Description
The engaging, uplifting antidote to traditional ADHD books (which, let’s be honest, if you have ADHD you’d never read anyway).
You live in a world that wasn’t designed for you. A world where you’re expected to sit still, stay quiet, and focus. Because of the way your brain is wired, you can feel like you’re failing at life. But you are not failing. You are awesome.
Award-winning content creators Kim and Penn Holderness are on a mission to reboot how we think about the unfortunately named “attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.” As always, they are doing it by looking in the mirror, because they don’t just study ADHD; they live it.
Penn was in college when he was diagnosed with ADHD, although the signs of having a brain that worked just a little bit differently had been there since he was a kid. Rather than view the diagnosis as a curse or give in to feelings of inadequacy or failure, he took a different approach, one that he wants to share with fellow ADHDers and the people who care about them.
Drawing on their often-hilarious insights and the expertise of doctors, researchers, and specialists; Kim and Penn provide fun, easy-to-digest advice and explanations, including:
- What it’s actually like to live with an ADHD brain.
- How to find humor in the pitfalls, sob stories, and unbelievable triumphs (like the time they won The Amazing Race!) that come with ADHD.
- How to tackle the challenges ADHD presents with a positive outlook.
- Targeted tools and techniques to play to your unique strengths.
- Fun extras like ADHD Bingo, an ode to cargo pants, and what the world would look like if ADHDers were in charge.
Take it from Penn: Having ADHD can be scary, but it comes with incredible upsides, including creativity, hyperfocus, and energy. You might even say it’s kind of awesome. Whether you have ADHD or want to support someone else in their journey, this is the guide you need to make the life you want.
I’m not familiar with the the authors prior’s so I was going into it strictly through interest in the topic and as part of a broader project to reclaim my attention span from the internet’s foul clutches, but after reading the book Penn and Kim won me over and I feel like if you could point anyone to any single book on the topic of ADHD, this is probably the best all-rounder you could get started with. They do a good job laying out the foundations of the condition, what causes it, how it manifests, and various ways you and the people around you can try to work with it and indeed tap its unusual benefits.
I particularly appreciated that it was written for people with ADHD. It doesn’t waste time on a lot of boring neuroscience words, but still gets the science across with lively metaphors. Each section is pretty to-the-point with some cute humor to liven things up and I enjoyed the drawings. Some of the life-hacks are a bit more family-life-oriented than really applies to me (I’m more of a computer gremlin) but they were all sensible and the cheat trick of “if you lose something, look near food” is an all-time great tip (and indeed proved true about 30 minutes after I read it).
Bought this book as my son was recently diagnosed with ADHD the inattentive kind and my husband though never officially diagnosed is for sure ADHD the hyperactive kind. This book has not only provided me with knowledge on how my boys operate but my husband has read it too and learned a lot about himself. Now we just gotta get our son to read it. It’s filed with tips and funny stories that keep the book flowing and interesting.
ADHD is a very big part of our lives. We have extended family with ADHD, (I have recently begun to wonder if I have lived most of life with undiagnosed ADHD), we live at a school specializing in ADHD and our youngest son was recently diagnosed with ADHD. Because of all these reasons I was dedicated to becoming an expert. I have ordered so many books and read so many articles and consulted physicians and therapists and websites and everything else. Lots of books are informative, but some of them will make you feel like you are living with a ticking time bomb.
This book was so wonderful and so refreshing. It walked a very fine line of being realistic about the challenges of ADHD while still celebrating all the wonderful things that make someone with ADHD, real and beautiful and human.
There are elements for people with ADHD and for loved ones who need to understand ADHD. There is good biological and clinical information but not so much that it becomes heavy like a textbook. It is humorous and energizing.
Even the layout of the book makes it easy to read with ADHD: breakout sections, bright colors on the edges, illustrations, color coded boxes, checklists and sentences not starting on one page and continuing on the next are just a few of the touches that tell you this is written by someone who really understands what it means to live with ADHD. (And there’s an audiobook too!)
I love the balance of humility and ownership of the challenges of ADHD/tips for accountability while also embracing the glorious gifts that ADHD can bring and truly embracing the diagnosis and making it into something to celebrate.
Ever since we suspected that our son had ADHD we have fiercely rejected the stereotypes and standards that painted it as a life-ruining experience. We knew that our son had a sparkle brain that vibrated with magic and life and imagination and creativity. This book absolutely felt like a validation of that.
ADHD is Awesome is an amazing gift to anyone who wants to better understand their own ADHD or the ADHD of someone they love. Everyone could get something out of this book.
Engaging, entertaining and contains some great information.
I feel like I understand one of my immediate family members better after reading this book and I can see their strengths more clearly now. That will help our relationship moving forward.