Making ADHD a Gift: Teaching Superman How to Fly

Making A.D.H.D. a Gift explains, in everyday language, what A.D.H.D. is, how it is diagnosed, and how this condition can affect people throughout their lifetime. It also outlines methods of developing and assessing teaching strategies that can help individuals with A.D.H.D. both at home and at school. Unlike other texts, this book takes a positive look at having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Rather than trying to repress the characteristics of A.D.H.D., Making A.D.H.D. a Gift advocates that individuals with A.D.H.D. use their disorder to maximize attention span, improve social skills, harness impulsivity, and turn hyperactivity into periods of extreme productivity. In addition to providing teaching strategies and accommodations for A.D.H.D. students, the book also examines issues unique to children, adolescents, and adults who have been diagnosed with this disorder. Methods are described to help adolescents with A.D.H.D. cope with the associated problems of depression and substance abuse, and to help adults manage the marital and employment difficulties that often accompany A.D.H.D. . There is additional helpful information about the benefits and side effects of medication, cultural factors that could cause misdiagnoses, forming support groups, and resources for parents and teachers of A.D.H.D. students.

Robert Evert Cimera, an assistant professor of Special Education at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, was diagnosed with ADHD at an early age.