Thom Hartmann - Attention Deficit Disorder, A New Persp (pdf)

Thom Hartmann - Attention Deficit Disorder: A New Perception (Newleaf, 1999; originally 1993 and 1997). 189 pages.

New scan. Searchable pdf (clearscan) with contents in bookmarks, accurate pagination and metadata, etc.

Irish edition of Hartmann's now out-of-print book that interprets ADD through the anthropological categories of "hunters vs. farmers." (Rings true to me, as someone with adult ADHD.)

Can drugs cure Attention Deficit Disorder? Why are some ADD children and adults more successful than their "normal" peers? What professions are best for ADD people? In this ground-breaking book, author Thom Hartmann presents a new and very welcome approach to Attention Deficit Disorder. His is the first book to explain clearly that ADD, rather than being a problem, may actually be beneficial. He sees ADD sufferers as "hunters", totally focused on movement, constantly monitoring their environment and exhibiting incredible bursts of energy. Correctly approached, these characteristics can be harnessed to create an overall positive effect. These "hunters" find themselves in our contemporary society surrounded by non-ADD sufferers or "farmers" cautious, slow and steady workers. This positive and long-awaited book explains how adults and children with ADD can adapt and function more creatively and productively in today's world. Thom Hartmann also identifies ADD individuals who have helped to change the world they lived in - Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin.

From Scientific American

Innovative and fresh .... Rather than portraying the syndrome as a crippling disease, Thom Hartmann demonstrates that ADD can be associated with creativity, high achievement, and a most successful adaptive style.

Review

ADDers aren't abnormal, they are uniquely gifted individuals in their own right. Thom Hartmann describes these ideas in a book that belongs in the hands of every educator, counselor, doctor, and parent. It empowers ADDers to look at themselves in a new way. -- The Learning Disabilities Newsletter, 1993