Center of Attention
Newsletter of CHADD of Northern California
Also at: http://www.chaddnorcal.org/newsletter
23 December 2002

CHADD Works to Improve the Lives of People with
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder through Education, Advocacy,
and Support

===== In This Issue =====

About the Newsletter
Calendar of Events
Feature Article: Gifted and AD/HD (longer article)
Volunteer Opportunity - Plan Latino Community Forums, May '03
Please Tell Us

===== About the Newsletter =====

The Center of Attention is CHADD of Northern California's bi-weekly
newsletter. The newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with
CHADD of Northern California's activities and updates in the field.
It's a step toward bringing the members closer together.

======== Calendar of Events ==========

Sacramento - 1/7/2003, Tues. 6:45 p.m.; 7-9 pm
Dealing with AD/HD at Home, Work, and at School -- Angela Paccini,
MFT, private practice in Roseville
Sutter Center for Psychiatry, Sacramento - Contact: Greater
Sacramento CHADD: 916-552-1557
============================
Alameda - 1/8/2003, Wed. 7 - 9 pm
Tri-Valley Parent Support Meeting --
Thomas J. Hart Middle School, Pleasanton - Contact: JoAnn Matone: 925-484-2173
============================
Santa Clara - 1/8/2003, Wed. Reg: 7pm, Meet 7:30pm
ADD Through the Life Cycle -- Dr. Harry Verby of the Behavioral
Medical Clinic in San Mateo
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Silicon Valley Warmline:
650-949-5472
============================
Marin - 1/14/2003, Tues. 7-9pm
Learn down-to-earth skills to manage your anger. -- Peter Chinnici, LCSW
Town Center Corte Madera Community Room, Corte Madera - Contact:
Beverlee: 415-789-9464
============================
Santa Clara - 1/15/2003, Wed. Reg: 7pm, Meet 7:30pm
Silicon Valley Adult, Parent and Spouse Support Groups -- Separate
peer-facilitated groups let you share struggles and strategies with
each other. Includes video.
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Silicon Valley Warmline:
650-949-5472
============================
Yolo - 1/16/2003, Thu. Lending Library 7:00 pm; 7:15 pm to 8:30 pm
County Meeting -- CHADD welcomes all with interest or concerns
regarding attention deficit disorder.
Davis Branch, Yolo County Library, Davis - Contact: Yolo County
CHADD: 530-750-3929
============================
San Francisco - 1/20/2003, Mon. 7:00 - 9pm
Adult Success Group -- Share skills and strategies for success at
home, in the workplace, in relationships, etc.
CPMC Pacific Campus, San Francisco - Contact: Rachel Rosenfeld: 415-362-7227
============================
Marin - 1/21/2003, Tues. 7-9pm
Drop in Support Group -- for Adults with ADHD and Significant Others
Marin Community Mental Health, Greenbrae - Contact: Beverlee: 415-789-9464
============================
Santa Clara - 1/22/2003, Wed. 7:15 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
New Directions in Brain Scan Imaging -- William C. Klindt, MD.,
Director of Silicon Valley Brain Imaging, Inc.
Friends Meeting House, Palo Alto - Contact: Kitty Petty ADD/LD
Institute: 650-329-9443 or visit www.kpinst.org
============================
Marin - 1/22/2003, Wed. 9:30-11:30am
Parent Informational Resource and Support Group -- Call First...
30 Catalpa Ave., Mill Valley - Contact: Victoria Vogel & Holly
Seerly: 415-383-6048
============================
San Francisco - 1/23/2003, Thu. 7-9pm
Educational Speaker TBA --
CPMC Pacific Campus, San Francisco - Contact: San Francisco Warmline:
415-442-1944
============================
San Mateo - 1/25/2003, Sat. 9 am - Noon; Registration at 8 am
It's So Much Work Being Your Friend; Teaching Friendship Skills to
Children. - Richard Lavoie, MS, MEd. -- This workshop will outline
the development of childhood friendships and will offer specific
strategies designed to enhance the child's friendship skills.
Register online.
South San Francisco Conference Center, South San Francisco - Contact:
Schwab Learning: 800-230-0988 or visit www.SchwabLearning.org
============================

===== Feature Article ======

Gifted and AD/HD
By Dana Olney-Bell, SchwabLearning.org


I'm twelve years old and for as long as I can remember, I've had
opposite sides to myself. I'm told that I'm "gifted"-- very smart and
creative. But I also have to work really, really hard at things that
seem much easier for other kids, like memorizing and paying attention.

