ADHD can have a positive side

I am writing this letter to let you know what ADHD is, in my opinion. I have read books and newspaper clippings, watched TV and experienced the disorder first hand.

ADHD is quite common among children as well as adults. Also known in some cases as ADD, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is not an easy way of life, both for family members involved and the person having the disorder.

However, it is an advantage. Some call it strong willed, which indeed is a fact. It is also a compliment. The book, Driven to Distraction, is very informative.

Albert Einstein, Edgar Allen Poe, George Bernard Shaw and Salvador Dali had the disorder. Thomas Edison was at the bottom of his class. Abraham Lincoln and Henry Ford were pronounced to show no promise by their teachers. John Irving nearly flunked out of high school because of an undiagnosed learning disability.

Because of the popularity of these people, we now know of their ability to overcome. I am very proud of my son, Tyler Farley. I always will be. He knows that he has this diagnosis. It takes a lot of work and a lot of patience.

If you can use his hyperness to an advantage and work on it, it 's amazing what a nine-year-old can do. He is smart beyond his comprehension sometimes. If you push and feed on it, the outcome is amazing.

Tyler has a younger sister, Amanda Farley, 4. You may have met Tyler and you may already know him. Tyler is a very lovable young man. He'll be making himself known in this community. You may have met him while raising money for Jump Rope for Heart. He raised over $1,000 for the Heart Association.

I am teaching Tyler people skills, polite manners, attitude, first impressions, and overall socialization. Put another way, teaching the people skills early and learn the ups and downs of people's attitudes to different situations, to learn how to deal with "no, not interested;" the big letdown. It's life out there.

I am faced with the medication ordeal. I have chosen not do it at this time, although there might be a time when I will have to "face the music." I chose to start with the basics and work my way up.

Puberty is just around the corner. For the time being, Tyler is excelling in school and has learned to be patient and drug-free.

ADHD will be with Tyler, maybe his whole life. To fuel on what he has is an advantage, not a disadvantage.