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A review by karieh13
Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention by Katherine Ellison
3.0
Parts of “Buzz” were fascinating to me as I know a couple of little boys who have similar traits to author Katherine Ellison’s son. Many of the attitude shifts she experiences as she deals with the diagnosis of ADHD for both herself and her son are ones that I, too, have espoused…although in my case there was very little actual fact to back up my arguments.
She shifts well between the emotions she feels in this year of “paying attention” and the medical and sociological facts she presents. I knew very little about ADHD beyond what one reads in the news and in magazines…watching as attitudes swing from pro-medication to very anti. Her presentation of the facts she learns meshes well with what she herself is experiencing.
“Are we blessed or cursed by supposedly knowing so much more than our parents did? Especially when there’s such fierce debate of nearly every aspect of what we think we know? Well-informed as we modern parents may be, we’ve ended up with much more data than knowledge, inclining us to burn countless megawatts of brainpower trying to discern that shifting line between character and disorder, explanation and excuse, “I can’t” and “I won’t”.”
Above all, what comes across in “Buzz” is that ADHD, its diagnosis, its possible treatments, all involve a great deal of heartache and difficulty for the child and for the parents. There is no right answer; there is no one size fits all cure. Everyone seems to have an opinion but no one really has the answer. Raising children is hard. Being a child, especially today, is hard.
The one criticism I might have (and again, this is based on my experience which is different than the author’s) – is that what comes across in this book is a near total disgust and frustration with the public school system. With the exception of one of two teachers she encounters, Ellison seems to find little value in the way public schools try and deal with all of the children they interact with. Where private schools have better luck dealing with kids with different needs – public schools must accept all children – and have their hands tied in many ways private school do not. I found myself skimming some of the paragraphs near the end of the book when they appeared to further disparage the schools.
But I am very glad I read “Buzz”. It gave me insight about what parents go through when their child is diagnosed with this disorder. There are so many struggles – not only between parent and child, but parent and doctors, children and teachers, parents and other parents. It is exhausting to read about and my heart goes out to these parents and children. While there seems no magic answer, I certainly hope they find an answer that works for them.
She shifts well between the emotions she feels in this year of “paying attention” and the medical and sociological facts she presents. I knew very little about ADHD beyond what one reads in the news and in magazines…watching as attitudes swing from pro-medication to very anti. Her presentation of the facts she learns meshes well with what she herself is experiencing.
“Are we blessed or cursed by supposedly knowing so much more than our parents did? Especially when there’s such fierce debate of nearly every aspect of what we think we know? Well-informed as we modern parents may be, we’ve ended up with much more data than knowledge, inclining us to burn countless megawatts of brainpower trying to discern that shifting line between character and disorder, explanation and excuse, “I can’t” and “I won’t”.”
Above all, what comes across in “Buzz” is that ADHD, its diagnosis, its possible treatments, all involve a great deal of heartache and difficulty for the child and for the parents. There is no right answer; there is no one size fits all cure. Everyone seems to have an opinion but no one really has the answer. Raising children is hard. Being a child, especially today, is hard.
The one criticism I might have (and again, this is based on my experience which is different than the author’s) – is that what comes across in this book is a near total disgust and frustration with the public school system. With the exception of one of two teachers she encounters, Ellison seems to find little value in the way public schools try and deal with all of the children they interact with. Where private schools have better luck dealing with kids with different needs – public schools must accept all children – and have their hands tied in many ways private school do not. I found myself skimming some of the paragraphs near the end of the book when they appeared to further disparage the schools.
But I am very glad I read “Buzz”. It gave me insight about what parents go through when their child is diagnosed with this disorder. There are so many struggles – not only between parent and child, but parent and doctors, children and teachers, parents and other parents. It is exhausting to read about and my heart goes out to these parents and children. While there seems no magic answer, I certainly hope they find an answer that works for them.