Here's an example: In math and science and in art, I'm quicker at
figuring things out than other kids. Like when my teacher tells us a
new way to subtract fractions, it seems obvious to me and not to
other kids. But when I'm trying to listen to someone talking or
lecturing, my mind starts to wander.

Once when we were talking about plants in science, it made me think
about my garden and what I was going to plant next year. And that
made me think about a new kind of chili pepper that I'm going to try
to plant for my dad because he likes spicy things. And that made me
think about the hot dishes he used to eat when we lived in Singapore.

It feels sort of like branches on a tree, and pretty soon I don't
know what the discussion is about any more. Sometimes this is good
when I'm talking to someone because it helps me branch out on our
conversation. If I'm in class, it helps me bring up new ideas that no
one else has thought of. But it also hurts me in class because I
don't always fully get what the teacher is saying.

Sometimes I have complicated ideas that I can't explain to others.
That really frustrates me, and I get upset with the person for not
getting it! I guess you could say I cry pretty easily, and sometimes
I overreact and start crying. This really bugs my mom. Sometimes I
have the same sort of problem when I need to ask a question. I get
stuck on a question because I can't formulate it. And I have the same
problems when I'm trying to write down my ideas for a paper.

When I'm doing something that's hard for me, like writing, I drift
off easily and end up doing a quick job so I can do something else
that I'm better at. But then I don't get a very good grade on my
essay, and I feel bad. The problem is there are so many interesting
things to do in my house; things that I think are just as educational
as writing. I'd rather do chemistry and cooking experiments in the
kitchen, or try out new kinds of seeds or soil mixtures in my garden,
or watch the Discovery or History channel or Popular Mechanics for
Kids, or solve logic puzzles and games. I'd rather study bird
behavior (with my birds, of course!), work on my Web site with my
dad, read stuff I want to read, and engineer new contraptions with
string or wood or whatever else is lying around. I love my school but
I hate it that homework takes away time from doing these things.

That's what it's like to be gifted and AD/HD.

I've tried some medicine to help me with attention. I couldn't
believe there was such a thing when my mom told me about it. It's so
weird that they make a medicine for that! Ritalin helped me
concentrate and be more energetic about school. Adderall helps in a
different way because it makes me more optimistic, but when it wears
off I feel less cheerful and have shorter attention and drift more.
Sometimes I have trouble remembering to take it in the afternoon. One
thing about the Adderall is that it helps some, but it doesn't
completely solve the problem of attention. I still have to work at
paying attention, and sometimes I still drift off even with the
medicine.

Medicine doesn't help the problems I have memorizing and studying for
tests. My tutor suggested that I draw pictures when I'm memorizing
facts for my history test. For example, when we were studying the
Renaissance, I drew a picture of a harp for the rebirth of music, and
numbers for rediscovering science, and a cross for the rebirth of
culture. That helped me remember those things for an exam. But the
problem is that it takes too long to study like that, so I wasn't
able to study everything and I got a bad grade because there were
lots of parts that I didn't get to. Sometimes it makes me sad and it
makes me want to give up when I realize how much harder I have to
work at things that are not that hard for other kids.

Japanese has been easier for me to learn because when you write in
Japan, writing is an art, and I love to draw. A word can be totally
different if, say, two lines are touching than if they're not.
Writing in Japanese is full of precision, and I like taking a long,
long time on something and making it exact. But, slowness is another
problem I have that frustrates other people. And my tutor says that I
sometimes have a hard time deciding when getting into details makes
my work better or when it actually hurts my work because "I can't see
the forest for the trees." There IS one part of Japanese that has
been very hard for me. I'm way behind the rest of my class on
memorizing Japanese characters and character blends.

