Popular Posts

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

ADD, Get Informed with Douglas A. Puryear

Today's author is a brilliant man whom I have only recently met. Douglas A. Puryear M.D. is both a psychiatrist and an author of three books. The latest two books he talks about having ADD and gives useful information and tips that he has learned over the years. As a teacher for over ten years I found both these books to be extremely helpful and highly recommend them. Please take a moment to read my reviews and get to know the Douglas A. Puryear M.D.


Living Daily With Adult ADD or ADHD: 365 Tips o the Day by Douglas A Puryear, MD is a self help book chalk full of tips and strategies to assist the adult with ADD/ADHD. It is written as a daily guide, a strategy for each and every day, one step at a time. Douglas Puryear uses simple English,no jargon, and he adds a touch of humor. He gives a very positive spin which allows a great deal of motivation to the reader.The tone is realistic and friendly. There are many helpful links and varying resources extending more information about ADD/ADHD. Since he is a doctor he adds a medical spin to his daily tips. As an adult with ADD he gives the reader, whether you have ADD or not, a clear cut picture of what it's like.

On a personal level I have worked with students over the course of my teaching career who have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and most frequently find them to struggle with simple organization, many times have horrendous handwriting, besides always being focused on something erroneous. They are the students who ask the completely off topic questions, carry the bag or binder with everything shoved inside it, seldom bring their materials to class, forget their homework and this list goes on. If you are a parent or adult working with these youngsters whom I just described than I highly recommend this book.

 I found I use some of his strategies on a daily basis and I think many people do so I recommend this book to anyone especially those who are organizationally challenged or struggle with ADD/ADHD or some type of learning disability. This book really is good stuff!


Your Life Can Be Better Using strategies for adult ADD/ADHD by Douglas A. Puryear, MD is a fantastic look inside the mind of adults with ADD/ADHD. He uses anecdotes from his own life and other willing adults to paint a picture. Inside the book are illustrations and many strategies, to not only cope with ADD/ADHD but to improve on one's life, such as memory tools consisting of slogans and mnemonics to using lists to prioritize daily activities. 

 The book is organized in an easy to fashion so the reader can take it all in at once or read in short chapters or sections. An appendix is included with further examples of strategies and within the content many other resources are mentioned.There is certain wittiness and humor to the book as well as a seriousness. He describes not only the struggles one may encounter who has or knows someone with ADD/ADHD but also the benefits and advantages to it.

I found a lot of value in the rich content in the book and most definitely recommend it if you or someone you care about has ADD/ADHD or even if you suspect it.

Interview with Doug

Elle: Tell a little about yourself


Doug: OK, I just retired after 49 years in psychiatry.  I plan to continue writing, fly fishing, studying Spanish and guitar, and enriching  my spiritual life, all more than I could when I was working. Right now I'm trying to get organized, which is hard to do because I have ADD, discovered when I was 64 years old.

Elle: What is your latest writing accomplishment?

Doug: My third book, Living Daily With ADD or ADHD;  365 tips o the Day, was recently published.  This is an E book, to be read one tip a day at your own pace.    clik

Elle: Tell us a little about any other works you have published or will be publishing.

Doug: My previous ADD book was Your Life Can Be Better; Using Strategies For Adult ADD/HD.  I'm amazed and gratified that to date it has sold over 11,500 copies.  I 'm happy to make a profit, but the real purpose of the books is to help others who have ADD or ADHD or who are dealing with someone who does. There has been very gratifying feedback, reviews and testimonials from people the books  have helped.    clik

Elle: How long have you been writing and how did you fall into it?

Doug: My first book was Helping People in Crisis, published in 1979.  I was teaching these concepts to Juvenile Probation Officers, and at the time there was very little written on the subject, and nothing with this family oriented strategic approach.  So I wrote it.

Elle: Please tell us a little about your writing process.

Doug: A similar thing happened with the ADD books.  Some of patients I was seeing had ADD, and while there were a number of good books available, none had the strategy focused approach I wanted for my patients, so I wrote it, and gave a copy to each patient.  The books are based on strategies that I've developed in my own life, and also have gotten from my friends and my patients, so the books are truly nonfiction.

Elle: What was the greatest challenge you faced with publishing your work?

Doug: The greatest challenge was in pushing myself to complete the books, and then to do the numerous revisions they required.  After the tenth revision, I would read it and couldn't believe I had written that junk, so time for another revision.  Fortunately, enough friends and family members were willing to struggle through the drafts and give me feedback.  The final drafts were about revisions number 21.


Elle: Do you have any advice for other indie authors?

Doug: I advise Indie authors to carefully research the company they're going to use, and then if things aren't going well, to push to change the people involved and get the problems corrected.  I had a great experience with Mill City Press, so I recommended them to a friend.  He had a horrible experience.  Turns out it depends on which people you happen to get assigned to.

doug
the website  strategy book   clik                    the blog    clik

No comments:

Post a Comment