Positively ADD: Real Success Stories to Inspire Your Dreams

(New York: Walker & Company, 2006), 192 pp.

In Positively ADD, Catherine Corman and Dr. Edward M. Hallowell profile 17 enormously successful people who have one big thing in common: Attention Deficit Disorder. It’s simply amazing what these people can do despite — or, as Corman and Hallowell explain, because of — ADD.

Stars of this inspiring book include profiles of political strategist James Carville, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Clarence Page, Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Sharon Wohlmuth, Major League relief pitcher Scott Eyre, Rhodes scholar Heather Long, Plastic surgeon Richard Zienowicz, Entrepreneur Linda Pinney and Award-winning chef Jon Bonnell.

In brief, lively, accessible chapters, Corman and Hallowell demonstrate that for real people with ADD, the key to success is finding something that you're good at and love passionately. “Never again,” they write, “should any guidance counselor or teacher in any school, or any admissions officer at any university or professional school, or any person anywhere tell parents, or worse, tell children and young adults that because they have ADD, they shouldn't bother to pursue what they love or really want to do.”

In addition to offering hope and practical advice to readers ages 8 to 80 who have ADD, Positively ADD is for those who care for, mentor, or work with ADDers, including: guardians, grandparents, teachers, coaches, therapists, school psychologists, guidance counselors, pediatricians, and clergy.

What impact will a diagnosis of ADD have on children’s and families’ lives and futures? Don't despair, the authors write. ”When will the train pull into the station? You may not know, but rest assured, it will arrive in its own remarkable way.“