In third grade I went to a special school for kids with LD where we
learned the Slingerland method for reading. That was really good for
me. Now I read books that are really hard, like The Golden Compass
and The Amber Spyglass, my favorite book series.
Visualization-verbalization was really helpful, too, for figuring out
spelling. I'm still a bad speller, but I'm better than I was! But the
other parts of school were too easy for me, and I got bored because I
already knew the science and stuff. When I returned to my public
school, kids asked me, "Dana, Did you go to a special ed. school in
3rd grade?" Special education is not a popular thing. You have to be
normal to be cool.

Some people idealize gifted students because they think they're good
in every subject, but that's not true. We're not super smart in
everything, like a computer. I'm gifted in certain ways. My tutor
told me that I'm a visual learner. For example, in history when my
teacher was telling us about World War II, she showed us pictures of
the ditches that they fought in and the barbed wire. I've always
remembered that scene. History is also more interesting to me when
there are pictures along with words.

Being gifted is a bad thing at some of the schools I've been to. In
movies, "smart alecs" aren't usually fit and good at sports. People
think if you're super smart, then you're probably weak. It's pretty
cool to be a whiz at math, but it's a lot cooler if you're really
athletic. That's what I found at my old public school. Maybe the
other kids are jealous if you're smart. But if you get treated like
that when you're smart, I don't know what they're jealous of!

Now I go to a school for gifted kids, and we're plenty athletic
there. We do movement and dance and martial arts almost every day.
I'm glad that the kids at my school aren't as much into style and how
cool your clothes are. It's a lot more comfortable for me that way.

What's the best way to help kids like me? We need lots of parent
support and not to be yelled at for getting bad grades. The best
thing parents can do is help their kids overcome their difficulties.
It's helped me when my mom keeps me on task and shows me new ways of
studying for a test. It's helped me to find friends that are honest
and don't talk behind my back. It's helped to find a school where
kids don't always worry about being cool and where the teachers see
that I do have things I'm very good at. Once my mom told me a story
about computer nerds who ended up taking over the world, and
sometimes I think of that story and it makes me feel better too.

I hope other kids who are gifted and AD/HD know they're not alone.
I'm sure there are lots of kids who share the same feelings and
frustrations. I hope what I've written helps kids talk to their
parents and teachers about things that bother or worry them and makes
them feel less weird and alone. Talking with them about what things
you're good at and what things are hard for you--and why they're hard
for you -- can help kids start to figure out how to make school a
little easier. Most of all, talking about these things can also help
kids feel better about themselves.

--------
Dana Olney-Bell is a sixth grader at a private middle school in
California. She was diagnosed with AD/HD (attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder) last year. She wrote this story with
her mom, Kathryn Olney, who is a freelance writer and editor.

© Copyright 2002 SchwabLearning.org. Reprinted with kind permission
of Schwab Learning. For more information, please visit
http://ww.schwablearning.org.

======== Community Forums ==========

A Volunteer Opportunity!

CHADD of Northern California will sponsor 2-3 "Community Forums" to
outreach to Latino/Hispanic parents about children with ADHD. The
focus is on access to good mental health care and an appropriate
education. Events may be held in San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento
or other Northern California cities, as determined soon. Events will
be in May 2003.

Your contribution can be large or small, depending on what works for
you. The time commitment is flexible. Experience with outreach or
event planning is very useful but not mandatory.

Please reply directly to this newsletter or to Lew@... to
express interest and get further details.

===== Please Tell Us! =====

We thank members for their responses to the Newsletter. Any comments,
suggestions, or criticisms will be greatly appreciated. Please
continue to help us make this newsletter more beneficial to you all.

We also invite readers to share their experiences with us and other
members. Please feel free to write to us about anything that you
would like to see published.

You can e-mail your comments to us at CHADD_Dimples@....
Simply replying to this e-mail will also send your message to the
right place.