Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder

by Edward M. Hallowell

At age six Max entered the first grade at Meadow Glen, a coed private school. Things went all right at first, but then one day, as the kids were on the floor doing projects in pairs, Max suddenly took his jar of paint, smashed it on the floor, kicked the project he and his partner were making across the room, and started punching himself in the face. His teacher took him outside to calm down while the co-teacher stayed with the other children. “What happened in there?” his teacher asked Max. “Everything I make breaks,” he said, tears beading down his cheeks. “That’s not true,” his teacher said. “Your project was looking very good.” “It was not,” Max said. “It sucked.” “Max, you know we can’t talk like that here.” “I know,” Max said sadly. “I need more discipline and better standards.”

Heartbreaking truth hits close to home