Mr. Denevi,
Throughout my life, ADHD has been near and dear to my heart. Although I, myself, do not have ADHD, many of my coaches and teachers have asked me whether or not I have been tested. On my old soccer team, Slammers, seven of the eighteen boys had ADHD. I never looked as ADHD as a disorder, but rather a benefit, especially in soccer. For these seven boys never seemed to run out of energy. They challenged every 50-50 ball, were fearless, and were our team’s emotional and spiritual leaders. In fact, there were days when I was young where I wished that had ADHD too, as these seven players were among the best on our team. Reading your book, Hyper, has really opened up my eyes to the “negative” side of ADHD. I knew that ADHD children had difficulty concentrating and focusing on tasks, but had no idea that it had a “negative connotation.” The only “negative” comments that I heard about ADHD was when my soccer teammate’s parents would ask, complain, and sometimes beg to their child to take their pills. But even then, I didn’t think much about ADHD pills as normal people, especially professional athletes, would take Adderall to boost their overall performance. After reading Hyper, I feel nothing but empathy for you. I can only imagine how you must have felt when you were “bullied” by your third grade teacher Mrs. Kolavenko. I can’t help but think how life would be so much different for you had you grown up in my era since their has been an increasing awareness about ADHD. I also can’t help but think what Mrs. Kolavenko would have done had she had my soccer team as her students. Your book has truly made me feel grateful about the increasing awareness and the improvement of technologies and treatments for the various problems that we have in this world.
Sincerely,
Jon Abe
No comments:
Post a Comment