✂

Spread
theword
CLIP, COPY, SHARE

September 20 is

about
National AD/HD
Awareness Day. This
is the perfect

AD/HD!
opportunity to make a
difference for yourself,
your child, and
others with AD/HD.

AD/HD is a medical disorder, affecting more whether you can give a packet to every
than 15 million Americans, with symptoms— teacher at the school.
distractibility, impulsivity, hyperactivity—that
seriously interfere with the ability to func-
tion. But children and adults with AD/HD can
do well, even excel, when they receive help and support.
5 LOBBY THE LIBRARY. Contact the
head librarian of your local library (or your child’s
school library), and suggest that the library prominently display
Unfortunately, there are still a lot of AD/HD naysayers AD/HD books and resources on National AD/HD Awareness
out there. That’s why we suggest you become an activist. Day—or all September long. If they don’t have many books on
You can start by sharing your own AD/HD story. Then employ AD/HD, donate a few. Some suggestions:
the eight strategies outlined in this special ADDitude guide
to “broadcast” the “AD/HD-is-real” message to a wide FOR ADULTS: FOR CHILDREN:
audience. Make copies to share with fellow AD/HD advocates.
Here’s to AD/HD advocacy! Dr. Larry Silver’s Advice to For kids age 4–8, Shelley
Parents on ADHD, by Larry the Hyperactive Turtle, by
—THE EDITORS B. Silver, M.D. (Three Deborah M. Moss.

1
Rivers Press, 1999)
BE A MYTH-BUSTER. Download “7 Myths about Driven To Distraction, by
AD/HD” at additudemag.com/pdf/myths.pdf, and hand it Edward M. Hallowell,
out to teachers, friends, relatives. Leave copies at local libraries, M.D., and John J. Ratey,
doctors’ offices, and schools. M.D. (Touchstone, 1995)
Attention-Deficit
(Woodbine House, 1989)
For kids age 6–9, Eddie
Enough!, by Debbie
Zimmett (Woodbine
House, 2001)
For kids age 10 or older,

2 CULTIVATE NEWS COVERAGE. Contact

your local newspaper or TV station.Tell the editors or pro-
ducers about National AD/HD Awareness Day, and urge them to
Hyperactivity Disorder, by
Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D.
(Guilford Press, 2005)
Joey Pigza Swallowed the
Key, by Jack Gantos
HarperTrophy, 2000)

prepare related stories—about high-achieving local ADDers,

about the medical aspects of AD/HD, about a teacher you think
has been especially helpful. Write a letter to the editor of the
newspaper, or submit an op-ed piece, using the information in
“7 Myths about AD/HD.”
6 PUMP THE P.T.A. Work with the parent-teacher
organization at your child’s school to create an AD/HD edu-
cation program for students, teachers, and administrators. Invite
an AD/HD specialist to speak or conduct a workshop. Hand out
“7 Myths about AD/HD” to everyone at the event.

3 ENLIGHTEN VIA E-MAIL. Remind everyone

that AD/HD is real by appending a mention of AD/HD or
National AD/HD Awareness Day to your e-mail signature. Include
an important fact, such as, “The American Psychiatric Society rec-
ognized AD/HD as a medical disorder in 1980,” or, “3 to 5 per-
cent of school-age children have AD/HD.”
7 SHARE THE MAGNET.
Hand out ADDitude’s AD/HD Awareness
magnets to friends, teachers, and relatives.
Get five for free by sending a self-addressed
envelope with 60 cents postage to ADD
Magnet, ADDitude, 39 W. 37th St., 15th Fl.,

4 REQUEST SERVICES. Contact your child’s

teachers, and explain how AD/HD affects your child. Make
New York, N.Y. 10018.

a game plan for how you can work together. (Be sure to send a
thank-you note after the meeting.) To download a free informa-
tion packet for the teacher, including an introductory letter, a
8 BUY A SUBSCRIPTION.
Give ADDitude to your child’s teacher
or pediatrician, and to your library. Go to
list of classroom accommodations, and three helpful articles, go additudemag.com/customerservice
to .additudemag. com/teacherinfo.asp. Ask the principal index.asp.

To learn more about AD/HD, go to additudemag.com.

A free, downloadable version of this page is available at additudemag.com/pdf/advocate.pdf.