About Pills Don’t Teach Skills

I was absolutely shocked (mostly a blow to my ego), as my wife was leaving me she also told me I needed to see a doctor for an ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) diagnosis. While what I was experiencing seemed like the lowest point in my life, in reality it was the beginning of a gift that would start me on a two year journey of turning my life around. I would become a better father, friend and person.

Pills Don’t Teach Skills is a book about my two year journey in winning the battle against adult ADD. After being medically diagnosed with Adult ADD, it became clear to me that I was impacted and ADD was affecting my life negatively. As a child, I recall fidgeting with my hands & feet, or squirming while seated to be told by a teacher to settle down or I’ll be sent to detention. Memories of sitting in school and being easily distracted by extraneous stimuli like motion in the hall way or activities outside that were visible through the window still are in my mind. I was always the class clown, often blurting out answers before questions are completed, usually wrong but I did get the big laughs. As an adult, this manifested into challenges of managing my temper/emotions, spontaneous spending, focusing, concentrating, and an inability to emphasize and sympathize, organization etc..

As I worked through the challenges of ADD, it became clear that the mountains of books, information on the Internet and other sources for information was overwhelming. While there are a few stories about people’s experiences with ADD out there, I realized that there was not an organized overview of an adult experience offering an easy read to people with ADD or people trying to understand ADD. As the chapters for the book were planned, it became a story of my experience with hope that it could one day serve as a tool of inspiration for people with ADD or people who know some one with it. Pills Don’t Teach Skills offers an overview of how I resolved the challenges I faced with ADD and made my life work for me.

In writing this book, I wanted to share my experience with others and hope that it can serve as an example or inspiration that ADD can be beaten, it can be managed. In doing so, I based the chapter lay out of the book on the categories or titles in which I experienced incredible growth and evolution as a human being. Each chapter is an overview of my experience and how it impacted me in my challenge against ADD. As a very unique feature, at the end of each chapter a tip is offered regarding the title of the chapter. As an example, in the Chapter entitled Counseling & Medication, the tip offered is “Through counseling, I realized the strength my family and friends were capable of providing me. Lean on your family and friends, they are here to help”.

As a person who has experienced ADD first hand and how negatively it can impact a person’s life, my knowledge and experience with ADD has extended beyond most medical doctors knowledge. I have dedicated my efforts over the past two and a half years to understanding, learning and training my brain to meet and beat the challenges of ADD. I have co-written this book with the support of Pete Quily who is a professional ADD coach. Pete’s ADD Internet presence is very strong at his ADD Resource website, ADDcoach4u with over 100 pages of ADD resources, a google page ranking of 4, with 1500 + links in msn.com. He also has a blog, Adult ADD Strengths, also with a google pagerank of 4, and 1,500 plus links in msn.com

Pete also sits on the ADD Coaching Policy Committee of ADDA, The Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Association (the largest Adult ADD Association in the world), leads an Adult ADD support group (the Vancouver Adult ADD Support Group, is a member of several ADD e-groups and is well connected and respected in the ADD community.

In writing this book, our hope is to create a handbook for people with ADD or people learning about it. In a simple to read and understand format, this book is not a burden featuring too many pages or medical jargon. It is a simple overview on a positive experience that if it impacts just one person’s life, will be a huge success.