It doesn’t appear that ADDERALL BLUES was written to assign blame, but rather as a wake-up call. Author Brian J. Robinson is self-described as “unique”, and he is. Where other authors cite their childhood or upbringing as a cause of their problems, he credits his parents with being supportive and compassionate.
The call is directed to everyone, including the medical and education communities, to cease categorizing and labeling young people because they are different, to stop forcing them into behavior patterns that will never fit them, and to recognize their needs and work with them, instead. Robinson candidly admits his mistakes, but is equally honest when disclosing experiences that might have ended better had mutual respect been practiced within organizations, both corporate and religious. The practice of simply dismissing an individual because they can’t conform isn’t a new concept, but Robinson takes the reader through detailed personal experiences that demonstrate the damage such actions can produce. His own bad choices are exposed along the way, but in the end, he knows who he is and what he is capable of accomplishing.
Many books have been written about ADHD as a disability or disorder. Likewise, divergent viewpoints regarding the learning process exist from the Socratic teaching method to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. However, Robinson’s belief that “ADHD is both a gift and a disorder” is an interesting view that warrants serious consideration, especially because he is verifying it as someone who has experienced ADHD. No matter what diagnosis or label is assigned to a person, their reaction to it has a powerful effect on whether the result will be improvement or decline.
This approach to any disorder deserves more research and exploration, but in the case of ADHD it is particularly important because, as Robinson points out, ADHD diagnoses have proved an absolute boon to the pharmaceutical industry, yielding billions of dollars in sales. Any reasonable person has to wonder what has driven the numbers up so rapidly. While Robinson concedes that schools are most likely “doing the best they can by teaching in the manner in which the majority learns well” his book shines a light on the importance of developing better methods of learning for individuals with ADHD.
~Karen Collins for IndieReader