Reach for the Moon

So you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I bet that means you also have a lot of questions, doubts, and fears. This book provides some answers as well as advice on how to deal with ADHD.

Life is especially tough for Joey. Not only does he struggle with ADHD, his family is truly dysfunctional. Readers will sense that Joey is a good kid who’s trying to do the right things, but often without much support. Readers will likely laugh and weep for Joey.

On Their Own is an invaluable road map to ease these parents’ fears and answer their questions, especially the one that haunts them daily: Will or can their child be on their own, and how? In a candid, sympathetic style, laced with real-life stories. Topics include: social skills and dating, staying healthy, sibling relationships, interaction with employers and co-workers, job hunting, finding the right college or trade school, and estate planning. It also includes a comprehensive resource guide and exclusive interviews with prominent professionals who have surmounted their learning disabilities: CEO’s Sir Richard Branson, John Chambers, David Neeleman, and Charles Schwab, and former governor Gaston Caperton.

First of all, know this — you’re smart and can learn! You just learn differently. This guide will help answer some of your important questions about having LD, such as “Why is it hard for kids with LD to learn?” and “What happens when you grow up?” It will also provide suggestions on how to deal with issues in school and take some of the mystery out of what having LD means (and doesn’t mean). Includes resources for parents and teachers.

Author Rondalyn Varney Whitney, a pediatric occupational therapist, is the mother of Zac, a child who suffers from nonverbal learning disorder, or NLD. By definition, NLD is a neurological defect in children who are unable to recognize the nonverbal clues that make up 50 percent of communication. In Bridging the Gap, Whitney seamlessly weaves practical professional advice throughout the account of her passionate involvement with her son. She writes, “I believe that NLD, now thought to be as prevalent as dyslexia, is a difference and not a flaw.” She also warns parents and teachers that kids with NLD are likely to be misdiagnosed as lazy or defiant, so she urges readers to consider both the strengths (high intelligence and advanced verbal skills and memory) and weaknesses (low visual, spatial, and motor skills and deficits in social communication) of these kids.

While the past 25 years have seen a growing interest in students with both gifts and learning disabilities, the published material has focused predominantly on students who have only one area of gifts — high IQ. Students with Both Gifts and Learning Disabilities tries to provide the reader with a broader conceptualization of the gifted/LD learner to include students who have gifts in other domains and who would benefit from being identified and having their talents nurtured.