Local mothers spark ADD awareness with new book

The tapping of chalk on a blackboard, the whir of a fan and children's playground chatter are background noises to most elementary students.

But to a child with Attention Deficit Disorder those sounds are a haze from which they must decipher the world around them.

A new illustrated, notebook-style book by two Las Vegas mothers of ADD children, "Sparky's Excellent Misadventures" (Magination Press,), offers a window into the daily struggles of a youngster with the disease, speaking from a child's perspective.

"ADD kids get all that (background noise) at the same volume all at one time," author Marti Ford said. "It's like their lives are in fast-forward."

Ford's friend and co-author, Phyllis Carpenter, agreed.

"We've seen kids with torment on their faces and they don't know what's wrong and they don't know what to do about it," Carpenter said. "We wrote the book to help kids. I know we've helped some just by making them feel better about who they are."

Carpenter and Ford will sign copies of their book at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Borders bookstore on Sunset Road in Henderson.

In a class of 30, Carpenter, a teacher for 24 years, said that on average two children are diagnosed with ADD. Many of those school-age youngsters are confused as to why they are slightly different than their classmates.

"We wanted a hero for kids with ADD," Carpenter said, "somebody they can look up to and say, 'That's me.' "

The duo's passion to help ADD children lies in their experiences with their own children. Ford's 12-year-old son, Willie, was diagnosed with ADD 10 years ago and Carpenter's 15-year-old son, Phillip, was diagnosed six years ago. The inquisitive mothers found few books that put an honest and positive spin on what their children were experiencing.

"All the information was going by (Willie) so fast, he wasn't able to comprehend it, obtain it -- he was missing school," Ford said. "He's sitting in class but it's all a blur. He's focusing on trying to stay out of trouble."

Typically ADD symptoms include the inability to focus for long periods of time, physical agitation and a short attention span.

"When (doctors) asked kids how they felt, they said, 'It's like I'm itchy' or 'There are ants under my skin,' " Ford said, "They had the heebie-jeebies all the time."

Ford and Carpenter based the book's central character, Sparky, on their sons' behavior traits and day-to-day struggles.

"With children's books there are no limitations," Ford said. "We liked that freedom. It was a good release for us, too. We better understood that perspective."

The two wrote the book four years ago but the rough draft sat on an editor's desk for two years. Although they had no writing background, they polished off a final draft last summer and the book is now available in stores nationwide.

"We wanted to show that kids with ADD are just like everybody else, they are still regular kids," Carpenter said. "We didn't find anything that would speak for real children (with ADD)."

They wrote a list of all they wanted to include -- famous people with ADD, parental pride in the child and positive aspects of ADD such as energy and creative tendencies, among other topics.

"After that the story just wrote itself," Carpenter said.

The book is written in journal style to prompt children to express themselves through writing. The words appear written in a child's own script.

"If they can keep a journal it helps them to remember things, and to write their feelings down helps, too," Carpenter said. "It really helps you know who you are as a person because that's you on paper."

The book was a long time coming for the two, who met six years ago.

When Ford's son, Willie, entered the first grade she wanted a teacher who would help and understand the special attention needed by her boy. She hand-picked Carpenter.

To better understand the disease, Ford gave Carpenter literature and fact sheets she had collected while researching her son's condition.

Carpenter poured over the information to help her students understand Willie -- but she found the symptoms of ADD to be eerily close to her own son's erratic behavior.

"Phillip had a hard time staying focused, losing things like items necessary for school -- pencils, books -- and he never kept his room clean, absolutely never," she said.

But don't most mothers have a difficult time getting their sons and daughters to clean their rooms?

"It's more than that, he absolutely couldn't," Carpenter said. "He had very, very poor organizational skills."

The boy kept his behavior in check in classes of smaller sizes until he entered the third grade, when the number of students per teacher swelled. "They got big and he got lost," Carpenter said.

Carpenter noticed a change in his school work once he started to take medication five years ago. It was what was missing that struck her.

"He used to doodle all over the paper -- everywhere -- but now he is focused," she said. "His grades went from B's and C's to A's."

When Ford's son Willie began taking Ritalin to moderate his behavior the results were immediate, she said.

"He wasn't (acting) drugged, he was happier, he gained control of his life," Ford said (Willie has since switched to Dexedrine). "He didn't lose his laughter, didn't lose the devilish glint in his eye. He was more successful."

The book, they hope, will help other children with ADD understand their behavior and cope with the sometimes confusing world around them.

"They get so used to being in trouble, they buy into being a bad kid," Ford said. "We don't want them to give up and think that, try as they might, they can't get it. We know they can."

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