Buzz : : a Year of Paying Attention

Locations
Call Number: 616.858 El
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	616.858 El	4-week checkout	On Shelf

The predicament: "Understand me!" -- History: stuck on input -- Emergency: crossing lines in the Ritalin wars -- Biology: the anatomy of distraction -- Relationships: the cookie of peace -- Society: the attack of the chronophages -- Education: the rules of engagement -- Add-vocacy: the strength in numbers -- Wired: braving the new world of neurofeedback -- Meditation: "No one ever died of restlessness" -- The white contender -- Knots to undo -- What else worked.
The author recounts her journey to understand and reconnect with her twelve-year-old son after they were both diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Essential Reading for Parents of Kids with ADHD submitted by sdunav on June 25, 2011, 4:13pm Ellison describes her "bad mom moments" in unflinching detail, along with graphic descriptions of her son's defiance, anger, and confusion. After one particularly memorable incident, Ellison resolves to turn her attention and considerable skills at investigative journalism to ADHD in general, and to her son (who goes by the nickname "Buzz") in particular, for a year.

Her account of her research, experimentation, expense, family life, and community is fascinating. She examines medication, therapy, support groups, neurofeedback, meditation, and several other approaches to dealing with ADHD. There's a bit about the history of most of these ideas, interviews with mental health professionals and other practitioners, and interesting accounts of her experiences and her son's. I'd heard of many of these approaches - but reading about the details of the practices was cool in a whole different way. It reminded me of Mary Roach's popular science books (like Stiff), actually. And I really appreciated the detailed end notes (complete with references), and a useful index.

Gives a great picture of life with ADHD submitted by 21621031390949 on June 28, 2011, 7:00pm As the previous review explains, this is a well-researched personal account of being a parent of a child with ADHD, who also has ADHD herself. As the mother of a girl with ADHD, I could very much identify with the writer's experiences of both love and frustration toward her child. I already knew about most of the research and treatment information she offered, but did learn some things, and it helped me re-examine my responses to my child's high energy, erratic behavior. I think this book is a must-read for anyone who is close to a kid with ADHD -- parents and teachers. It will help them to understand the child's experience, abilities, and limitations.