

Q.  At what age does ADHD appear?

A.   Parents often report that they saw symptoms as early

       as 3 years old.  According to Dr. Russell Barkley,

       ADHD appears in early childhood.  

Q.  Do girls have ADHD too?

A.   Yes, again deferring to Dr. Barkley, his

       statistics report the current research that 2-4%

       of all children have ADHD.  This disorder is

       three times more common in boys  than girls. 

       Therefore 1-3% of girls have ADHD and 3-8%

       of boys have ADHD. According to the authors

       of the book, Understanding  Girls With ADHD,

       Drs. Nadeau, Littman, and Quinn, report that

       girls tend to have the inattentive type of

       ADHD (no hyperactivity), and are prone to

       depression more as are boys who have the

       inattentive type, and  may tend to over eat

       and be obese due to poor impulse control

       when it comes to food.

Q.  About how many children and adolescents have

      ADHD in the USA?

A.   Calculating the previous statistics, about 2 million

       children have ADHD in the USA.

Q.  Do children outgrow ADHD?

A.   There is no magic cure for ADHD.  Dr Barkley

       reports the statistics in his book as follows:

       50-65% of children with ADHD continue to have

       symptoms as they reach adulthood.

      Although many of them will be employed and self-

      supporting, their educational level and socioeconomic

      status tend to be lower than those of others even their

      siblings.  Antisocial behavior is likely to be

      troublesome for at least 20-45%, with as many as

      25% qualifying for a diagnosis of adult antisocial

      personality disorder. Only 10-20% of children with

      ADHD reach adulthood free of any psychiatric

      diagnosis and are functioning well.

Q.  What is the best approach to treating ADHD?

A.  According to the experts, the best treatment to

     date is a combination of medication and counseling. 

     It is not true that children who take stimulant

     medications end up using other drugs.  Actually the

     opposite is true.  Children who receive no or

     little help often become so frustrated that

     they drop out of school and turn to drugs

    to ease the pain and frustration.  It is also

    true that not all children who have ADHD

    need medication and not all children with

    ADHD respond well to medication.  For

    others, medication is a God send.

Q.  How do the medications work?

A. According to Dr. Barkley, some medications

    help to release more dopamine from brain cells while 

    others act to block their reuptake both for dopamine 

    and norepinephrine.  There is more of the

    neurochemical outside of the nerve cells to function

    better.  

Q.  What causes ADHD?

A.   According to the experts in this field, some

       children get it because the mother absorbed

      drugs or chemicals that harmed the fetus,

      lead poisoning or other chemical contamination

      after birth, and genetic factors.

Q.  Who should I contact if I suspect my child

      may have ADHD?

A.   I would start with your pediatrician and report

       your concerns.  Your pediatrician can

       then refer you to a good pediatric neurologist or

       psychiatrist. If your pediatrician blames the

       behaviors you and your child's teacher

       have observed, on you, get a new

       pediatrician and have your child evaluated.

      ADHD is not caused by inconsistent parenting.

      Does consistency and realistic consequencies

      help?  Of course, but let's get a diagnosis

      first and then work on what the parents can do

      to help their child.

Q.  Why would a child with ADHD need speech and

       language services?

A.   Unfortunately, many children with ADHD, miss or  

       are delayed in many developmental areas.  Speech

       and language can be one of those areas.

Q.  What do speech-language pathologists do?

A.   Speech-language pathologists are specialists who

       specialize in the diagnosis and  treatment of

       speech and language disorders such a receptive

       and expressive language delays and disorders,

       stuttering disorders, voice disorders, stroke patients'

       communication, swallowing disorders, feeding

       disorders, articulation and phonological disorders,

       memory deficits, selective mutism, autism, learning

       disabilities, tracheostomy patients, and ADHD to

       name a few.  Speech-language pathologists work

       in a variety of settings; private clinics, hospitals,

       public schools and preschools, homecare agencies,

       private practices, rehabilitation centers, adult homes,

       youth detention facilities, and geriatric homes.

Q.  Do you plan to write another book?

A. Definitely!  I plan to have a “They Say…” series.

     I’m working on , “They Say I Have ADHD, I

     Say Life Sucks!”  Nicholas Goes to High School. 

     This book will focus on the challenges of having

     ADHD in the teen to young adult years. I've also

     completed "They SSSay I'm A StStStutterer, I
     SSSay Nothing!"  Meet Kelly.  Look out for

     The Tale of a Black Panther! coming soon.